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Riots were long time coming: A look at what it means to be black in Britain
OPINION – London — and England — is now dealing with black kids, white kids and indeed most likely children from other ethnicities who all have their axes to grind…
Black kids, in particular, are raised in a culture of low expectations and low aspirations with no real hope for their future in a country where social mobility has been found to be no better than in medieval times. In a recent study on the UK’s social mobility, the author gave a sobering assessment of the prospects for black Britons, saying: Even if the same rate of social mobility that we observe for the indigenous population applies to the children of recent immigrants, it will be many generations perhaps centuries before they achieve status equality with the rest of UK society.
England, still a bastion of tradition, also doesn’t really know what to do with this new generation of British-born black youth. Unlike our parents or grandparents who came to England as immigrants, British born blacks are unwilling to act as if England is a host nation which must simply accommodate them because it isn’t. It is our home. It is for many the only place that they have ever known, so it is understandably frustrating for many to have second-class citizen status. Back in the late 70s and early to mid 80s, black people dealing with similar frustrations, also used violence, in some of these same parts of London, as a tactic to get heard. It seems not much has changed.
Although these latest riots started in Tottenham, as they have spread, the ethnic mix of the rioters has diversified. Why? Because social exclusion and disenfranchisement also runs along class lines in England, still a deeply class-orientated society. Class in England is different from in the U.S. In England, people generally don’t move classes, you end up where you were born. It is not based on how much money you may have today, as it might be in the U.S., but on who your parents are, your background and where you went to school. In England, on that basis, a rich person could still be considered working class.
So now it seems, the white working class youth are also frustrated and fed up. They too have had enough it seems. The British middle classes openly call them “chavs” a derogatory term to denote lower or working class people, and scum, while politicians refer to them as the underclass. In the past few years, the media has stoked up the notion that the white working class population is treated as badly, if not worse, than its black counterparts, with the BBC even putting on a white season of TV programming to show how hard the white youth have it these days.
The welfare dependency culture of the UK also discourages personal responsibility or self reliance, and many of these young people simply feel entitled and that they deserve a hand out, which they are not getting from a society that seems not to even care about them.
London, and England, is now dealing with black kids, white kids and indeed most likely children from other ethnicities who all have their axes to grind, who feel victimized and oppressed and excluded in their own country with few opportunities. With no place to go to, nowhere for their voices to be heard, violence seems an easy answer. With a media looking for its next juicy story and instantaneous, free communication tools at hand — it has been reported that Blackberry Messenger has been the main organizing tool for the riots, and it has allowed the quick spread of the violence from place to place — suddenly the previously disenfranchised now have some power, destructive as it may be.
Although I don’t condone this violence, I hope that some important lessons will be learned. It’s time for England to get talking about and taking action on its issues. It’s time for it to address its issues about race and to start looking at what the future is for black Briton.
It’s time for it to address its class-ism and the way in which those at the top look down at those who are considered to be below them. It’s time for them to address the breakdown of the family and of the community. It is also high time for the black population to take a long hard look at itself and find some answers, some solutions and start taking responsibility for its young. Without this, only more of the same is to be expected. London, and England, may well continue to burn.
By Lola Adesioye
Source: theGrio
