Annwfyn ([info]annwfyn) wrote in [info]debunkingwhite,
@ 2008-05-16 14:23:00
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Current mood: tired
Entry tags:europe

UK centric - new London initiative on knife crime
I seem to be posting a lot on UK specific issues lately. If it's inappropriate, please tell me and I'll stop.

I read this on a friend's LJ this morning, and thought it was something this community might want to hear about. It's about the new Mayor of London's crackdown on knife crime.

    It seems that the new Mayor is so eager to stamp out a mark on this city that he has forgotten that the people here have rights too.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7403870.stm
    They are talking about rolling out metal detectors at tube stations across London.
    They say that it's to protect the community against knife crime.
    They say that they have community support.

    I'm calling bullshit right now on all three of those points

    They have been pulling people out of the gates at Elephant and Castle, and Hammersmith (pink line) stations all week. We have watched them sit and target young black men, pulling them out of mixed groups and treating them like criminals in front of their friends.

    They are not checking the people going INTO the stations, however... and they are not pulling a consistent stream of people out of the crowd. I'm white, almost thirty and female... and I carry a knife. They are never going to be taking it off the streets if they keep this closed-minded attitude. ...not that I want them to take my knife. I believe that I'm responsible enough to have one. I think that I've been responsible enough to have one since I was given one at the age of 16. They are invaluable tools, and I honestly used mine everyday when I was their age.

    Now the wonderful community support aspect of that wonderful speech...
    They have consulted the community, at least in our borough. They contacted the Community and Voluntary Sector umbrella organisation and asked them for input into this initiative.
    This morning.
    On a bullshit knee-jerk reaction that they put into play last week, that was in the media last night, and that will be rolled out london-wide, starting next week! So I ask... in the 2 weeks since Boris came into power, exactly WHO in the community has been consulted? Exactly WHO is behind this initiative?

    And I ask you, London people:
    Are you part of that community that is 100% behind the police treating our youth like criminals because they want to catch the train?
    Can you remember what it was like to be a teenager and be expected to behave like an adult, but receive nowhere near the level of respect that you have to afford others?
    Will please stop for 5 mins next time you see one of these and decide for yourself if it is worth giving up civil liberties for the sake of a false sense of security?
    Hell! just stop and see for yourself if I'm full of shit!
    Please

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[info]kialio
2008-05-16 03:01 pm UTC (link)
Let's hope there isn't a repeated incidence. /sigh

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[info]alias_sqbr
2008-05-17 12:02 am UTC (link)
I did a poll a while ago and most people were in favour of occasional posts about australia, so I assume they'd also be cool with posts about england (I certainly am, makes a nice change from america :))

Anyway, that's one of those horrible laws they totally can't actually enforce on everyone, so it can pretty much only be badly (and thus racist..ly) enforced. *remembers watching multiply pierced goths (which I assume you have plenty of) try to pass through airport security*

(Reply to this)

[info]stoneself
2008-05-17 06:11 am UTC (link)
are people in the uk surprised by this?

i mean in the usa poc are "know" they get profiled/stereotyped. and a lot of whites just think the profiles/stereotypes are some kind of commonsense.

how do poc and whites view this?

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[info]annwfyn
2008-05-17 09:16 am UTC (link)
First of all, most of what I say comes from a London-centric viewpoint, because that's where I've been living lately. I don't think I can speak for 'the UK', because I don't know how it works elsewhere, and I know there is a surprisingly big difference between 'London' and 'UK'.

I also think there's going to be a huge variety in what PoC and White folk over here think - probably with a lot of class variation as well.

With those provisos, I'll say that a lot of the news media in the UK recently has focused quite heavily on a rash of knife crimes and fatal stabbings in London, which are perceived as disproportionately affecting the Black community. At least some of the media reports I've seen seem to be suggesting that this kind of profiling is designed to protect PoC - it is PoC kids who are getting stabbed, and shot, and the violence has been quite based in areas of South London which have a large PoC population.

That's just the media I'm talking about, I know, and I'm now trying to answer your question and struggling a bit. One thing that I've realized a lot over the recent past is that we talk about these kind of issues far far less in the UK than I think we should. I've got White friends. I've got PoC friends. I don't think I could tell you what most of them think about this. I don't think I have ever sat down and explicitly discussed it.

I think there is an awareness that profiling happens amongst PoC. I know that a lot of my friends who happen to look vaguely middle eastern will accept that they are going to have a bad time at any given airport. I know that the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes shocked and scared a lot of people, and that there have been several scandals over here in the past ten years or so which have made people aware of just how racist the police can be. I think, very sadly, that a lot of White folk over here, especially outside of London and in areas where there really are only tiny PoC populations just don't think about it, and if they do assume that the police will know best. I think that a lot of White people in the UK are horrifically oblivious to racism. They don't think about it.

I think there is a level of classim in how a lot of people - both PoC and White - view this kind of profiling. I don't think it's just young black men who are being profiled. Or, at least, I don't think that people _think_ it is just young black men who are being profiled. I think a lot of people - both PoC and White, amongst my friendship group, think it is young working class Afro-Carribean men who are being profiled. But then again, I think there's a strong mental link that says South London accent + Black = working class, and then those poor kids get hit with both the classism and racism stick.

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