The Derrick Campbell column

RACE AND RACISM - NO “WHITES ONLY” SIGN HERE

24-07-2006

Two people died in the north of England this weekend following separate incidents with racist overtones.

Shezan Umarji, aged 20, died in a brawl between white and Asian gangs in Preston on Saturday morning - and this was followed by the killing later the same day of Huddersfield taxi driver Mohammed Pervaiz.

It's tempting to see these tragic incidents and others like them as proof that racism is an exclusively white condition - with black and Asian people as its only victims.

So much so that many within these communities are encouraged to believe they are being targeted.

Having researched the problem, it seems to me that in some ways this situation has been deliberately created as a smoke screen of ignorance to provide a bolt hole for those who want to mask their tracks between what we class as culture and heritage but is really nothing more than their own racism.

This phenomenon has existed for many centuries, the sources of which are found deep within the psyche of humanity.

The core beliefs and values of many communities regarding their culture have proven in many cases to be overt racist practices.

The tenacious drive to hold onto my so called ‘roots', which involves segregating ourselves from other groups, suppression of our females, instilling racist ideologies into our children under the disguise of training them to be aware of danger, has done nothing to support community cohesion but only served to bring about division.

The pretence that members of the BME community all love each other and cooperate to achieve harmony is false.

The distrust between the African Caribbean, Asians and whites is alive and kicking and we need to be honest about it before we can formulate appropriate policies to address these concerns. Many of our children are taught from an early age to not trust Blacks, Asians, Moslems, Whites, and now the latest threat to humanity…..the ‘Asylum seekers, and Bin Laden look - a - likes.

Look at out school play grounds, community centres, our high streets and market places; nothing could be further from cohesion. However, optimism still reigns and I am confident that through a concerted effort, we can make significant improvements in community relations.

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