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October Racial Justice Update
Welcome to this month’s update.
Recently I come across a very good article by a Palestinian author and journalist, Ramzy Baroud, which summarises some of the essential questions of racism. I would recommend it to anyone as an introduction to the notions of racism. Read the article here
1. Racist incidents in Scotland:
Police probe offensive graffiti
Police are investigating a complaint after anti-English graffiti appeared on a canal-side property. "English out" was daubed in white paint on the door and wall of a property in a row of cottages in Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness.
BBC
Iraqi man beaten up in horror race attack
Detectives are hunting two men after an Iraqi was beaten up in a racist attack in Glasgow. The attackers yelled racist abuse at the 34-year-old man during the unprovoked assault in the East End of the city.
Evening Times
Talented teenage immigrant stabbed in racist attack
An industrious young schoolboy and gifted teenage rapper who fled the Congo for a better life in Scotland has become the latest victim in an ever increasing catalogue of brutal race attacks in Glasgow. Christopher Ikolo, the 15-year-old black victim of the crime, was accosted in the street as he returned to school from his lunch-break last Friday, called a "black bastard" and knifed in the back in broad daylight in Govanhill on Glasgow's Southside. Last year 168 race attacks perpetrated by youths were reported in Glasgow. In the past three years there have been 433 incidents.
Sunday Herald
Asian teens stabbed in race-hate attack
Two Asian teenagers were stabbed by a gang of youths in Glasgow city centre in a suspected racist attack. The victims, both aged 17, were walking in the Trongate in the east end of the city at about 11:30pm on Saturday (22nd Sept 07) when they were approached by up to nine white youths and assaulted. Two of the group were reported to be wearing Celtic Football Club jerseys and a third a Celtic FC tracksuit.
Scotsman
Bid to cut 'new strand' of racism
A move has been made to try to tackle an increase in a "new strand" of racism in south west Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service (Dagcas) has established a unique minority communities service development project. It is particularly aimed at eastern Europeans being subjected to racial abuse in the workplace and in public.
BBC
Man accused of race abuse of mother
A man appeared in court yesterday accused of racially abusing his own mother. Scott Garment, 21, is charged with acting in a racially aggravated manner referring to his mother Catherine as a "n****r".
Scotsman
Latapy at centre of racism probe
Falkirk midfielder Russell Latapy hopes that anyone who racially abused him during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Hibernian will learn from their errors.
BBC
Sainsbury’s does Islam no favours
Sainsbury's, "keen to accommodate the religious beliefs of all staff", now allows Muslim workers who object to alcohol on religious grounds to have a colleague take their place. The company didn't see that such cack-handed posturing does Islam no favours, reinforcing a perception of an intolerant and unbending religion, which is not, I believe, where the majority of British Muslims are.
Sunday Herald
Muslim medical students get picky
Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs. Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts with their faith, which states that Muslims should not drink alcohol and rejects sexual promiscuity. A small number of Muslim medical students have even refused to treat patients of the opposite sex. One male student was prepared to fail his final exams rather than carry out a basic examination of a female patient.
The Times
2. Developments, Reports and Investigations
Catholics respond to education needs of overseas priests in plural society
Recognising the needs of priests from overseas and those ministering to increasingly migrant-based congregations, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has introduced a new course specifically for them at the northern seminary of Ushaw in Durham. The three week induction programme, endorsed and recommended by the bishops of England and Wales, aims to provide the priests with practical advice and information that will enable them to integrate into UK life and make effective use of their pastoral skills in an alien culture.
Ekklesia
Police Crack Down On Sex Trade 'slavers'
Police yesterday redoubled their campaign against sex slave traffickers as it emerged women from 37 countries were working in Glasgow brothels.
Herald
The equality nettle
Labour 07: The forthcoming equality bill will bring a testing time for Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman.
Guardian comment is free
UK has no reason to be smug on race relations
Ii is hard to watch the events now unfolding in the small Louisiana town of Jena without being reminded of the eerie lyrics of Strange Fruit, the song immortalised by Billie Holiday in 1939, which condemned American racism by using graphic imagery to describe the lynching of African Americans in the US's reactionary and backward Deep South: "Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees." … It is too easy to be smug about the superior state of race relations in the UK. No nooses, thank heavens - but segregation and discrimination prevail, according to the latest devastating analysis from the Commission For Racial Equality. We might like to believe otherwise, but 30 years after the first Race Relations Act, black Britons are still "more likely to be stopped by the police, be excluded from school, suffer poor health treatment and live in poor housing", it says. In echoes of the US, it notes that "rumours and perceptions of injustice can trigger division and conflict which in some cases translates into violence on the streets". It concludes that "racial inequality in Britain is alive and kicking", not least in the corridors of power. The CRE hauls over the coals 15 UK government departments that have mysteriously not got around to carrying out their duties under race relations law.
Sunday Herald
Teenage gypsies take fight against discrimination to Brussels
Scottish gypsies, keen to preserve their time-honoured wanderings, remain among the marginalised groups in rural society. In an era where the "no blacks, no Irish, no dogs" signs of the early 20th century are unthinkable, the travelling community still faces racist abuse and difficulty accessing services. Now teenage travelers from the Highlands, taunted for "casting spells" and wearing "silly clothes", have taken their fight against discrimination to Brussels.
Sunday Herald
East European immigrants fuel return of servant class
Migration from eastern Europe, Africa and Asia is creating a ready supply of willing downstairs staff, with more and more being employed to watch the kids and clean the bathroom in a kind of international class system, according to a new report.
Independent
Boy 'who was attacked' by Slovakian woman may face racism charge
A boy of ten who claims to have been attacked by a Slovakian woman with an iron bar could be charged with inciting racial hatred, it emerged last night. Jake Stedman admitted that the woman hit him after he threw a berry at her and told her to 'go back to her own country'. As a result, the boy - who was left with two black eyes - could become the youngest person in the country ever to be charged with the offence.
This is London
Religious division, racial inequality, rife in Britain's fractured society
Britain is a society increasingly fractured with religious extremism on the rise, and people becoming disconnected from one another. That is the message of a report launched today by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) before it becomes part of a new super-equality watchdog, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) with religion, sexual orientation and age added to its remit.
Ekklesia
Racism and War: Overcoming Us and Them By Ramzy Baroud
Racism is, among many things, convenient. It provides simplified, definite and ready-to-serve answers to complex and compounded questions. Racists, in turn, come from all walks of life; their motivation and the root causes behind their contemptible views of others may differ, but the outcome of these views is predictably the same - racial discrimination, social and political oppression, religious persecution and war. The textual definition of racism pertains only to race, but in practice racism is a consequence of groupthink, whereby a group of people decides to designate itself as a collective and starts delineating its relationship with other collectives - or other people in general - with a sense of supremacy. When coupled with economic and/or political dominance, supremacy translates into various forms of subjugation and cruelty.
The American Muslim
Trafficking
Sex trafficking victims rescued by police may face deportation
• Home secretary rules out guarantee of immunity
• Nationwide crackdown on 'modern form of slavery'
Some victims of sex traffickers rescued from prostitution in a new national police crackdown will face deportation, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said yesterday. Ms Smith described sex trafficking as a "modern-day form of slavery" but said she could not give an across-the-board guarantee that those rescued would not face deportation as illegal migrants.
Guardian
What 'pull factor'?
Victims of sex trafficking do not chose to be abused to get to the UK: the government must ensure they are not treated as illegals.
Guardian
3. Asylum refugees:
Asylum children beg and sell sex to raise money for legal advice
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are selling sex, begging or doing other forms of illegal work to pay for legal representation due to restrictions to legal aid funding, according to the Children’s Society. The charity claims some lawyers are asking for thousands of pounds to continue children’s cases because they cannot afford to take them on. Legal aid rates being offered following reforms introduced since 2004 are too low it is claimed.
Community Care UK
Asylum: The new dawn
A new dawn is beginning for the asylum-seeking community after the Home Office began to grant refugee status to many families who have settled in Scotland. Campaigners are delighted that the "legacy" review, designed to clear the backlog of long-standing cases in the legal system, is beginning to bear fruit as integrated asylum seekers with a genuine claim are being given indefinite leave to remain.
Sunday Herald
Scots ‘can lead fight’ to keep UK doors open to refugees
While debate continues over UK immigration policy and the different approaches to asylum favoured by Westminster and Holyrood, a more pressing question must be addressed, according to Sally Daghlian of the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC).
Herald
Britain 'ignoring' millions of Iraqi refugees
Britain has been accused of ignoring the plight of millions of refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq. Following calls by many Christian groups, the Pope, the UNHCR, and other international agencies, a report by Amnesty International has said it was "staggering" that the UK had forcibly returned more refugees to Iraq than any other European nation. As one of the countries which led the 2003 invasion, the report said that Britain now had a "moral obligation" to provide financial assistance to the estimated two million refugees stranded in Syria and Europe.
Ekklesia
4. Immigration
Lack of interpreters for migrants 'will lead to miscarriages of justice'
Scotland’s justice system is ill-prepared for an influx of immigrants because of a lack of reliable interpreters, triggering fears of potential miscarriages of justice.
Scotsman
The truth Migration Watch doesn't want you to know
Should my children be sent 'home'? I only ask because Migration Watch and commentator Stephen Glover declare 25 per cent of babies born in Britain have at least one foreign-born parent. And, I fear, they are not raising this to salute the colourful pageantry of modern life. My wife, Diana, was born in Istanbul. Presumably these august institutions do not consider my children - Emilia, six, Freddie, three - entirely welcome. OK, they might look white, but what if they are darkies underneath?' seems to be the message. 'Good God, Binky, dagos are polluting British bloodlines.'
Observer
Project offers special help for minorities
A new project is helping to connect ethnic minority communities and refugees to the wider Edinburgh community. The Welcoming project involves sport and leisure events, as well as arts, culture and English language activities. The sessions run on Wednesday at Tollcross Community Centre, from 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 3.30pm.
Evening News
A curious irrationality grips the British when it comes to migrants
Rapid migration is not a cost-free option, but the public must accept that without it parts of our economy would collapse.
Guardian
Immigrant who stabbed man escapes deportation
An illegal immigrant avoided deportation yesterday after scarring a man for life in a cashpoint robbery. Despite his lengthy criminal record in the UK, a sheriff refused to order Mohammed Malik's deportation.
Scotsman
5. Marking the Bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade
See www.scotlandandslavery.org.uk
Events
An ADVOCACY TRAINING OPPORTUNITY with
Churches Alert to Sex Trafficking across Europe - CHASTE
www.chaste.org.uk
Come and meet us at Forum 3, The Business Design Centre, Islington, London
52 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0QH
Date: Saturday 13th October 2007 10.00am - 4.30pm
For more information on Forum 3 see http://www.forum3.co.uk/
For directions see http://www.businessdesigncentre.co.uk/location/index.html
Email: colin@chaste.org.uk or phone 0785 907 4343 if you wish to join us
Show Racism the Red Card fortnight of Action
16-30 October 2007
In society, racism is sadly still on the rise. At the end of March 2007, the Scottish Executive published a bulletin, which showed that the total number of incidents recorded by the Police in Scotland rose by 13 per cent from 4,536 in 2004/05 to 5,124 in 2005/06. These statistics indicate that there are on average 14 recorded racist incidents every day. The Commission for Racial Equality estimate the true number to be five times this figure. Irresponsible groups and media outlets continue to encourage racism against citizens from minority faiths, travellers, immigrants from EU-accession countries, and refugees and asylum-seekers. This year’s SRTRC Fortnight of Action provides a timely focal point for all those who are committed to challenging racism and discrimination in Scotland. For more information see The Red Card Scotland
Human Rights, immigration and African people living with and affected by HIV in Scotland
18 October 2007 in Glasgow (1.00 – 4.00)
In Scotland, Health is a devolved matter. Immigration is not. Therefore, Human Rights present a complex scenario for people living with and affected by HIV. This seminar will highlight issues as well as provide a participatory question and answer session. For information contact Tarsisio Nyatsanza africanhealthproject@waverleycare.org 0141 211 0192
6. Publications:
A lot done, a lot to do: Our vision for an integrated Britain
The CRE's final legacy document outlines the current state of UK race today with facts and statistics relating to all aspects of British life, from young people, health and education through to employment, communities, sport and local government.
http://www.cre.gov.uk/publs/alottodo.html
Download the full PDF document (723 kb) from here