to be thinking wtf when it's difficult to walk down a street in town these days?

[LolaTheShowgirl]

The town I used to live in and grew up in is very multicultural. Some areas of the town are majority populated by the Asian community. Now the other day myself and 2 friends were walking through a particular area trying to find somewhere. None of us had ever been in this area before, but as it was a nice day people where out and about and we did not see one non-Asian person at all. The majority of our walk was on a main road and all the people in the cars were even Asian. This itself was not a problem. The problem was the hostile stares we recieved. People looked really angry that we had dared to be white and go in their area.

One of the people who was with us looks Pakistani (although is Iranian) and apparantely one of his friends saw us and said "it's lucky those white fuckers where with you, otherwise they'd have had a good beating by someone or other"

I am really quite upset soe of you think i'm racist. My best friend was not white and I do have many Asian friends. Call it what you want and i'm much against the fucking BNP so don't any of you dare to suggest I support them.

Miflaw- You seem to be making arguments where there aren't any. I wonder why you took my post as a challenge.
People should be allowed to express negative as well as positive experiences without being patronised.

I agree utterly mrsruffalo. I am wary of stating facts in relation to something like racial make up because I sometimes feel that by doing so, others are somehow seeing something almost hostile in it. The BNP's rise to power is due in large part to this fear of being open about and discussing race and immigration.

One of the great things about the Polish wave of immigration to my mind is that the whole issue of immigration is now not automatically linked to race,

Lola, was it in East Manchester (North East Manchester maybe)? A town in Tameside?

If it was then I have heard old work colleagues say the same thing tbh.

Have no idea if it is true or not as have never been there.

Lola - if you're not racist, why did you star this thread with this title?

Yes Lizzylou, it was! I'm happy that it wasn't just myself feeling uncomfortable and that your colleagues feel the same way.

because it is difficult to walk through that area while feeling intimidated!

FWIW I think the OP is just attention seeking. Lots of other odd threads started by her where she poses an inflamatory and/or daft question to light the touch paper, so to speak, and then buggers off. OP - wherever you are, they probably weren't staring at you, you're not that important in the grand scheme of things.

Personally, I live in a very multicultural area, and my nearest shops within walking distance are indian grocers, which I use all the time. Never had the slightest degree of prejudicial behaviour towards me. But then again I don't go out expecting it. TBH it it is more unsettling going down the nightclub street on a Friday night than it is walking through the multicultural area (Gloucester, btw, if anyone is wondering).

There has also been a programme (could have been regional) about the no go areas in said town as well. Both Asian and white. There is an awful lot of bad feeling and voluntary segregation there.

My Business Partner used to do a lot of voluntary work aimed at trying to break down barriers between the two sides.

So I think Lola could well be perfectly genuine in her concerns.

Oh, there you are

Yes, this thread title is racist.

Well, I used to live in Hackney and currently frequent Brixton, and have never felt intimidated in either place. But then, you enver know. A friend of mine was beaten up in Chelsea for wearing a kippah.

I do recall seeing a programme based on an area in the North of England where white and Asian cab drivers wouldn't cross into each others parts of town.

but I used to live in a multicultural area, I went to a school where whites were in the minority! I had absolutely no problems there and loved the fact that it was so diverse. This place is so different! Maybe you have to experience it to understand.

I know several people who live in Cheltenham who wouldn't dream of walking through Gloucester, and think I am mad to do so every day. They have complained hat they have been given 'evils' by women wearing veils etc when they have been in the Gloucester Asda. They also say that they feel intimidated by the black people that mill around. I think it is to do with people's personal perception of danger and their own prejudices.

well that is your opinion

Ooh which town Lizzy??

"The BNP's rise to power is due in large part to this fear of being open about and discussing race and immigration. "

another huge factor in the bnp or any white pride groups rise in popularity with young white men is the ignoring of racial incidents from ethnic minorities towards white people and percieved double standards. such as casual racism used by black comediens or jokey honkey/cracker/whitey phrases not being jumped upon in the same way as when a famous white person says the word nigger.
now i'm not saying this is right or wrong , but it is a factor because it gives these young pissed off men a sense of injustice because it is as though they are being held to a different set of standards due to things that have nothing to do with them. i.e. slavery or racial segregation, if you are 20 years old it had nothing to do with you.
and this is a tool used day in,day out by groups like the BNP or stormfront or ayrian nation in the states. because they point out things like "wow your high school has a black pride group, if you tried to start a white pride group you'd be called racist/ see how chris rock makes fun of white people?if a white comic did the same about a black person the press would run him out of town/ if a white kid beats up a asian kid it's assumed it's to do with race, if a asian kid did it to a white kid no one would jump to that conclusion."

sorry i know i'm a bit all over the place, but my basic point is that i think we need to educate children of all races about what is acceptable, and not just focus on the white perpetrators simply because they are in the majority while ignoring or paying lip service to the same transgressions by ethnic minorities becuase highlighting perceived injustices against young white males is the way that these groups lure in their huge youth following.and it is huge,all you have to do is look at stormfront for proof.

I took it as a challenge because it came directly after mine! But actually I was just commenting on your comment.

No one is being patronised that I can see. But if someone says something which reeks of racism - as certain posters have, though not you - I will challenge it. I too have the right to state my opinion without being patronised by heavy-handed (and unjustified) sarcasm like, "oh, I suppose it's not important if it's a white person."

Claire2009 shirley you mean North Prospect

FWIW my grandmother lives in North Prospect and she doesn't find it that bad.

dxx

Agree with you again mq.

Another issue is the middle class types like the guy from Tower Hamlets council who proposed that all non-Muslims should refrain from eating in front of Muslims in meetings and so on during Ramadan. I don't know a single Muslim who gives a damn what non-Muslims do or don't do during Ramadan.

Oldham, Suwoo

"such as casual racism used by black comediens or jokey honkey/cracker/whitey phrases not being jumped upon in the same way as when a famous white person says the word nigger." This is another thread entirely - in fact it's been done - but why would you WANT to use the word "nigger" to describe a black person?

Not so long ago I was a young white man myself, and at times a very bitter one about my hard luck life. Never was I in the least tempted to join one of these foul organisations. (I was tempted once to put a brick through the window of the FN party offices in the rough end of Nice, but never did.) But never did I think, my life's so hard and the reason is that black comedians are allowed to call me a honky, I think I'll become a fascist activist.

Aah right. I used to go out with a lad from Oldham but haven't been there recently. I do know of the racial tensions around Wernerth (?) from a few years ago. Like I said earlier, I live near Cheetham Hill and am going there tonight- never had any problems there thankfully.

another poster going to stick up for Tooting - I feel incredibly safe there even alone at night.

oo lalah everybody has got their knickers in a twist,i only got off a bus in kirkby-in-ashfield and am not from the area,it was sunny and was ready for going out to the infamous railway pub on a date,i walked through an estate past willow avenue (thats the one where the residents put their own sofas at each end of their street and burned them in protest against the poll tax!) i walked the whole way to the railway pub,about 15mins walk,all the residents were leaning on their front gates and almost everyone of them made a blatant nasty comment to me as i passed,NICE [SMILE][SMILE][SMILE]