Flag bearers, marchers- these are your (white) people…

[Dannydevitoiloveyourart]

AIBU to think that if you attended the Unite the Kingdom rally and/or displayed English flags because Tommy Robinson told you to- the racists in the linked video are your people and you are either a racist or complicit with racism.

A black YouTuber went in disguise to the rally and had no difficulties finding racists happy to openly air their views:

My husband often hears similar comments to those in the video from ordinary local white people who feel comfortable and mistake him as one of them, but don’t realise he’s married to a brown person.

Just because you agree with the views of a racist organisation or cause on a single issue, does not make it ok to join that racist organisation or cause. In the same way believing in a free Palestine does not make it ok to join Hamas.’ Dissatisfaction with post WW1 reparations and sanctions did not make it ok for Germans to endorse the Nazi party. Anger about economic policies does not make it ok for Americans to vote Trump. If you want to join those causes over a single issue, you should admit that you are in fact a terrorist/ racist/ xenophobic.

YABU- it’s unfair to call someone racist just because they have marched with Tommy Robinson or hung flags in support of his movement

YANBU- you cannot support a racist/xenophobic movement without actually being racist/ xenophobic

Wanting to control immigration does not necessarily racist. It depends where you are on the scale from 'Let's have an adult discussion about sensible controls', to 'Kick all the forriners out'. Vilifying and making sweeping statements about people based on where they come from is racist/xenophobic/call it what you like. It's wrong.

Now, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is a violent, woman-beating cokehead who has been arrested for stalking, got his pseudonym from a notorious football hooligan and spread vicious and malicious lies about (amongst other things) a refugee who was assaulted. His history of immigration trouble (deported from Columbia, arrested for using a false passport) would be funny were it not for all of this hatred he's whipping up.
If you think he's not such a bad guy, go to his rallies, or parrot what he says, I don't mind calling you a racist, or at the very least an ignorant twat.

I live among, work with, teach and my life is currently being saved by hundreds of people from all walks of life. I'm grateful for the diversity of my community. I feel safe walking down my local high street, whose shop fronts and residents would give Steve and Nige a heart attack. I wouldn't feel safe in any pub they're in.

But I am one of those people and I still think it's frightening that lots of people attended a rally led by the founder of EDL in order to listen to racist conspiracy theories.

Also, I (and my friends and family – we talk about these issues) find it quite offensive when middle class, well off people assume that poorer people aren't capable of responding to social issues around them without resorting to attending far-right rallies.

Totally agree 👏👏👏

This. My family are ‘brown’ and were given asylum in the Uk in the late 70’s - Grandfather was a diplomat in the Iranian embassy when the Shah fell. They could not have returned to Iran under the new regime and have expected to live and certainly my aunts would not have had the freedom to marry/not marry or pursue an education (one was a consultant for NASA and has a PhD).

Every single one of my aunts and uncles have concerns about the current immigration system and the failure to work with Europe to manage the wave of illegal immigrants. Are they also racist? Or are those views permitted if your skin shade sits on the right part of the colour spectrum? They are NHS doctors, lawyers, and one even served in the RAF so their concerns are informed by lived experience.

I do agree, though, that they and I would NOT have ever have attended a Tommy Robinson led march though. There is no doubt that a huge driver for that particular event was right wing racism and anyone participating who says that they weren’t there for those reasons is either blindly or knowingly being disingenuous. I refuse to follow anyone on FB etc who attended or who post pro Reform propaganda.

Dehumanising people is definitely part of the reason people are being called racists.

Calling people “illegal” - clearly having no understanding of international human rights law - also massively ignorant.

People supporting Reform are clearly demonstrating their racism or lack of education. Other people mentioning this is a perfectly reasonable response.

Probably because sadly they seem to be the only ones listening about immigration about people fears of immigration

The word racist has lost its power because does used to shut people down talking about anything

don’t agree with me … your racist
say xyz your racist
go on a march your racist

when it’s used pretty much every day it’s loses its real meaning

a lot of people don’t care if they are called racist ( years ago they did - it was one of the worse words you could use )

I’m a brown person born in England and grew up in a very very white area with lots of white friends and family and I have lots of brown family and friends as well

and to be perfectly honest I haven’t encountered any direct racism at myself - personally growing up

but neither do I go looking for it or think that every little look or remark I get i get is racist

The immigration system in this country has been broken for decades. Asking for it to be funded properly and for the backlog to be cleared is not racist .

Equating immigrants with rapist is clearly very racist. Marching with the far right - clearly very racist and/or ignorant.

But those are not the drivers for Tommy Robinson - he is a self promoting, criminal racist.

Anyone who went on that march is a piece of vermin. End of.

I said "for centuries" not "centuries ago". It is still happening. It's current.
I really wish the patriots would get a grip on their own language.

If you have become immune to being called racist because you are called it so often, is perhaps look at yourself.

The question is less should you call them out and more how should you interact with them if there is a chance they will change their minds

divisions in society only strengthen the extremism falling out with people will push them away

it’s a hard one and clearly some people are too disgusting to spend any time with - and beyond hope

we can’t expect everyone to be a good person we just need enough good people

Maybe it’s just the word is used so often in general or no longer has any real meaning
everyone seems to use it as a way of shutting stuff down they disagree with

it might not mean that the person is being called racist on a daily basis

OMG. Yes if only all the people who are wrong listen to me ,because I'm right, and then everything will be beautiful and peachy. That is such an absolutely left wing thing to say.

Yes I actually think all people are racist as humans are very tribal, there is no example that I know of of a peaceful society with the constant large population churn of vastly different cultures that the European govts of the past 30 years (and massively ramped up by Bozo in the last 5 years), have experimented with (with us all as the lab rats) and is obviously only possible because of mass travel and the Internet . Its bound to end badly.

You know very well that the majority of 14 year old girls who are sexually abused after abused by their own fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, and brothers. Why aren't you concerned about the vast majority?
You are being played. The real abuse is being deflected away so the real abusers can continue to abuse. In this country the vast majority of sexual abusers are white British-born men.

23 June 2016

Offs - I am not saying i expect people to listen to me

I am saying that some people won’t have seen all angles and are open to discussion

and maybes if you were prepared to talk you might also understand why people act they way they do better and make you better able to see solutions

And are you hoping to listen to their viewpoint and experiences and understand why they feel as they do . Or are you just right.

Yes, all these accusations of racism just wind people up and push them towards Reform. Defeats the object.

Would you advocate for violence to be used against them?

@Dannydevitoiloveyourartgrow up. You're doing the same thing so don't call others out on it

If you think it is offensive for white people to say 'brown people' then why is it ok for you to say 'white people'. White people also come from all sorts of different cultures and demographics, many of whom have also been marginalised in the past. But I guess only you can take offense and decide on the rules of what is appropriate? For the record, I don't take offense to being called a white person, but I can't believe you referred to brown people in your post and then call someone else out for using the same term. You can't make it up. I'm so sick of these double standards and people like you drive the divide further.

The issue is that the discussion is being shutdown, people then get annoyed, want to show their feelings and rather than looking at it as there are a lot of unhappy people it becomes a game of insults and forces people to attend events to show their frustration.
I’m not racist but I am against uncontrolled immigration and a lack of integration, there’s a literal cost for those things (not just hotels but translation services, heath care etc) and also a hidden cost in that our society changes beyond all recognition.
Who’s willing to discuss those issues properly because all I’ve seen so far is name calling rather than a willingness to listen to people’s concerns.

If we believe in tolerance and diversity for all, even former members of the Taliban, then we can be nice to Reform voters too ❤️