What it means to Be an Ethinic in the Uk

[Thinkerman]

Interesting Article thought, but i found the statistic at the end, expecially the prison stats more telling. Is this what it means to be a somali in the Uk??

 

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Respect Candidates Speak Out Against Racism

 

'Nothing has really improved for black people in terms of the institutional racism we face. New Labour ignores us. But there is a thirst for a new political movement.'

 

Respect: The Unity Coalition has already selected several black candidates. They talked to Socialist Worker about the issues facing black people in New Labour's Britain

 

Gary McFarlane is standing on the Respect European list for London

 

I HAVE been active since the 1970s, when I was part of the struggles against the Nazi National Front organisation. I remember when Martin Luther King was shot, and having political discussions at home about things like the civil rights movement. My dad was in the air force, and he spoke about the inequalities he saw in there between the officers and ordinary men.

 

I started putting things together and became a socialist. I've been involved in so many justice campaigns-Joy Gardner, who died after police forcibly restrained her, and with the Sylvester family after Roger died in police custody. I helped organise a speaking tour round Britain for the Cardiff Three, who were wrongly imprisoned in 1990.

 

It's no wonder many people who have been campaigning feel betrayed by New Labour. Look at people like Paul Boateng. He posed as the radical Brent MP who made that infamous speech comparing his struggle to become a black Labour MP with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

 

Now he is in government in the Treasury pushing through cuts and a blank cheque for the war. Nothing has really improved for black people in terms of institutional racism. You can see that in the number of young black people who are unemployed or pushed into low paid, low status jobs. And you can see it in the way we still get abused by the police.

 

People's hopes that there would be change for the better after the Macpherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence have long gone. Now the police say they dare not deal with criminals because they are so terrified of being accused of racism! Yet everyone heard the vicious racism the police came out with in that BBC documentary, The Secret Policeman.

 

You can pass all the citizenship tests, be totally integrated in society, but if you have black or brown skin you face racism. Young black people are very integrated in terms of culture, music and sport, and that's positive. But it doesn't break the cycle of discrimination.

 

New Labour ignores us. But there is a thirst for a political movement that speaks for those bearing the brunt of New Labour's policies and the racism that David Blunkett loves to whip up.

 

 

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Janet Noble is the Respect candidate for Lambeth & Southwark and is on the London list for the GLA

 

EDUCATION IS a huge issue for black people. There is massive underachievement among black boys in particular. Some people blame this on racist teachers. But it is also connected with the whole process of selection in schools.

 

There is pressure on schools to get as many children as possible through exams so they get extra funding. This pressure happens in the context of a racist society, where teachers have preconceptions about which kids are likely to succeed and which to fail. The Labour MP Diane Abbott has been in parliament while her own government has further undermined the comprehensive education system.

 

It is hypocritical to say that if schools fail our kids we should send them to public schools. What kind of solution is that for most black families? My youngest child is at a primary school in Southwark. It has a brilliant mixture of pupils from the council estate and from the "desirable residences", from Vietnam, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, France, and so on.

 

This is celebrated as an enrichment of education and social experience. But when the kids get to secondary school exam mania sets in, and the idea of mixing goes out of the window. The pressure of exams turns lots of children off learning.

 

I am committed to education, but I have three kids, and my heart sinks at the thought of having to pay tuition fees. The government goes on about choice, but it all comes down to money in the end. And black people are still stigmatised in our society. I work in Lambeth council. All the low paid jobs are done by mainly black workers.

 

Because of the campaigns of the past there is a layer of black managers. But that doesn't mean there is a better service for our community. It's all about balancing the budget. We have to challenge New Labour. I wanted my children to have better opportunities in life than I did, but they haven't. It is pursuing a neo-liberal, business agenda.

 

And Labour doesn't care if people like us and our children get trampled in the process.

 

 

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Kevin Cobham has been selected as the Respect candidate for the West Central constituency in London

 

I WAS born and raised in Brent, west London, and went to a local comprehensive school. My family came here in the 1960s. My father worked at the Heinz factory. Before that he worked nights at the Walls factory. I was the first one in my family to go to university. The history of slavery, of what has happened to black people in Britain over the last 40 years-these things can't be forgotten.

 

If you are a young black man in London, criminal lawyers like me are the fourth emergency service. Most of what I do is about lessening the impact of the criminal justice system on individuals.

 

I try to stop people getting a criminal record because it makes it so hard to get a job. I try to stop people getting a custodial sentence-they are handed out disproportionately to black men.

 

And lots of young black men get into trouble because disproportionate numbers are excluded from school and left to rot. Labour can't tackle these things-they are the engine of these things. Their first instincts are what the Daily Mail thinks. They just don't have socialist instincts on anything.

 

I know lots of people are being stopped under the anti-terror laws. There is a big Moroccan community in west London-they face getting their doors kicked in in the middle of the night. Only 1 percent of these searches, I call them break-ins, have resulted in arrests for terrorism-related offences. And we don't know how many of them will be found not guilty.

 

The Moroccans tell me they have experienced a big increase in racist verbal abuse from the police since 11 September 2001. It means more young people are trying to understand their place in the world. So getting young people to vote is a priority for me.

 

Housing is another big issue for people. In west London you find people who came and bought small houses in the 1960s. But their children had to buy houses further out. Now we can't buy houses at all. It's time we stood up to Blair at the ballot box.

 

 

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Cheryl Garvey is a Respect candidate for the West Midlands European elections

 

THE COMPLEXITY of being British right here and now is something that never ceases to baffle and inspire me. On one hand there is the challenge to respond to issues of need, poverty, exclusion and disempowerment.

 

Alongside this is the persistent need for change, and the action each of us plays in creating and challenging the environment we inhabit. The universal desire for a "better" life for all global citizens is elusive and distant, but somehow closer now than it has ever been to being achieved. Not unsurprisingly the "wicked" issues for me are the ones shared by many of us in Britain today.

 

They are an education system that fails more children than it helps, a health system that is being gradually eroded, and a response to poverty that has seen an ever-increasing gap between the rich and poor.

 

The political system persistently fails to respond to the needs of working class people. The good news, however, is that I, and others like me, seek to challenge and change all of those systems that create and sustain inequality. The presence of those individuals, and how inspired I am by their commitment, prompted me to stand as a candidate for Respect. I do not come from a culture or experience of active political campaigning.

 

But I recognise that without actively engaging with and supporting alternatives to our current systems we risk missing a vital opportunity to make a real difference.

 

Black people are still forced to accept low wage, low status jobs

 

 

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Why we must fight

 

The statistics below show the continuing discrimination suffered by black people from an African and Afro-Caribbean background

 

Children

 

Infant mortality is 100 percent higher for Afro-Caribbean children than for whites.

Black pupils are six times more likely to be excluded from school than whites. The number of permanent exclusions rose by 4 percent last year.

Black children start school with the same attainment levels as white children. But the number of black pupils getting the average of five GCSEs was only 30 percent last year, the worst for any ethnic group.

 

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Workers

 

Black men are 2.5 times more likely than whites to be unemployed. African men with degrees are seven times more likely to be unemployed than whites.

Black men earn an average of £115 a week less than white men.

Black women earn £30 a week less than white women.

Black nurses are twice as likely as whites to be underpaid for the work they do.

Black workers are 8.5 percent of NHS workers, but only 1 percent of hospital trust chief executives.

 

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Policing

 

Black people are eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites.

The number of searches under "anti-terror" legislation rose by 300 percent between 2002 and 2003.

Black people are five times more likely than whites to be arrested.

The number of black people arrested rose by 12 percent in 2003. The number of whites arrested fell by 1 percent.

 

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Prisons

 

Black people are six times more likely than whites to get a prison sentence.

 

The black prison population is rising by more than 2,000 per year.

 

Between 1997 and 2001 the prison population rose by 12 percent, but the black prison population grew by 54 percent.

 

One in 100 black people are now in prison. Two percent of the population is black, yet 18 percent of the male prison population is black. 24 percent of the female prison population is black.

 

 

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[N.O.R.F]

And lots of young black men get into trouble because disproportionate numbers are excluded from school and left to rot. Labour can't tackle these things-they are the engine of these things. Their first instincts are what the Daily Mail thinks.

very true, these figures are also now being bumped up by hih numbers of somalis,,,,,the problem here is very complex, many things must be considered, but 1 that stand out for me is the question of why do hese not believe that they can achieve something? Society keeps putting them down in suttle way, their peers are 'cutchin' on the street corner listening to 'fity' and the teachers are by no means looking after the best interest of the kids. they just want their wages at the end of the month. I myself was led to believe i cudnt achieve anything by those same teachers who devotes most of their time to the suburban kids. There i was givin the middle finger on my way out for the last time and here i am today. Luckily i always was a wise one.

 

Look at people like Paul Boateng. He posed as the radical Brent MP who made that infamous speech comparing his struggle to become a black Labour MP with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

 

Now he is in government in the Treasury pushing through cuts and a blank cheque for the war.

:rolleyes:

 

Black people are eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites.

tell me about it,,,,, :rolleyes:

 

One thing i've never done is consider myself at a disadvantage, i'm black, so what, that doesnt mean life is limited to certain things. Try working on building sites, raccism is rife. This guy thought i was Jamaican 1 day, so started singing something about Jamaican women, i laughed and told him to sing louder and how he shud release a song as it may just make it into the top 40. He was pissed offffff the irish *&^%. Since then he hasnt said a word cos he knows i can sack him,lol.

 

The somali kids these days need to stop thinking about being decriminated against and get on with life. How many times have u heard the teacher was racist, my manager/supervisor was racist, the ref was racist,,,,,,never their fault is it? always some one else.

 

Anyway, i'm babbling on cos this is about the only post thats interested me for a long time,,,,

 

are we really black tho, what is being black/ethnic? Do u have to live in 'tha endz'? Do u have wear baggy slacks, hoodies and starter hats? Do u have think "i cant do that cos i'm black" or "they wont let me do this" ie negative, always thinking opportunities are not there when infact they are if you go about it the right way. Ppl who feel sorry for themselves are not worth the time in the 1st place, but many are misguided for a long time, when they realise life aint all bad its too late,,,,,

 

ps gr8 post bruv :cool:

[Paragon]

Man Shujui-- nice articles son... Regretably I did miss the respect festival...

 

"these figures are also now being bumped up by hih numbers of somalis"

 

Northerners, good pointers bro.

 

The funny thing however is, when Ethnic minority is mentioned, Somalis are not counted. Strange.

[Valenteenah.]

^^ Thats because Somalis are socially excluded...innit?

 

How you doing J? When can I see dat video?

[N.O.R.F]

^^^with ppl like D&D, u understand why

[Valenteenah.]

hehehe...perhaps. That still dont explain why ur a$$ gets arrested so often, does it now?

[Thinkerman]

Thanks for the contributions guys.

 

Yeah i think it wouldnt be farfetched to assume that they include somali' figures amongst the african (naturally i would say) figures, although a break down and specific figures would be more helpfull in trying to work out just if the socially inequality and discrimination expirenced by African (somali's included )and Afro-Caribbean is equally true for somali's.

 

I would suggest that the problem for somali's lie even further in that we dont immediatly (i hope i am not genealizing) recognize ourself as being amongst the african community, and the stats relating to it. Also whilst the afro-caribbean and african community have some representation and deeper history in the united kingdom the same isnt with the somali community, well to the same degree anyway.

 

I for one think that the discrimination against somali's is even more deep rooted in that we suffer the same discrimination and inequality as expirenced by the rest of the ethinic minorities in the UK, but also we are subject to more abuse, scrutiny and unfair accusations because we are a soft target, fragmented and dis-organized.

 

But the stats does make u wonder no? is the government and its various agency really doing the job? or more likely do they care? i suggest no on both counts

 

The somali kids these days need to stop thinking about being decriminated against and get on with life. How many times have u heard the teacher was racist, my manager/supervisor was racist, the ref was racist,,,,,,never their fault is it? always some one else

 

I agree at the end of the day you just have to try your best and get on with life, try to attain a decent education so that u are in a dedent position to direct ur life in a better direction.

[N.O.R.F]

That still dont explain why ur a$$ gets arrested so often, does it now?

lol

 

that was a long time ago, i'm rehabilated now,,,

[Paragon]

DnD, yeah, talk of social exclusion. In other words, talk of being Southalised!

 

Don't worry bout the fiiidhiyoow. You girls were looking, erm...superb, yeah thats the one!

[Curly]

I don't think I’m actually exposed to too much racism and sometimes I actually forget it exist...But I understand what Northern is getting at. I know too many people who are too quick to blame everything on racism, doing the whole Ali G “Is it because I is black” routine! But now they’ve moved on to the “Is it because I is Somali” well I think that due to the media diverting their gaze on to the Muslims, I don’t think race is an issue anymore faith has taken it’s place and I think everyone should be more aware of religious discrimination much less anything else

[N.O.R.F]

^^^D&D,,,,,she will go into work 2mrw all smile now shes read that,,,,,just dont walk into a lampost darlin

[Valenteenah.]

^^ Hey!...I dont hit lamposts since I started wearing my glasses.

 

Jamaal,

 

Thats good to kno...I was sure it would get me at a wrong angle. So, can I see it yet? When will it be ready?

 

Apologies for going off-topic.

[Paragon]

DnD soon as I finish writing my essays. Thats if we don't get a helping hand - an editor with the right software.