THE scenes currently coming out of England and Northern Ireland are not protests. They are riots, fuelled by racism. They are acts of violence and terror, carried out by rioters, aimed firstly at specific people of colour, their businesses, their places of worship, their places of refuge: targeted actions as crowds roamed, rampaged and scapegoated.
This followed even more false narratives, lies and misinformation that had been spread via social media. Primarily targeted, yes, but woe betide you if you just happened to live on a street, parked your car, used a library or a community hub on a road travelled by those rioting gangs. Or what if your premises warranted looting, in the name of what? “Getting back my country”. Didn’t Brexit do that for you?
READ MORE: Far-right riots and Labour's fiscal rules are connected. Here's how
But these are actions that some people have long lived with, the very visible manifestation of Islamophobia that has added to the overall cancer of racism evident in the UK for generations.
From generation to generation the narrative may change and the prey too will change, but the commonality is the same: the outsider, the other.
Here in Edinburgh, my father and a fellow medical student created a disturbance in a cafe that had put up a sign saying “no dogs, no Indians”. That was who he was then – an Indian, that is – since their actions were in pre-partition 1947. Years later as a very small child I remember being in Edinburgh Zoo. I leave it up to your to imagine what was said. My oldest son was shot by a teenager with an air rifle and another son had his face slashed with a blade. Many years later, in his seventies, my father casually told us about the racism he frequently experienced when travelling by bus.
Even in the last decade alone, politicians and so-called journalists have a lot to answer for. How many headlines do we remember that demonised refugees, asylum seekers, all pitted against the hand-wringing of the idea of “genuine concerns and legitimate worries” over “uncontrolled mass immigration”. But there were no challenges to mainstream politicians over the failures coming from the two major political parties as they governed. Public services underfunded to the point of crumbling. An economy neglected, ensuring in-work poverty. Hunger that has gone unacknowledged through the emergence of food banks and that which had been accepted as the norm now often regarded as unobtainable: the NHS in crisis. And in this mix, how frequently did the victims of racist violence feel the politicians, the police and the legal system were there to protect them?
READ MORE: Around 20 potential riots planned in England tonight
Perhaps there is some justification, since it has just been confirmed that the last Conservative government’s Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group had actually been inactive since 2020. This was despite challenges coming from officials and communities along with a confirmed increase in hate crime. There was no strategy, just the process of displacement being established. Move the spotlight off and away from structural, societal and political failures.
Then worse was to follow, creating without substantiated fact the narrative that migrants – newly arrived and even second, third generation – were threats in general, or in particular to jobs, to various waiting lists, to women, to children. It is clear that controlling the narrative is vital. It becomes another tool and now, the emergence of “thuggery” cannot be allowed to become a new buzzword, a cover for the embedding of fascism in the UK.
We know that communities will try to do their best as ever, uniting in solidarity against that which threatens them. That they will work together to ensure a unity, a bulwark against division, but just how often will communities need to come out to clean up the failure of politicians?
Selma Rahman
Edinburgh
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here