Racism Survey

[TheOstrich]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014 ... in-britain

So now we are all going to be beaten, by the media, the politicians (Margaret Hodge has already started telling us what we must think), and the metropolitan elite multicultural wonks who inhabit that other country south of Watford.

One of the biggest levels in self-reported racism is in the West Midlands. Is it any surprise? We have a huge population of Pakistanis and Somalians who have no intention to integrate, as Trojan Horse shows. We have a further large population of Afro-Caribbean who are as disadvantaged and angry as the poor white kids when they see the elite rich. There is an underlying tension between most ethnic groups which has once or twice spilled out into rioting, and I would guess the local authorities are thankful it hasn't escalated into something much more serious.

And as for the middle class whites, who just want to get on with their own lives, we are now to be beaten with the stick of racism. Cromwell has already expressed disgust at the pro-immigration BBC Look North; I can assure him that the attitudes displayed by BBC Midlands Today and the Birmingham Evening Mail would have him chewing the ceiling and setting fire to the nearest trash-can.

Is it any surprise that most middle-class West Midlanders are back-lashing against the metropolitan elite? And where will we go from here? I suspect the more we are beaten, the more overt racism will become .....

[Suff]

Is it any surprise that most middle-class West Midlanders are back-lashing against the metropolitan elite? And where will we go from here? I suspect the more we are beaten, the more overt racism will become .....

This is what is happening in France. However they've managed to spill it over to local and national elections and the administration is becoming overtly "racist" by British standards....

Long way to go. Many dark days before we see the end.

[Workingman]

Ah, the survey I mentioned on the other thread.

The BBC report of the survey was opened for comments for a while.... until it became clear that it was not headed the way the BBC wanted.

Quite a few people pointed out that a survey of 2000 people did not give enough scope for all the sub-sets to be covered in a meaningful way. The survey could not come up with such detailed graphs without quite a lot of "artistic" extrapolation being carried out. It was noticed that the question being put was loaded 2:1 with answers admitting racial prejudice in some form. There was concern over the survey's lack of clear definitions of racism and racial prejudice, and plenty of discussion that,one was not the same as the other. However, what bugged people the most was the timing of the survey and it being presented in such a way as to make it appear that racism/racial prejudice is a white only behaviour.

Talk about upsetting the natives!

[Kaz]

People who think us Brits are racist should try going abroad as a mixed race couple, like my sister and her hubby. The only time they have ever experienced racism is whilst abroad, in the States and Europe. Here nobody seems to bat an eyelid and they have been married for almost 30 years!

In the States my BIL had white people giving him daggers looks for having a blonde wife, and black guys actually coming up to him and asking him why he had 'betrayed his brothers' by taking a white wife

[Aggers]

You ain't seen nothing yet.

I predict that racism will become one of the biggest problems this country has ever seen.

It's like a smoldering time bomb.

And it all goes back to that hateful Tony Blair, who should now be serving a life sentence.

[cromwell]

That's staggering about your relations Kaz.

The thing about our local news reporting is not only what they put on, but what they leave out. The other week they highlighted an initiative in Sheffield to put the local Roma in a better light. Why do they need putting in a better light? It wasn't said. A Telegraph journalist who visited last year however said the area where they live was having the roads dug up, and every hole in the road had been used by them as a landfill site. A local councillor who accompanied him said maybe it had happened because it was a windy day. So they are in denial, as usual.

There are many "communities" in Sheffield and some of them have reputations for violence and drug dealing; not that you'd ever hear about it on the TV. It is talked about on local internet forums and even makes the national press occassionally, but never the TV.

[shazsha]

People who think us Brits are racist should try going abroad as a mixed race couple, like my sister and her hubby. The only time they have ever experienced racism is whilst abroad, in the States and Europe. Here nobody seems to bat an eyelid and they have been married for almost 30 years!

I think they have just been very lucky, Kaz, because I have seen plenty of racism in the UK. I hasten to add, though, that it isn't just one sided racism and that imo every ethnicity has racists within it.

Racism will always be with us because some people are just plain ignorant.

However I do think that we will see more racism in the UK in the future because of real and/or perceived inequality caused by the powers that be. When people see a group getting preferential treatment then it is human nature to start getting angry and upset. The sad thing is that many turn this anger towards the group instead of turning their ire on those who cause/allow the inequality to flourish.
Our successive governments, businesses, etc are afraid of being seen as racist and are making too many concessions to avoid this.
Racism will grow until the powers that be have the guts to say enough is enough and stop trying to appease others.

[cruiser2]

We have a coloured family living next door. We speak to them and they have come and told us when they are going to have a party which is about four times a year.
I am not racists. I object to anyone who anyone who gets preferential treatment for whatever reason and groups who want to impose their beliefs and customs on everybody, replacing existing centuries old practices of this country.

[Kaz]

Perhaps they have been Shaz, or perhaps it has just been very subtle They both live in Luton, which is extremely multi-cultural and he works in Central London, so perhaps it is just far more common there? Whatever, that has been their experience, I can't speak for the experience of others....

[Suff]

Shaz,

Being upset because races, creeds or colours get preferential treatment is not racism. Nor is it racism to blame those who court this preferential treatment and throw it in the faces of those who pay for it or suffer because of it.

The whole problem with this supposed "racism" debate is that 90% of what is called racism today simply is not, by any sensible measure.

If being annoyed at colour or race getting preferential treatment were racism, then the ANC would have been racist during Apartheid. Something to ponder very carefully. It is no less true today than it was then.

Personally I think we need to remove 90% of this whole race debate and get back to real issues and not slogans designed to remove debate. That is what the EU does, removes debate so they can do whatever they want. They leave debate for those who have no power to change anything.

As a person with close personal friends in most races and creeds, a person who is welcome in the family homes of many races and creeds and is greeted with pleasure in many countries in the world by those people, I feel not the slightest hint of guilt by being annoyed by the antics of the minority races and cultures in the UK.

I live the life. I don't need to second guess myself.