A LibDem Perspective: Uniting against racism
A LibDem Perspective: Uniting against racism!
“I’m not a racist but…….” If you have ever heard yourself uttering that phrase you need to come to terms with the idea that you might actually be just that. A racist. It’s the ‘but’ that does it.
The recent far right march in London claiming to want to ‘Unite the Kingdom’ attracted many ‘non-racists’ who only wanted their own version of ‘unity’. Some were heard to claim ethnic or religious groups should ‘be deported back where they came from’ regardless of how many generations of their family had called Britain their home. No consideration seems to have been given to the damage which would be done to our economy or services if their dream ever came to pass. A ‘non-racist’ couple reported on one independent news site claimed their town was “full of Muslims”; they too favoured mass deportation but were adamant they were ‘not racists’. Nor naturally were the tens of thousands who marched with them. And of course, the dangerous interventions of the World’s richest man effectively calling for civil war simply increased tension and displayed his own ignorance of our country. I didn’t know whether to laugh or shout at another US commentator who opined on the BBC that more people in the UK would feel safe if we had more guns. In 2023-gun homicides in USA were down to 13,529; the UK equivalent was 22.
Most racists appear primarily concerned with people of colour. White Europeans can only be spotted if they are heard speaking with an accent, so they are less easily targeted. White immigrants from former colonies are positively welcomed. But if your ethnicity is visually evidenced by your skin colour, violent racist demonstrations such as these must be a terrifying evocation of 1930’s Germany.
The irony is, of course, that it is often the origin countries of immigrants of colour to which we owe the greatest historic debt. Our national wealth was built on the exploitation of the natural and human resources of the countries we subjugated. It was often our own ancestors who arbitrarily drew neat ruler-straight lines on maps to determine national boundaries regardless of geography or existing tribal or regional allegiances. And in a number of cases, it is those arbitrary boundaries that even now are the source of much of the conflict driving thousands to seek asylum.
I have honestly never understood racism. I don’t understand the apparent need to ‘other’ and oppose people who are ‘not like me’. It might be ethnicity, religion, regionalism, sexual preference, political difference, ‘class’, disability, fat-shaming or any other means of differentiation. It is the infinite variety of our population that gives our nation strength and should be celebrated. The widely referenced ‘demographic time bomb’ illustrates all too clearly that with low birth rates and increasing longevity, there will be an ever-increasing need to attract legal immigrants and asylum seekers, not demonise them. Yes, housing is an issue (largely thanks to Thatcher’s sell-off of council housing, and a failure to tackle ‘land banking’ by property companies), but that is fixable given the political will. Our country needs immigrants, and it needs to welcome and celebrate diversity.
Cllr Kathryn Field
