The anti-immigrant protest in Belfast and the related thuggery, looting and violence were condemned by the First and Deputy First Minister. I also praise Mathew O’Toole for his unequivocal support for a diverse society, supporting the anti-racist coalition and, his outright condemnation of the criminal behaviour on our streets. The Policing Board’s response of “deeply depressing and disturbing” and “There is no place for hate in our community, predictable response yes, insightful no. There were shortcomings in how the PSNI policed the protests and I am sure lessons will be learned.
It seems that extreme right-wing anti-migration Irish Nationalists have a common purpose with far-right loyalists. I was not surprised that the Union flag and the Tricolours were paraded side by side, what they have in common that transcends their religion and national identity is an ideology that points to people of different skin colour and ethnicity as the scapegoat for the failure of government across a range of public policy. This is articulated by these far-right groups in phrases like taking our jobs, taking our housing, lowering our wages, and raping our women. The neo nazi and anti-migrant sentiment, have created a new all-Ireland but not the one some hope for. Some migrants are genuine refugees seeking asylum, others provide vital support to our public services particularly health and social care, without whom our health system would be on its knees. Some have come from overseas to accept roles in the private sector to fill local skill shortages, which is quite frankly a failure in designing an education fit for this Millennium. Many second and third-generation people like me, whose parents came here 60 to 70 years ago, have contributed to this society through their entrepreneurship and have served all our communities in various roles. During the height of the troubles, my father’s generation served both communities, Unionist/Loyalist and Nationalist /Republican from lower Newtownards Rd to the Flying Horse Estate in Downpatrick. They supplied everything from wedding outfits to school uniforms, all on credit, with not a credit score to be seen, just simply good old-fashioned trust. This generation also changed the palates of this province forever. I wonder if of any rioters have ever had, a “Chinese,” a kebab or an “Indian.”
I was born in the “South,” Donegall Rd, to be precise, in 1959, where most of the rioting took place. I grew up in the late 70s and 80s, then the racist NF and the Nazi Combat 18 also infiltrated those communities and aligned themselves with local paramilitaries. Back then, only a handful of Black and Brown citizens were in the province. As a second generation of Asian descent, I never felt safe in loyalist communities because of the relationship between loyalist paramilitaries and neo-Nazis. Many working-class protestants in those communities also felt uncomfortable with this new coalition. Working-class communities have nothing to fear from refugees fleeing persecution or being angry at migrants who have been invited here to work. However, if they are angry, it should be directed at the local politicians they have elected and who have miserably failed to advocate effectively on behalf of their communities. A poster held by a woman at the anti-migrant protest said, “We will not become second-class citizens in our own country”. The answer to that statement is get off your ass and kick the asses of the people you elect, not scapegoat people fleeing prosecution and let’s be honest, Unionist politicians have failed working-class protestants for decades. In Sandy Row and surrounding areas, the culture of a minority has moved on from hating and blaming one set of “F’s ”( Fenians that is) for all their woes to blaming another set of “F’s.”( foreigners) The orchestrators of this senseless violence need to feel the full force of the law and genuine community leaders must be supported to make clear that these men do not act or speak on behalf of their communities. Just to be clear, racism is a minority sport, and racists exist across our communities but racism, must not be allowed to become the new sectarianism.
A person I do not give much credit to is Mr Bryson however, his condemnation of the weekend’s events was clear and without equivocation, thanks Jamie. Unlike Tommy Robinson, who from his 5-star luxury resort in Cyprus, ironically to get a bit of colour, was on social media stoking violence through phrases like “The time has come”. I would think some of those involved in the terrible scenes in Belfast and other cities in the UK were envious of their Fuhrer (German for leader/guide). What is essential, is that local politicians need to step up and do their job. That job is to talk to, understand, support and advocate for their constituents and that means ALL their constituents.
Let us not forget the scapegoating language that some Tory MPs like Braverman have used, language such as equating small boats to an “invasion,” open borders and blaming 14 years of Tory failure from housing to the NHS on migration both illegal and legal. The BBC invited on to Newsnight, a bumbling half-wit called Dame Andrea Jenkyns. She supported and then miserably failed to explain or provide any evidence for Nigel Farage’s two-tier policing BS. She went on to conflate Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 with racists trying to burn down hostels housing asylum seekers and their families, attacking shops owned by minority groups, general looting, burning police vehicles and attacking police officers. Columnists like Melaine Philips who is of Jewish descent and the posh-speaking Douglas Murray propagate different versions of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory. Nadine Dorries shared and then deleted a far-right fiction that Muslim men can make benefit claims for several wives while the artefact that is Rees Mogg quotes the German Neo-Nazi Party the AFD.
At a local level, the local media particularly the BBC our national broadcaster has miserably failed to seek out and seek opinions of Black and Brown citizens born here and who see Northern Ireland as home. Political panels are “pale” as if the minority community have nothing to contribute to society’s collective future. This includes issues from, the economy, public services, local and national politics, broader public policy, and the debate around Irish unity. The only time a Black or Brown person is wheeled out is when a vicious racist attack takes place, which implies that these people have nothing more to say about or add to the many issues facing society here. My last interview on the BBC was when I was asked as a former independent of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and a former commissioner on the Commission for Racial Equality, to comment on John Taylor’s view that Leo Varadkar was a” typical Indian.” Sinn Fein and Naomi Long were straight out of the trap calling him a racist. I was asked if I agreed, to their surprise my response was no, though I did say his comments were crass, stupid and inappropriate and quoted Mark Twain “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”. However, I did say to the presenter why did you not ask Taylor, what is a typical Indian. Is a typical Indian, the corner shop guy who serves his community 16 hrs per day, the 90,000 doctors of Asian descent that underpin the NHS and the men and women of Asian descent who are the backbone of social care services and Tata industries through Jaguar Land Rover employ almost 15,000 and Tata Consultancy Services employ 23,000 and that excludes the multiplier effect, to name a couple.
What is missing in this debate is not simply about policing, which is important, but a program of integration of those legally coming to work here and those who are quite rightly seeking asylum, under our obligations as signatories to the ECHR, an obligation, which must never be diluted. We do need Multiculturalism, but one of the failures of multiculturalism is not that it has failed to create a sense of belonging among minorities but that it has paid too little attention to how to sustain support among parts of the white population, who are sceptical about the ability to retain a minority ethnic or religious identity while being British and who perceive conflict over resources (especially access to social housing) with immigrants and ethnic minorities. I call this process the three i’s. introduce, inform, and integrate. Introduce, create a safe place where those who have fled from war-torn countries, tyrannical and misogynistic regimes can come face to face with host communities in which they will reside. Inform, this is simply locals understanding why people have fled their countries and the risks they have taken to get here. In turn, those who have fled here need to understand the values, rights and history that underpin this society. This should include, the treatment of women, freedom of speech, justice, respect for diversity and LGBT rights. Integrate, this is an ongoing process of engagement and support, for both, the host communities, and refugees. However, let me be clear, this is a process of integration, not assimilation, from which, we all benefit. The failure of public policy around this issue can now be seen playing out on our streets. One policy that undermines social cohesion more broadly is the state funding of faith-based schools, which needs to go and should never have been part of “multiculturalism.”
My advice to Emma and Michell is, firstly to deal with the racist thugs, the related criminality and their infrastructure both online and offline and then engage with those communities in which the rioting took place. One thing is clear, the great threat to social cohesion is the social media platforms and the governments across Europe need to stop talking about regulation and bring these corporations to heal. “Musk must be Muzzled.”
I will finish with a quote from Martin Luther King Jnr “Judge a man not by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character”, need I say more?
Suneil Sharma
11th August 2024
The Gob 
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