It’s the fifth year of South Asian Heritage Month in the United Kingdom and this post was going to be a joyous celebration of how far we’ve come. The East African Asian who came to settle in Britain as we elected a new government and said goodbye to Rishi Sunak, who proudly declared that he was the grandson of East African Asian migrants who came to England after the East African countries sought independence from Britain. But the race riots have left a sour taste in my mouth. Once again I am targeted for being the other, the migrant who came to this country. I had hoped that the racial threats and violence I witnessed and experienced as I grew up would not be an experience that my own children would ever have to endure.
Enoch Powell’s infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech in 1968 was a pivotal moment in British history, particularly in immigration and race relations. Delivered when Britain was grappling with significant social changes and an influx of immigrants from Commonwealth countries, Powell’s speech both reflected and fuelled widespread anxieties about the future of British society. Decades later, with the likes of Nigel Farage and Brexit, the rhetoric and themes of Powell’s speech continue to influence British society.
Then, the impact of Powell’s speech was explosive. Within days, party leader Edward Heath, who condemned the speech as “racialist” dismissed from the Conservative shadow cabinet him. Ethnic minority communities experienced race riots, when groups of white men took to the streets to threaten and intimidate the migrant communities.
Powell delivered a calculated speech at Birmingham's Midland Hotel. He knew that the Midlands, where I come from, housed pockets of Afro-Caribbean (Windrush) and South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) communities. Visible signs that eventually these towns might become where only immigrants and migrants’ descendants would live. His speech included numbers, too. Once he planted the seed that this fair land would overflow with immigrants from the Commonwealth, there was no turning back. The government implemented laws that prevented the massive migration of South Asians from Africa, creating difficulties for brown people to come to Britain. Few of us had ancestors or parents who were born in the United Kingdom. In his speech, he introduced the word re-emigration, which led to the emergence of phrases like “send them back,” “go back home,” or “send them back” as heard in Rotherham, where the refugee hotel was. However, this was not just about asylum seekers, it was about the Muslims, people who have lived peacefully in this community. It was hate crime aimed at a single group because of their religious beliefs.
Many, like me, felt fearful. Groups circulated lists of further targeted attacks on migrant lawyers, not just in the north of England but everywhere, including London. Councils sent out letters to the residents and business owners to board up their windows. Then something wonderful happened. People of all races and religions came out chanting “refugees welcome here” came out in numbers to protest. My belief that my country’s British Values; Democracy, The rule of law, Individual liberty, Mutual respect, and Tolerance for different faiths and beliefs, was justified and despite the hateful words coming out of our politicians’ mouths. Despite decades of the narrative that this country’s economic ills are because of foreigners who come to live and work here. The same group that the politicians blame for NHS waiting lists, lack of housing, and lack of services. When it was the policy of the Conservative Government’s Right to Buy Schemes of the 1980s, and the cutback to services in the 2000s that has led this country to where it is now. The worst aspect of what happened on 30th July is that all the politicians, from the last government who called the weekly protests against the conflict in Palestine, hate criminals, disappeared off the airwaves. The popular Tory led press called them unrest and protest and didn’t label them as race riots. There was even mention of David Cameron’s actions as a comparison to Sir Keir Stammers. I was working at that time for a specific news channel, the news editor in charge immediately classified the Tottenham riots as racially motivated, prompting much discussion. How was it immediately apparent that it was a race riot? Was it because they started after the shooting of a Black man and the rioters were in an area that is predominately full of Black working-class families? So when a group of white men came to spew hatred, damage property and attack the police, shouldn’t they have the same label?
I'm certain that when a populist prime minister leads a country and uses words like "letterbox" to describe women in a burka, and allows the populist press to describe asylum seekers in derogatory terms, we as a nation become emboldened to pick on one group for all our ills. We’ve listened for far too long to the criminalisation of brown people and allowed the voices of the far right misogynist on our airwaves in the name of free speech. We’ve even allowed the same people to have a seat in parliament.
Come on, the people of Britain smell the coffee. British colonial legacy is the reason we are here. The richness of our combined history, encompassing Black, White, and South Asian communities, is what has led to our multiculturalism.
This is the time to open our doors and our hearts to migrants.
We need people to build the houses, to pay the taxes, to provide the services we all desperately need. Without immigrants, we don’t have the skills or wherewithal to make Britain better.