RURAL RACISM

[findingthepremise]

So, I live in a predominately white area, an affluent area also. It has become apparent to me that even after decades have passed, the mixed or otherwise non white minority has never developed. I ask myself why? I find that in many rural areas this is the case and I cant understand why. Is having a housing stipulation under the council that requests that only people with family ties to the area can apply to put their name forward for the housing association schemes? is that possibly an undercurrent of racism?

Yes. I’m all for it. I’ll gladly be an ally for my fellow humans from other communities who decide to request reparations. Knock yourself out. Go for it!

Btw, the slave masters on my maternal side were Scottish, hence why my Mother’s maiden name is a Scottish name. So, I could possibly benefit from your reparations as a descendant, not an ally.
We could be related! 😵

Actually, I could claim reparations from multiple countries (including India - former British colony) and two Caribbean islands (British colonies) due to my mixed ethnicity. Also, all my living family members on both sides have receipts in the form of DNA results. How pissed off are you now? 😂🤣😂

Keep Googling and you’ll get there, eventually…🥱
Don’t let your brain explode 🤯

I’ve lived rurally all my life and loads of people around in the countryside are still racist as fuck, sadly. Take my dad for example. Rich farmer, uses horrible derogatory language towards other races a lot, voted for brexit to keep ‘the rag heads’ out 😵‍💫😵‍💫 (difficult to know where to start with that one). And all his chums are just as bad, sending each other ‘hilarious’ racist memes all the time.

I was talking to the (black) landlord of a pub in Bristol years ago who said he used to travel for work and him and his white colleague were booked into a b&b in a village near where I grew up. He arrived earlier than his colleague, gave his name to the b&b owner who looked him up and down and said “sorry we’re full”. So he went to find somewhere else to stay. His white colleague arrived at the original b&b later in the day and checked in with no problems. Sadly the mindset of people here is stuck in the bloody 1950s a lot of time.

So no, if I was not white, and looking to settle somewhere, I wouldn’t choose somewhere where racism is rife, and where my kids would be the only black kids in school. I think it would be making life a lot more difficult than it needed to be.

Sorry if I have offended anyone here, not everyone in the countryside is a twat btw, but there are a lot of backwards people around.

I have no clue why my point about the Romans got deleted (and it turns out they don't even tell you) but I need everybody to please keep going, this thread is hilarious.

Especially the torrent of intersectional claptrap coming from certain people in response to pretty innocuous points.

I’m really not surprised by the racist anecdotes and racist pp, although I cannot fathom how some people are still so backward and deluded in 2023! It really is a mental illness.

Alas! There’s hope, as they’ll eventually all die off seething with their hate. What a life to live. Sad.

but I need everybody to please keep going, this thread is hilarious.

Yes, because ‘If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.’

This is why a lot of Black people have such a GSOH. Imagine dealing with this racist shit your whole life. We have no choice but to make lemonade in order to keep our MH in check, to survive and to thrive.

I'd be very interested in hearing from those (especially those below the age of 40) why they consider a golly to be racist

Im over 60 but I can see why a golly is seen as racist. I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s with and loved tv shows like On The Buses, Please Sir, Mind Your Language, It Ain’t Alf Hot Mum and The Black And White Minstrel Show’ Looking back i thank god that we have moved on and are aware of every day vile racism. And it was utterly vile. Hopefully we are evolving. There’s a long way to go. Golliwogs were comical looking things that crudely ‘represented’ and exaggerated black features. The end of the word was a slur used to refer to people of black heritage. I used to hear kids at school calling a black child a wog. Terrible then, terrible now. The Robinsons gollywogs were given free or as a reward for collecting a certain amount of jam jar labels or whatever. That to me is a problem.

Not sure, my husband is well in his 70s, black and he had one as a child he tells me. He experienced lots of racism as a child and as an adult, I'm pretty sure things were worse in the 40s and 50s but I don't think his toy features in his bad memories but maybe that is just because the other memories are so bad.

excellent programme on minstrels and black imagery.
outstanding image for me was a photo of minstrels on a London street surrounded by children taken in the early 1900s. Those children would have been in their 50s when Windrush arrived - their views about black people driven by images such as minstrels. Powerful stuff.
ihttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p474

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passed-failed-an-education-in-the-life-of-benjamin-zephaniah-performance-poet-6096784.html

this piece by Benjamin Zephaniah references th gollywogs

We moved to a rural community 2 years ago, apart from a couple of jokes in the village pub that fell flat, not experienced any racism. However when we did first come to look at the house we bought, the owners were just 10 years older than us, so must be late 40s, professional, well traveled and worldly and had house filled with Jim Crow era memorabilia. A Jolly Ni**er bank, was the first thing I spotted on a shelf when I walked in. House filled with equally offensive things including on the wall a black minstrels head where the bottle opener bottle opener was his lips. Such class!

I have a feeling the estate agent warned them because after visiting the first property we got here before him and the owner turned up, rushed through the door claiming to have left her phone behind, was in there for a while then and came out looking sheepish. Had a feeling it was in a more prominent place with the back showing because as you can see from the fact this taff is still sold on Amazon today, it's highly offensive!

It bugged me for a long time until I found and watched a documentary about those things and realised there has been a massive increase in people collecting things like that. It explained even black people were buying them up as they felt it was a part of their history, a painful one but one which they don't want to see the world whitewash. I gave the owners the benefit of doubt and bought their house. It was still 100x better than the racist old woman I bought my last house from in London 4 years ago. She was a peach, she kindly reassured me 'I'm not really 'black-black - one of the good blacks' before she went on a rant about how all black people are all criminals. It's such a lovely experience buying a house when black - you never know what you are going to walk into!

I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if we went back far enough to find a family connection between us. There is a deifinite Indian and likely Egyptian background on my Mothers side we know about. We have a saying in Scotland 'Jock Tamson's bairns'.

As for reparations. Like yourself, I'm reasonably happy with my lot in life. I appreciate my success or failure is entirely down to me. I cannot use my Great Great Great Great infinitum Grandparents experiences as an excuse because I didn't do well at School or had poorly paying jobs in the past.

Toomuchmarking
I agree wholeheartedly we need to remove the black v white thing that some people hold, and point our anger at those that continue to do financially well from the working class.
The idea that our colonial past is supplying todays hospital workers isn't just as straightforward as you think. Here is a list of Nationalities working in the NHS 2022.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7783/
You will see a large number have never been part of the British empire. Furthermore, using the largest group, India. Todays workers were decades off being conceived when India gained it's independence, which was at the wishes of the Indian people.

WakeMeUpWhenTheyHaveGone
You ask who brought up the gollywog to begin with, well that would be you...sorry I mean FucksSakeSusan on page 9. You both must of went to the same school as you incorrectly spell niceness (naiceness). 😂

Chiefofstaff Ted27
As one of you point out the picture of children pictured with minstrels dates back to over 100 years ago. Yes minstrels are by todays standards (shit) and inappropriate. But the reality is that todays generations don't have a clue about them. Regarding Benjamin Zephaniah, we have to appreciate this is a gentleman in his 60's who's experiences thankfully were different to todays youngsters.

We have a similar example with bigotry in the West of Scotland with sectarian hatred regarding catholic & protestant. However the knuckle draggers banging on about William of Orange, Battle of the Boyne etc, couldn't actually tell you the history. All they see is Rangers & Celtic and use it as an excuse.

This is where my bugbear comes from with Golliwogs. When those claiming it as racist for a large part don't know why. I believe that Upton, the recognised creator of the name Golliwog was most upset that it was perceived racially and requested the Black community claim the doll back as just being a doll.

Daddydog
That is an interesting point you make about collecting. As for the racist old woman, she was an old boot in my opinion. Thankfully the majority of us are more enlightened now.

@CallumDansTransitVan

I posted the Benjamin Zephaniah piece in response to someone suggesting that black people did not find gollywogs offensive. He clearly does.
The photo - yes it's over 100 years old. The point is that those children would have been adults when Windrush arrived and there perceptions and attitudes towards black people were shaped by such imagery.

Whilst I am white, my son is not. He is still growing up in a world with deeply ingrained images and attitudes.

I thought the David Harewood programme was fascinating and was really helpful to me in understanding the historical roots of minstrels and how that continues down the generations. I'd recommend it if you haven't seen it.

@CallumDansTransitVan

I’m busy, so I’ll be quick. I also haven’t had time to read any of the information via the links that @Ted27 and you have posted today.

I note a tiny bit of some serious backtracking there! Have you conducted a vast amount of reading and become a little more enlightened since yesterday?

I’ll leave @FucksSakeSusan and other pp to explain our intentional misspelling of the word ‘nice’.

I’m sure Indian and non-Indian pp will be along to set the record straight on Indian independence and the history of Indians working in the NHS.

But that does bring us on to the current generations knowledge of it. The very youngest Windrush baby if born immediately after his/her parents arrived will be 63 now. He/She will likley be Grandparents to todays 20 somethings. A great many children coming in as part of Windrush will sadly now be dead.

Lets be fair, no matter what ethnic background, we should be taking their opinions as that of the past. Just the same as the nasty white woman or South african woman in Daddydog's post above.

I live in a rural area and overheard a woman (Afro-Caribbean descent may be) telling someone that they were moving back to the city as they missed the multicultural nature of the city. Sadly, it remains very white around here and I know my friends of colour have said they take into account if they will be one of very few brown faces when they move. I think racism is definitely a factor.

Are you insinuating that minorities can only move somewhere with the help of social housing op?

Surely that works both ways? If a white person was to move to say Jamaica or Mexico ? Would they be welcomed purely on how they look?

But as demonstrated on this thread, there are still people with racist views.

But that does bring us on to the current generations knowledge of it. The very youngest Windrush baby if born immediately after his/her parents arrived will be 63 now. He/She will likley be Grandparents to todays 20 somethings. A great many children coming in as part of Windrush will sadly now be dead.

My maternal Grandmother is still alive and is part of the Windrush generation. My Mother was born in London and is the eldest child with many siblings. They are all still alive.

My Father is also still alive. My Father arrived in the UK with his parents and a couple of older siblings during the Windrush years. They went on to have further children who were British born. All my Aunts and Uncles on my paternal side of the family are alive.

My family have done well to educate and pass down as much of our Black history to the younger generations as they could. Therefore, make no mistake - the current generations are very aware re. exactly what happened and how it impacted our Grandparents, parents, Aunts and Uncles, etc. My parents ensured that I attended a Black History Saturday School when I was a child. Even though the younger generations may not have experienced or remember the Windrush years, we understand exactly how our generational trauma came to be.

Both sets of my Grandparents worked hard and were able to eventually purchase houses in London after arriving in the U.K. during the Windrush years. Both of my Grandmothers also worked outside of the home whilst also raising large families. My maternal Grandmother was the one who applied for their first mortgage.

Although my both of my paternal Grandfathers’ families were not totally dirt poor back in the Caribbean (by Caribbean standards mind you), my Grandparents’ generation was the first generation able to pass down generational wealth.

There certainly are. But imo perpetuating the perceived prejudice on to generations so far removed from incidents of the past is counter productive imo. An example would be the post from WakeMeUpWhenTheyHaveGone

Racism will only cease to exist once White people do the work.

White people need to deconstruct the system of White Supremacy that they have upheld, whether consciously or unconsciously.

White people invented racism, i.e., the classification of humans by the colour of their skin, in order to benefit themselves and to justify the disgraceful treatment of others.

That statement itself is incredibly racist. You cannot reasonably challenge racism at the same time as maligning an entire race based on a small amount.

Educate by all means. But as has been demonstrated by this thread. The majority of the human race have faced serious aversions or discrimination at some point, based on their social standing not colour or race.

Guestetiquette
Surely then your friends of colour are actually displaying racism themselves-ie I'm not going there because they are all white. I can totally understand missing the multicultural aspect of a city. Just like missing the ability to go to the theatre or eat cusine not found in rural places.

Maybe they have the sense to realise that the Cotswolds, while pretty, isn't actually somewhere they want to live? I certainly wouldn't live there.

I live rurally. I never see anyone but white people unless I go into a town or city centre.

When I go hiking every day I only see the occasional white person.

There aren't any signs or anything that would deter anyone of an ethnic origin so there's nothing to stop anyone coming here. 🤷🏼‍♀️

No, it does not work both ways.

Due to the system of White Supremacy, White people are generally considered Top Dog and are treated like royalty in most countries when they travel, migrate and are the minority.

Case in point - Ukrainians being given the red carpet treatment in the U.K. compared to migrants from brown countries.

Other than South Africa, where are White people made to feel not welcome and are told to fuck off? Although, there is a reason for that in SA - again history of colonisation, Apartheid, etc.

Look at who heads up the Governments in some of these countries. With the exception of most Black African countries, if they are brown, how brown are they? Colourism runs deep within Black and POC communities. House slaves - lighter skin tones due being raped by their slave masters, whilst the other slaves were forced to work outside on the plantations. The Caste system in South Asian communities - class system based on skin tone and whether one works outside in the Sun, etc.

There are loads of White people in Jamaica. Lots of Chinese people too. I was surprised to hear Chinese people with a Jamaican patois accent when visiting as a child. I assume they enjoy living there. They are also prosperous unlike the vast majority of Black people in Jamaica. Now, I wonder why that would be? 🤔

There's one incredibly racist poster on this thread and it's not the one you keep quoting.