To what extent would you say the UK is a racist country?

[VladmirsPoutine]

Bear with me on this. This thread is a culmination of some of the other threads I've been on and don't wish to derail. But thinking about for example ChildQ and the extent to which what happened to her was racially motivated, considering say the treatment of MM in the press which had a private school girl ostensibly painted as being 'straigh outta the hood'. I know that the UK is highlighted as one of the most racially tolerant places in the world, if not Europe. But just on the face of it I wonder, do you think the UK has a 'race problem'?

@MangyInseam the police target people based on skin colour. It is well known which is why your reliance on charging and sentencing statistics are bullshit.

In fact there is research out there that shows the people who use drugs the most aren't black people.

In addition the child was at the wrong type of school to be a dealer/peddle drugs.

If you aren't aware of these basic things which you can easily find out then it isn't surprising posters won't engage with you.

In fact there is research out there that shows the people who use drugs the most aren't black people.

They are middle class white people - and the Gov and eVERYONE else just nods and ignores -
the teens who deal or work county lines are often black - the problem is imv that we all accept that there should be this drug trade with no recrimination for the drug users - whilst the youngsters get embroiled in gangs etc.
The police get the blame for stop and search etc but what are they supposed to do? the problem is all of us accepting that drug use should be allowed thus giving them an impossible task.

It's the kids that suffer.

@Polyanthus2

In fact there is research out there that shows the people who use drugs the most aren't black people.

They are middle class white people - and the Gov and eVERYONE else just nods and ignores -
the teens who deal or work county lines are often black - the problem is imv that we all accept that there should be this drug trade with no recrimination for the drug users - whilst the youngsters get embroiled in gangs etc.
The police get the blame for stop and search etc but what are they supposed to do? the problem is all of us accepting that drug use should be allowed thus giving them an impossible task.

It's the kids that suffer.

This is some backwards logic. Drug use is already illegal. If a police officer finds you in posession of illegal drugs, you are at the mercy of the judicial system. The reasons why there are so few prosecutions of drug users is because it's difficult to identify and, because there is generally no "victim", it will always be a low-priority crime, and rightly so. You could recreationally smoke a joint every evening without anyone apart from you knowing about it, unless you told them. Compare this to something like a mugging, where there is a clear, social vested interest to isolate the perpetrator from society. The vast majority of associated harm comes from the very fact that drugs are illegal in the first place. You can't make them more illegal. You can increase the punishments, but that doesn't seem to do much to curb usage.

@Polyanthus2

In fact there is research out there that shows the people who use drugs the most aren't black people.

They are middle class white people - and the Gov and eVERYONE else just nods and ignores -
the teens who deal or work county lines are often black - the problem is imv that we all accept that there should be this drug trade with no recrimination for the drug users - whilst the youngsters get embroiled in gangs etc.
The police get the blame for stop and search etc but what are they supposed to do? the problem is all of us accepting that drug use should be allowed thus giving them an impossible task.

It's the kids that suffer.

This is true in that dealing/selling illegal drugs is considered to be a worse crime than using drugs. So the police naturally prioritise the worse crimes by going after the sellers/dealers of drugs rather than the users of drugs.

Most sellers/dealers of drugs are working class and most users are middle class. Working class is majority white but has disproportionately high % black people as well. Whereas middle class is also majority white but disproportionately low % black people.

So the justice system by prioritising the dealing/sale of drugs over the use of drugs as criminal offences is indirectly racist towards black people. Indirect discrimination is much harder to unpack and prevent than direct discrimination.

The stop and search statistics are direct discrimination/racism because the police are in working class areas and yet decide to search a disproportionate number of black people than white. They’re not doing stop and search in the naice middle class and upper class areas of cities.

In addition the child was at the wrong type of school to be a dealer/peddle drugs.

From what I know, every secondary school has a drug dealer or way to access drugs. I don’t think any type of school is exempt or safe.

That said, I’ve been strip searched was also on my period and had to remove my sanitary towel. They literally also cut my bra to pieces to ensure nothing hidden in it. It is very traumatising and I was a 39 yr old adult. I can only imagine how much worse it would be for a 15yr old and then be expected to take an exam! There was definitely racial bias in choosing her to search. And racism in making it a strip search, it never should have been a strip search as she is a child.

It doesn't matter of that girl was in possession of millions of pounds of Class A drugs. This should never have been allowed to happen.

Some people seem to fall over themselves to say how tolerant the UK is compared to other countries (not you, OP as you made a wider point). These people seem to think a vague hint of equality deserves a bloody parade. Equality doesn't deserve a round of applause. It should be the standard.

Personally, as a black woman, yes the UK is very racist. I work in elderly care and quite frankly prefer the elderly people referring to me affectionately as the nice dark girl etc much less offensive than the covert racism in every day life.

There is also a huge problem with white people telling me what I should be offended about and why, and accusing me of racism if I don't agree with them or my lived experience doesn't fit with their theory.