Does the UK have a racism problem?

[JolllyBee]

In just the last 24 hours alone we've had in the news:

Prince William’s godmother quits palace over comments to black charity boss

Meghan Markle had several 'disgusting' and credible threats to her life, Met cop reveals

Various people's census rants going viral and getting a scary amount of support

James McAvoy shocked by hometown racism in Glasgow after castmates abused on street

and a few days prior:

London Fire Brigade houses a toxic culture of bullying, racism and misogyny, inquiry finds

I think what's got people's backs up is that when people say 'this is a racist country' what they mean is 'white people in this country are racist'. If some racist scrote called you names, would you be less offended if they were some other ethnic minority?

Quite honestly I would say racism is alive and kicking all over the world but some countries call it patriotism.

The thread about lady Hussey is a prime example of some people's racism. Her questions could be interpreted as a genuine query or a put down.

It all depends on what is being said to whom and how the recipient decides to take it. Were they being deliberately nasty or were they asking a question - who knows?

When people asked my husband where he was from he always assumed they meant his heritage and so he confirmed his country of origin, but he also said where he lives now. People do not always mean to be racist even if they appear so. Its a fine line between one or the other in some cases.

I have grey hair now and do not like it when people assume (wrongly) I don't have my full faculties and talk to my son or daughter instead of me. Isn't that a form of racism also?

Rich through slavery and colonialism. How pride making,

I think you are confusing prejudice with racism. Do you understand what racism is an how it manifests itself overtly and covertly, including how it permeates every pore of our institutions to exclude and deny the victims of racism?

Do you understand how Lady Hussey would have caused injury to Ngozi. That othering, exclusion from belonging in a space she had every right to be in? Do you understand how this will cause other black women to self-exclude from these spaces for fear of this emotional violence against them?

Yes it does. And we need to start listening to people who have experienced it rather than white people claiming it doesn't exist because they haven't experienced it themselves.
There's another thread going about the racist royal woman with MANY people defending what was clearly racist questioning of a black woman.

I had similar at school and again, nothing done. I also had one young girl who would routinely punch me and one time when I finally complained (I was 8) she told the teacher I had made a racist comment to her. I didn't even know what that was at age 8. To me, she was another girl in my class who was mean to me. Despite this teacher taking no action against her for the assaults I routinely experienced in front of her and other staff, I was made to face the wall in the school hall (a tactic that is cruel and designed to cause embarrassment because of course others ask why you are there and we're shooed away and told, in my case, I was a nasty girl who said racist things) for the entire lunch hour. This was 1990. My parents complained and we're "warned" that it would go on my record.

Am I angry at that girl? No. I'm angry that adults could have stepped in and taught her that violence wasn't acceptable. I think she behaved that way as she struggled with language, so couldn't join in with games and things with the rest of us. She was probably horribly isolated. I'm cross that someone somewhere told her that if you get in trouble, blame the person. Say they've said this to you.

Do I now hate anyone from her community? No of course not.

But it does happen, and whichever way it goes, it's not right.

I have grey hair now and do not like it when people assume (wrongly) I don't have my full faculties and talk to my son or daughter instead of me. Isn't that a form of racism also?

I'm sorry, what?

I think that some people are racists in the UK, but generally, people are becoming more educated about it, and we are far more likely to call people out on it now than, say, 20 years ago.

The fact that the elderly woman yesterday resigned after being called out on it shows that awareness is growing.
As a white English woman, I have experienced racism exactly twice: in rural Wales and in Madrid, Spain. It wasn’t pleasant, and I still remember it many years after each event, so I can only imagine what people who experience racism more frequently feel, and therefore I fully support any and all efforts to point out casual and not-so-casual remarks and continue to do so myself.
If enough of us in society do this, it will get better, as it already has - but it will take time…

Exactly this.

This particular poster seems to fall into the "you are white thus you are racist" group.

It doesn't mean we deny an issue, we do call out actual racism.

You misunderstand - I'm talking about negativity, hatred, violence directed at you because you are white - that double whammy of racism and misogyny. There was a whole thread about it on MM recently, but it got shut down because it was feared it was encouraging racism towards ethnic minority men.

Missed that gem 😂

Reminds me of a racist on TV saying it’s ok to be racist because he is being discriminated against by shops who don’t stock his size.

The sub text is minorities have to solve every white person’s grievance first before we can ever tackle racism against black people.

Those are NOT on the same scale of divisiveness.

Of course, there's some truth to the idea of of white privilege in a white majority country - there's power in numbers. But racists are responsible for racism - it's really not that complicated.

*This particular poster seems to fall into the "you are white thus you are racist" group.

It doesn't mean we deny an issue, we do call out actual racism*

White people don't get to be the arbiters of what is racist. Especially if you then go on to deny what non white people are calling out as racist.

No. That may be some but not all. If I say I’ve dealt with overt and covert racism I don’t limit it to just white people because it’s not just white people who have been racist towards me nor is it only white people in the UK.

I’ve spoken with other women of my minority group and they say the same, it’s never just white people and would be nice if some white people stop assuming that it’s always about them when it’s not.

@MNHQ I think you’ve deleted my response to this post by mistake.

Here is a government chart showing that 83% of people convicted for race crimes were white.

It doesn’t help the debate if we start deleting facts, MNHQ.

Please can my post be re-instated?

I think the more I understand about unconscious bias and micro aggressions, I realise how far we are from the happy multi cultural society we like to portray to the rest of the world.
I am white, and have always lived in predominantly white areas, although taught in a very mixed college for some of my career.
I don't think I have a racist bone in my body but when I did an inconsious bias test it demonstrated to me just how deep it is that "white is right"

Nope, already rich before that.

I think there’s racism everywhere. It’s just that we also have people passionate about trying to improve things. I do think that the racists in the UK are in the minority but are vocal and often do or say shocking things which are rightly called out in the media or social media.

And also, we’re not going to see as many stories coming from other countries about the racism problems there but I have no doubt they are there and are probably worse.

Black women are the most disenfranchised people in the UK.

Again, you are trying to make this about white women, who are much more privileged than black women as a whole.

It has a banging on and on and on about it problem. I'm at the point where I'm not going to give any time or energy (as ordered to by the media) to such things - or most of the other things they demand us to give our attention and energy to.

This thread has taught me there is no point even engaging in debate because certain posters will see you as wrong no matter what purely based on the fact we are white. We are immediately painted as institutionally racist, bigots who secretly subscribe to right wing ideologies

That in itself is racist but apparently it's fine because of my race. I do however love that when I printed out racism towards the traveller community, one poster decided to suggest this was gaslighting and to completely ignore that communities issues with outward abuse that is fine to many because it's only travellers.

If anyone would like a reasonable debate then please let them me know when the righteously offended get bored.

It was prosperous but it relied on slavery and colonialism to become rich.

Thanks for getting it and being an ally