Racism against south Asians in the UK

[ArtfulKoala]

This is a very hard thread for me to begin. I’ve been intending to do it for months but felt unable to do so. I was born in the UK but I am of south Asian origin. My parents and grandparents emigrated here. We are five generations British and counting.

I feel that racism and racial suspicion towards brown skinned people has absolutely gone off the scale since Reform gained a foothold in mainstream politics.

At first it was the little things - being subjected to an extended bag check when entering a museum when white visitors walked straight in or were casually asked to just open the large section which wasn’t really checked. This is especially the case at places like Kensington Palace and the Imperial War Museum. For reference, I am talking about a small handbag 15cm by 25cm probably smaller than their own guidelines state. At Kensington Palace, it actually got to the ridiculous stage where the checker was asking me to open more and more zipped sections down to a 5cm one until there was literally nothing left to open and she was effectively asking me to open non existent ones!
There is an incident every time we are out ( me and my teenagers). People loudly talking about us standing right next to us talking about how we are entitled just because we have been directed to the front of the queue by staff as one of us is disabled.
Yesterday, we got on a damned train with cold, vegan salads from m&s and it started immediately. A white couple complaining loudly about “the smell” when there was none because they judged us by how we look and decided our food was smelly upon that basis. Then, when the ticket inspector came round and we showed the disabled railcard, a running commentary on how we must have gamed the system to obtain that.
It is really wearing. I don’t feel like we can belong here anymore despite being educated and fully integrated here. I fully pay for private housing, healthcare and education and yet I may as well have just stepped off a small boat yesterday as far as they are concerned. I cannot fight random bigots daily when we are just trying to live our lives having low key, relaxing private family time.
It is simply fogging to get worse isn’t it? I honestly believe that Farage will be the next PM ( I am politically literate enough to gauge this for myself rather than buying into tabloid scaremongering. Zayn Malik referred to similar experiences in the song he released last week. We have similar colourings to him and never experienced racism ever before this. Perhaps they think we are Middle Eastern and are directing a particular type of hatred towards us. Perhaps it is a new racism because there were not many Middle Eastern people in the UK until recently.

I know that it is not everyone everywhere but it is now frequent enough for us to come to expect it every time we leave the house. Is this the equivalent of the Weimar Republic for the UK? Since there is no such thing as “stopping the boats” then the headlines will continue and the hatred towards brown-skinned fully fledged Brits too.

If I don’t come back to this thread immediately, it is because it is a massive thing for me to write this down and I will be reading and considering the responses.

I believe you OP. There is racism here, always has been. I think it has become worse as we’re all a bit worse off and people look around for someone to ‘other’ or blame. I also think, with what’s happening in America and with Reform, people have been emboldened to say this kind of shit out loud. I see it all the time on community forums on Facebook, ranging from unfunny jokes to really direct statements. It’s horrible. I always report it. I don’t really have anyone in my social circles who would say or do anything like this. At least, I hope not. My mum’s gone a bit right wing in her old age but knows she gets short shrift from me if she brings it up. I’m so sorry you’re having to put up with this.

My area is mostly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and bangladeshi etc.

I'm very sorry for what happened with OP. I was surprised, nothing like this has happened to us.

But that’s the point really , you shouldn’t have to get used to it , it’s not right .

So do I, things tend to turn full circle. Unfortunately, I think that racism is likely to become worse. more widespread, before it gets better. Reform and its snake oil salesmen is making it politically acceptable.

I think you are right OP, it's increasing.

Social media, fake news, spin, sound bites...all feeding into this. I'm white but I'm hearing so much more racism being expressed openly, no fear that it isn't everyone's opinion.

I'm so sorry. I do challenge it when I can.

@xsquaredI definitely think there is more racism generally, but I’m white, so I don’t specifically know as much about it as you. I wouldn’t presume to, either. I would challenge it if I heard it.

I am white and have never experienced racism but I am seeing an increase in it on social media and even mainstream media and this is towards all non Western white ethnic groups. I agree that the increased popularity of Reform hasn't helped and nor has Brexit or what it going on in America right now.

It is so depressing and seems to bevhappening globally. I do not understand how people can be so thick and evil

I'm sorry this has happened to you OP and that sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable!

However I'm sorry to say part of the issue is that sometimes this goes both ways.

I live in a very mixed /diverse area and despite my children being very keen to pursue friendships with children from diverse backgrounds, certain families will not engage with white families in the community and it's been frustrating as the children play together happily in school.

Their children are not allowed to come to our house to play, invitations to birthday parties are ignored, no non-asian children are invited to their family home. This is despite our family being clear we are happy to respect any dietary needs or practices etc when children would be visiting our home. It's clear that friendships with white children are viewed as undesirable and something to be avoided.

It feels ridiculous and saddens me in this day and age that we cannot all just live together and enjoy being part of one big integrated community.

Yes it's on the rise. My dh has experienced racism several times, he's spent a large portion of his life in a small town with no other people of colour. His response is just to work hard and keep his head down but I don't see why I should subject my children to it. I've only experienced it since I moved here compared to the large multicultural city I left. My ds experienced it whilst at nursery. I want to move and am working hard to be able to leave the UK. I experienced it when pregnant with my ds and I am fully able to advocate for myself in english having been born and raised here. I reported it several times and the midwife was sanctioned.

I will say I haven't been subject to extra security searches though.

I've also experienced it from a so called white friend who was jealous about our recent holiday. I posted 4 pictures on Facebook of us doing excursions and I very rarely post. We both work hard (not saying they don't) and are in professions that pay relatively well, neither of us smokes, drinks or has expensive hobbies. I saved for the holiday. My brown family isn't the cause of her problems but it is easier to blame other people than take responsibility for ones self. I called her out on it, ended the friendship and blocked her.

I do worry about the safety of my children in the UK.

I am very sorry you are having this experience OP, might just be unlucky that you have come across these type of people.

I am Kurdish Muslim (olive skin tone) and have just started wearing a headscarf (this week) but never in my life have I experienced racism here in the UK or anywhere else...maybe I am lucky

I am nervous about how people will judge me now that I wear a headscarf but I ll just have to remind myself that there will always be a minority of judgemental people who fall for all the stereotypes.

Why have you started wearing a headscarf?

I know that, but some things wont change over night or within a couple of years.
What else are we supposed to do?

The main reason simply because it's part of my identity as a Muslim; the same way Sikhs may wear a turban or Jewish men wear a kippah.

There are also other reasons, for instance I have very exotic curly hair which requires a lot of care and sometimes I look like I have a birds nest on my head when I don't have time to tend to it - I need a good two hours from washing to styling for it to look nice and presentable.

However, when I put my headscarf on which takes two minutes I still look pretty and presentable so I find it freeing and relaxing : )

I agree that racist views seem more acceptable to be aired in public. People aren't afraid they will be called out so much any more.

I'm not sure people are more racist, I think it's always been there but it's more visible now than it used to be

Either way I'm really sorry for the things your family is experiencing. It's awful.

@SonK Thank you.

Your lucky.
I remember working in a shop in central london and part of my job was to ask customers if they needed any help.
I approached an english lady saying "hello, would you like any help at all?"
She responded by shouting "Go back to where you came from!"
I was utterly stunned and burst into tears. I was born in the UK, i have been here the whole of my life. And I was also a bit confused because what did she mean go back to where I came from? Go where?
My parents country wont accept me because the residents there can tell I'm foreign. Now I can see I wont be accepted here because I'm not white english. But the fact that some people think it's ok to speak to others like that it is sad.

I'm really sorry that happened to you. What happened next to that horrible woman?

She was barred.

It’s a delicate issue, but in my experience, the security workers checking bags - at least in London where I live - generally aren’t white. Most of the time when I’ve had my bag checked at museums and other attractions in the last few years, the checker has been black. So I think it’s all a bit more complicated than just being a simple product of the rise of Reform.

I expect they are given instructions on who to check. Racial profiling possibly? I don’t know if that’s actual policy at airports, for example, but anecdotally it certainly seems that way.

Are you excusing racism?

If the bag searching is due to profiling, i wonder if it is less to do with race than religion, because of a perception that south Asian people may be muslim. There is a credible threat of further islamic terrorism. I am not saying this to justify or talk away the disgusting racism you have suffered OP, particularly from individuals such as on your train journey. That is something no one should have to endure. So much for the little Englanders - they make me ashamed.

No,
I am pointing out the narratives that fuel it -
and the issue where people tend to jump on narratives that confirm their biases - that I’m / my lot are OK - and others are not —
e.g if a football supporter acts aggressively - people will label the football supporters as aggressors as opposed to some aggressive people go to football …

racism is not excusable
discrimination of any kind is not OK

understanding the contexts / psycho/ social factors that underpin it is essential

no, I don’t know how to combat it at societal level

I can only try and have a social conscious and influence those around me .. ?

It sounds like people are mistaking you for middle eastern rather than asian. Middle Eastern can incur negative emotions because of the negative associations. It must be awful for people who just want to get on peacefully with their lives. I take each person as they come regardless of appearance but unfortunately not everyone does.

I am sorry but not surprised you are experiencing this. The British like to think tolerance is a feature of our society but alongside it runs entrenched bigotry. Only last week, a person doing some work on our house (me and him white British) shared with me a WhatsApp conversation with one of his subcontractors in which our neighbour was referred to using the word 'Paki'. Those of us who are worried about the way things are going need wherever we can to call out behaviour like this, even in subtle ways.