The Evolving Face of Racism across my lifetime

The BBC's excellent Sunday evening drama 'Undercover' must make uncomfortable viewing for many.  It deals with issues concerning racism and in particular institutionalised racism within the Police, both in the UK and the US, a problem that is increasingly becoming big news, especially in the US where shootings of young black men have reached almost epidemic proportions in the past few years.

Statistics they say, don't lie, and these are some of the outrageous numbers uncovered by The Guardian during a recent study.  Young black men in the States (between 15-34 years old) were 9 times more likely to be killed by the Police than those of any other ethnic or demographic group.  During 2015 there were an astronomical 1,134 deaths of young black men at the hands of US law enforcement agencies, a figure that made up 15% of total deaths recorded (by the various agencies) despite the fact that this demographic group accounts for only 2% of the population.  Some cases in particular (such as that of 12 y.o. Tamir Rice & 18 y.o. Michael Brown) highlight the massive miscarriages of justice that can occur in the US where political activists, like Brittany Packnett, have determined that the justice system presents 'no deterrent' at all to excessive Police force with the assailants often getting off scot-free despite (often) overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

I know that 'Undercover' is a fictional drama, but nevertheless it's powerful message has a ring of truth to it that is more than a little disturbing (for me at least).

I'm white.  Born in 1960 and grew up in Brighton on the south-east coast of England.  Brighton, as many will be aware, has (shall we say) a liberal attitude to most things.  It is well-known for having the largest gay/lesbian community, not only in the UK, but also in Europe.  I grew up thinking it was quite normal for guys to hold hands with other guys (and yes, I was aware they were 'queer' as we called it back then, and that I wasn't) and never thought twice about it.  As far as I knew it was the same everywhere!  In the same way, as a child I was unaware of racial prejudice as an issue.  The colour of a person's skin was just the colour of their skin and that was it.  They were the same as me to all intents and purposes, except that some had a better tan than me!  Oh, the innocence and folly of youth!  It just never occurred to me to dislike someone for any reason other than if I thought they were 'nasty' or 'scary.'  Such things just weren't an issue!

However, growing up in 'my' part of Brighton I was oblivious to the fact that weren't any 'coloureds' (as Mum and Dad called them) or Indians back then and really only noticed that about my own upbringing when, as an adult, I moved to London for work and found myself in a multi-cultural society for the first time.  My first black mate came along when I was 16 (still living in Brighton) and he spoke better English than me, which I remember being surprised at when I first met him, because up until then my inter-racial experiences had been largely limited to watching episodes of 'Love thy Neighbour,' where the white guy called the black guy 'Sambo' and he responded in a West-Indian accent, calling the white guy 'Honky,' which I thought was all good fun and was the sort of good-humoured behaviour that occurred wherever such interactions were taking place.  As a very young kid mum used to dress me up in those nice 'nigger-brown' flares and I took a gollywog to bed to cuddle and thought nothing of it!  It wasn't offensive to anyone (or so I thought - why should it be?) because as far as I knew that shade of brown was really called 'nigger-brown' and my gollywog was just so cuddly that I couldn't do anything other than just love him!  And to call blacks 'coloured' was the acceptable term, just as calling them 'Sambo' was to me just a nickname, much like my mate Neil, who we called Nellie!  Where was the problem?

The incomparable Pele as he was back then.

Looking back am I ashamed of what I thought?  Do I consider that I was being racist in any way, shape or form?

Not a bit of it!  I was a product of where and when I grew up; nothing more, nothing less.  I don't really remember the World Cup of 1966 (to my everlasting frustration) though I do remember being fully aware of Pele, the greatest footballer in the world, and admiring the magical things he did with the ball.  Pele's black of course, but to me he was just an exotic Brazilian with dazzling feet and an even more dazzling smile!  Perhaps the first time I remember noticing that anything vaguely racist was going on in the world was at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 when Tommy Smith made the 'black power' salute on the podium.  I recall all the furore at the time about this but in my innocence (I was only 7, so give me a break, and not allowed to watch the news at that time) I thought 'black power' was a reference to his amazing athletic prowess - I mean the guy had just broken the world record and for me, he was a hero.  I even remember standing on a box in the garden emulating that salute and being miffed that mum wouldn't loan me a black glove to complete the image!

Tommy Smith and the infamous 'black power' salute.

I was also obsessed with all things African as a kid and became convinced that I had been born in the wrong place!  I was African inside and no-one was going to tell me otherwise.  In nature and cultural documentaries on TV I recall being astounded at the beauty of African tribeswomen and wondering why English girls looked so drab and unadorned by comparison!

Of course now this all seems terribly quaint and naive, even to me.  But in the end I was lucky.  I grew up in a liberal land, with liberal parents who harboured no grudges (that I am aware of - but check with my mum, just in case) and was eventually fortunate enough to work in and backpack around much of Africa, which didn't disappoint one iota, and I even got to marry my own African beauty.  I have lived a full and relatively happy life and I'm grateful, but fully aware that I am perhaps in a dwindling minority and that above all else saddens me.

And now, as I move past middle age, I feel I've lost the innocence of my youth, but none of the mystery.  I still cannot view anyone as other than they are and remain bemused by the immoral, bigoted and racist behaviours of the people's of the world that we all share.  Now I realise that bigotry can take many forms; it's not just white on black, or black on white.  Religious bigotry is perhaps the single biggest problem we face today.  The horrors committed by the followers of one so-called 'peaceful' religion on those of another are beyond my comprehension.  Arabs, Jews, Sunni's, Shi'ites, Christian's, white, black, poor, rich.....whatever you are, whoever you are, there's someone out there who hates you, just for being you.

And that's sad.

In the end we are all one.  But for an accident of birth, a radicalised Muslim could have been born into a devout Catholic home in Rome and vice versa.  I could have been born in Africa and subjected to unspeakable horrors by another African just because I was born into a different tribe or because I am weaker than the other.  Trying to understand sectarian violence amongst the various Muslim factions is an exercise in futility.  They worship the same peace-loving God.  Why kill your brother because he was born on the other side of an arbitrary line (we call a border) and sees the same God in a different light?  Why persecute Jews just because they are Jews?  Why do Jews see Palestinians as second class humans?  Why did Hitler hate Jews so much?  These are all just accidents of birth.  Born in a different time, a different place, he might have been a successful artist and Netanyahu might have been a gay hairdresser living in Brighton!  I digress.

Just the sort of African beauty that bewitched me as a child
and still does as an adult.
Why would anyone wish to destroy such beauty?

My views on racism, in all it's forms, are simplistic I know, but if you cut me do I not bleed the same as a rich Arab, or a poor Arab, or an Aborigine, or a Sioux, or a Jew, or an Orthodox Russian, or a Houthi, or a Protestant Christian, or a Sufi, or a Hindu?  Where did it all go wrong?  Where's the love?  Where's the understanding?  We live in an amazing, beautiful world with more than enough resources for all of us to enjoy the fruits of a rich, happy and prosperous life; so why should it be otherwise?  I don't understand.  Will never understand.  As the world falls slowly into hate-driven anarchy I retain little hope for future generations.  Extremism in all it's forms seems to be the norm these days, but that doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it valid.  One person is no more or less valid than another and we should be helping our neighbour, our brothers, our sisters, rather than filling our heads, and those of our children, with racist agendas that abound.

It's good that dramas such as 'Undercover' are broadcast; the fact it is fiction is neither her nor there.  It helps to throw a light on the issues that surround us all.  I just wish that it wasn't necessary, that's all.  Our energies would be far better served in helping to eradicate the inequalities and inequities that exist in our world; in helping to limit the effects of climate change that affect us all; Muslim, Jew, Christian and Hindu alike.  If we ploughed our money and resources into changing the world for the better, rather than in buying weapons with which to kill our neighbour just because he/she is different from us, we could each live in our own particular nirvana, whatever that might be.

Peace and Love Brother, whoever you are!

Moral turpitude on the Jewish-Palestinian dilemma within the Labour Party.

In today's Guardian Jonathan Freedland discusses very eloquently whether the Labour Party under our Jezza have gone soft on antisemitism after comments from Labour Party members were allowed to pass unchecked by the party hierarchy, and he suggests that current anti-Jewish feelings are being further inflamed by recent developments in the long-standing Israel-Palestinian conflict.  He goes onto suggest that Britain (and other European) colonial powers are historically culpable for much of the current tensions in the region and in taking the moral high ground (as witnessed by the comments of Downing & Kirby) we are basically on very shaky and dangerous ground.

I couldn't agree more.  I have said time and again that in spite of the recent history of this particular conflict, which incidentally has been ongoing in one form or another since the late 19th century if not before, that Britain, France and the post-War powers are largely culpable and liable for the present chaos we see in the region as a whole and (I believe) need to hold their hands up and take greater responsibility for the ongoing mess that we see on our TV's on a daily basis.

The problem is not just one of Jews against Arabs (including the Palestinians) or vice versa, because it all goes much, much deeper than that.  Historically of course the Jewish people had always lacked a homeland, though their spiritual home had always been the regions of the Middle-Eastern Levante.  Perhaps inevitably, rampant antisemitism through the ages and the lack of a place to call home, had to lead in the end to the idea of Zionism as originally championed by Rabbi Sholomo Alkalai in his 1834 booklet Shema Yisrael, where he called for the establishment of Jewish colonies in (what was then) Palestine.  The first Aliyah* began within a generation (1882-1902), but it wasn't really till after the beginning of the second Aliyah in 1904 that Arab resistance to the Jewish settlements in Palestine really took hold.

In 1917 the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, in a letter to Lord Rothschild, gave the first official acknowledgement of the need to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  This led to an agreement at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of WW1 to grant the British a mandate in Palestine to establish a Jewish homeland based on the so-called Balfour Agreement.  However, during the 1920's Arab resistance to continued Jewish immigration into Palestine led the British High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel (himself a Jew) and Head of the Colonial Office, Winston Churchill, to attempt to establish a Palestinian Constitution which would include all secular and non-secular factions of the Arabs, Christians and Jews, who would have been a minority on the legislative Council (Jews only accounted for ~11% of the total population at the time) but who had, nevertheless, agreed to the Constitution because the Balfour Agreement was enshrined within it.  The Palestinian Arabs objected to some of the wording in the so-called 'Churchill White Paper' which they deemed to be pro-Zionist taking exception to phrases such as 'Palestine (was destined to become) as Jewish as England is English' and they rejected the Constitution under this basis and once again the establishment of the Jewish homeland came into doubt.

Jewish immigration into Palestine continued during the 20's and 30's leading to increasing tension and dissatisfaction on both sides with the Palestinian Arabs fearing that their population, culture and language would eventually become subordinate, or perhaps even disappear altogether, beneath the British-backed Jewish demands and claims.  The growing disenfranchisement of the Palestinians was increased by the lack of a unified Arab response to continued Jewish immigration into Palestine and by what they saw as complicit British involvement in the loss of their land, jobs and livelihoods.  Incidents such as the 'wailing wall' crisis in 1929 and continued civil unrest on both sides led to the establishment of a Royal Commission in 1936 under Lord Peel that, amongst other things, stated that the interests of the Jews and Palestinian Arabs were in fact 'inherently reconcilable' and included the first proposals for a partitioning of Palestine into Jewish and Arab cantons that would be run more or less autonomously, but would remain under the overall control of a Mandatory Authority.

However, even as Arab leaders rejected the proposals, countering with their own Mandate, events in Europe and elsewhere around the globe started to take precedence over the growing unrest in the region.  Despite this the British pushed ahead with their new proposals and issued a new White Paper in 1939 which stated their continued intent for the establishment of a Jewish homeland.

Throughout WW2 the Jewish cause gained momentum, whether spurred on by feelings of gross sympathy, horror or guilt, the international community rallied behind the tragic remnants of the European Jewry and calls for a Jewish homeland, whilst in contrast Arab unity and backing for the plight of the Palestinians Arabs faded until the eventual declaration of the establishment of Israel on 14th May 1948, when finally a United Arab force (of Jordanians, Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanese & others) occupied the territories destined for the Palestinians under the new partition plan.  But it was too little too late for the Palestinians who have basically been on the back foot ever since.

The subsequent Colonial divisions of the region among the 'old boy' network compounded the problems and certainly led to many of the religious, cultural and social divides that plague the Middle East today.  The short-sightedness and selfish interests of Britain, France and the other powers in dividing up the region as they saw fit for their purposes, and not those of the resident populations have, in my opinion led to much, if not all, of the current troubles that plague us all today.

In my head I can't believe that such short-term political gains (for the Colonial powers) were placed above the long-term welfare and stability of the region as a whole.  Decisions made in haste after WW2 are now being repented by those of us that bear witness to the almost daily horrors and atrocities committed under the name of one God or another in the Middle East and around the globe.

I believe that every human being should be allowed the chance to live their life as they see fit; that each individual should be able to worship whatever God they choose to worship without fear of reprisal or repercussions for doing so.  I make no excuses for Israel.  Their abhorrent treatment of the Palestinians as less than human more than mirrors their own vile experiences under the Nazi's, and they should know better and they should be ashamed.  But don't make the mistake of thinking that all Israeli's feel the same because they don't.  One only has read much of the online press from Israel to see the futility of that argument.

The only way, I believe, to save the region from falling into complete chaos (which could eventually consume us all) is to give each and every ethnic group it's own economically viable homeland, be they Jewish, Palestinian, Kurdish, Shia, Sunni, Christian or otherwise.  And as part of this radical solution I would also allow those who wish to live under Muslim Sharia Law (including those of ISIS - once they have been disarmed) to do so because in my world everyone should have a chance for a full and happy life.

But we live in the real world and not the peace-loving Nirvana of my dreams.  Antisemitism has been around for a lot longer than the Labour Party and shows no sign of dissipating in the near future.  The fact that some small-minded individuals, with small-minded ideas, have wormed their way into positions of relative power is nothing new; it's sad, but not new.  Donald Trump is just such a case to point!  And as to whether Jezza does anything about these people is a matter (I would argue) for his own conscience, as are our own views on the Jewish-Palestinian question and one can only hope that each one of us is morally strong enough to stand up for whatever we believe in.  And I can only hope that your view, whatever it might be, is made with an open, and not a closed mind, and a loving heart that decries oppression in all it's forms, wherever and whenever they may occur.



* Aliyah is the term used for the waves of Zionist immigration into Palestine