 |
 |
Following on from Simon Batterbury's comments, a few points: In today's Guardian newspaper in Britain a columnist (I think it was Decca Aitkenhead) made two interesting points 1. As long as people go on shrugging their shoulders and allowing racist banter to continue in pubs, clubs and other places, then they are complicit in racism. She goes on to point out, of course, that it is not always easy (and can sometimes be counter-productive) to adopt the 'moral high ground' of condemning what we see as the unacceptable views of others) 2. Home Secretary Jack Straw and the labour government are continuing a 'get tough' policy on people seeking political asylum in Britain. An attitude of suspicion towards 'foreigners' seeking admittance to Britain is being actively promoted. Such an environment is hardly conducive to good race relations. Another dimension of the Lawrence case is the risk of creating an impression that having highlighted racism and incompetence in this particular case society can somehow pat itself on the back and say 'we've done our bit', acknowledge it should not have happened and carry on as before. The nature of the Lawrence case also carries the risk of seeing racism as an attitude amongst people seen as 'white trash' rather than something which permeates broader society. Finally, amidst all the publicity surrounding this case, other forms of racism remain unchallenged. This is particularly the case in sport. Within the world of football there have been moves within recent years to 'kick out racism' yet this morning (on the same news programme which reported the latest fiasco in the Lawrence case and the vandalising of his memorial) the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson observed that kiddology, or deliberately misleading the media, was 'something he might expect from the Italians' (a reference to Inter Milan, who United play next week in a European match). There was no response from the interviewer, no furore over this blatant stereotyping. Racism is more than just physical and verbal violence against black people, it is the stereotyping and belittling of 'foreigners', and people seen as 'foreigners', of all skin colours. David Dr. David Storey Geography Department & Centre for Rural Research University College Worcester Henwick Grove Worcester WR2 6AJ England Tel: 01905 855189 Fax: 01905 855132 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%