DARREN LEWIS: ‘Not everybody who attended Unite The Kingdom was racist – however rally was racist’
Some platforms continue to spread the divisive rhetoric unashamedly, leaving families in fear, ordinary people on high alert – and the country as a tinderbox…
It was heartbreaking to see so many middle-of-the-road, ordinary men and women taken in by the
UTK messaging. (Image: Andrea Domeniconi/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
You’ve probably never heard of Aaron Rai. The West Midlands-born 31-year-old golfer is the first Englishman in over a century to win the US PGA Championship. As an achievement it is nothing short of magnificent. In these nauseating times, however, Aaron’s Indian parentage has left him subjected to an avalanche of online abuse for being described as an Englishman.
I won’t tell you his inspirational story because I’m a big believer that it shouldn’t make him any more English than anyone else born here. The pitchfork-wielding mob would then see him as the son of “good” immigrants. The rest, they’d still want deported or demonised.
Heartbreakingly, so much of the country is so knee-deep in the contagion. It was heartbreaking to see so many thousands of hoodwinked attendees at Saturday’s Unite The Kingdom (UTK) rally in central London.
It was heartbreaking to witness the naive Black and Brown contingent joining the march, only to be mocked online by UTK supporters as not being “one of us”. What did they expect? It was heartbreaking to see the widely shared clips of humiliation and sexualisation of women of colour – by other women.
It was heartbreaking to see so many middle-of-the-road, ordinary men and women taken in by the UTK messaging. It’s been heartbreakingly predictable to see so many online endorsements of UTK from influential voices.
And to read individuals in a variety of positions of responsibility – including educators – cheering on the participants on social media. Professional courtesy generally prevents self-examination in my industry. But it is important to understand how we managed to get here.
Sad to say, sections of our mainstream media are complicit in disseminating the poison of the extreme right. Some in the name of so-called “balance” (even though you’d never call for balance, defending the abuser, in a case of domestic violence – would you?)
Some platforms continue to spread the divisive rhetoric unashamedly, leaving families in fear, ordinary people on high alert – and the country as a tinderbox. Previously progressive broadcasters betray sections of their audience by asking what all the fuss is about, claiming they are “just saying what everyone is thinking”.
And the uneducated are influenced by incendiary, top-line, discriminatory messaging with proponents well aware that audiences won’t have the time or inclination for the detail as they get the kids ready for school or head off to work.
Also, two years after the riots that ripped apart the UK, silence is not an option when racists and xenophobes at the UTK rally can continue whipping up hate and division across the country. Not every person attending was a racist. Many remain disillusioned by a Labour government eating itself and an utterly useless Tory party.
Many will be offended at even the description of the rally as racist. Thing is, it was. No amount of indignation or pearl clutching will change that. Mass deportation on the basis of skin colour or religion is racist. UTK organisers claim the demonstration was for “national unity, free speech and Christian values”. Actually, it was soaked in transnational far-right mobilisation and activism.
With a line-up the old National Front and British National Parties would have been proud of. The irony of organiser Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and his henchmen posting themselves enjoying a curry after protesting all day against immigrants would have been lost on him. I hope a really nice one was prepared for them.
That said, Labour and the Tories should be embarrassed that the far right’s traction is based not on facts, but on making people feel seen. Their disgraceful complacency has left this country staring into the abyss. Little wonder the Greens are gaining so much ground on them.
