|
Racism in Britain today
Racism is on the rise today, in Britain and across the world. It takes many forms - bullying in schools,
discrimination and harassment at work, or vicious attacks and murders. It is spread in different ways,
through newspaper articles or casual conversations. But the end result is always the same: more race hatred,
more racist attacks and more Nazis on our streets.
Racist attacks and murders have been increasing recently. There has been a terrifying string of race
assaults in South East London, close to where Stephen Lawrence was murdered in 1993. Last September,
racists hurled abuse at a 15-year-old black boy on a bus - then stabbed him in the heart. He lost 20
pints of blood and was lucky to live.
Others haven’t been so lucky. Peiman Bahmani, a 26-year-old refugee from Iran living in Sunderland,
was murdered in broad daylight by a racist gang last August. A Kurdish asylum seeker was murdered by
racists on the Sighthill estate in Glasgow last year. A racist gang attacked another asylum seeker
on the same estate in November.
All these attacks happen in areas where the Nazi BNP is active. That isn’t a coincidence. The
Nazis love race hatred and encourage racist attacks. Many leading BNP members have criminal convictions
for violent assaults on black people, gays or Jews.
In 1999, David Copeland planted three nailbombs in London, one of which killed three people.
Copeland was a Nazi and a BNP member. "My aim was political: it was to cause a racial war in
this country," he said. "There would be a backlash from ethnic communities, then all the white
people would go out and vote BNP."
The Nazis have also been stoking up race hate in the North West. In June, a gang of 80 racist
hooligans went on a drunken rampage in Burnley, attacking Asian taxi drivers. Last year, Combat 18
- an openly Nazi terror group - bussed thugs into Oldham to attack Asians, sparking a race riot in the town.
This was followed by race riots in Burnley and Bradford - also orchestrated by Nazis.
Next: Who does racism affect?
|