Has multiculturalism failed in working class communities in Britain?
I watched a documentary on youtube about Enoch Powell and his Rivers of blood Speech, as a young white lad in his late teens and living in the inner city, looking at that documentary and looking all around the city i live in, it is easy to identify with what Enoch powell said, my hometown has suffered riots and segregation between whites and asians is high, if you stray into an asian area you become at risk of violence, its all most as if asian people have taken over and the White population of the city are thee unwelcome party. i support what Enoch powell said, am i racist?
Has the Rivers of Blood Speech made by Enoch powell been vindicated?
Was Enoch powell a racist or realist?
Are white working class people second class citizens compared to minority's?
Has political correctness been abused by those who it was made to protect?
Were/are White working class people victims of Black and Asian immigration, because white communities suffered profound change and became non white ghettos and whites were forced out?
Were White working class Enoch Powell supporters racist because they feared and witnessed such massive changes in there communities?
Have the White working class of today got a raw deal from multiculturalism?
Did the White working class of yesterday get a raw deal from multiculturalism?
Was multiculturalism doomed before it started?
Are the BNPS the answer?
Comments
No - Enoch's beliefs have not been vindicated.
Enoch Powell was a racist.
The working class as a whole are "second-class citizens" - race doesn't come into it. White people tend to have lower unemployment than people from ethnic groups.
I think there is nothing wrong with "political correctness".
No - we are not "victims of immigration". I like living in a multicultural city (I live in Leicester).
Yes followers of Enoch Powell are racist, because they are not treating people equally, regardless of their race.
No - multiculturalism actually benefits Britain.
The BNP have no answers for working-class people. They side with the parties of big business when they are elected into councils. Their policies would wreck our public services and smash trade unions. The BNP are racists, liars and hypocrites.
Edit
Ellie, Mr Hairyman - WELL SAID!
Human rights campaigner - council houses are allocated based on need, not nationality. If someone has a young family then they are entitled to get a council house, if someone is single, they will be at the end of a long queue. I agree that there is a shortage of decent, affordable housing in this country and we need more council houses. However, the problem is NOT immigration, it is the government - New Labour have continued Thatcher's policy of selling off council houses. The solution? Get building workers off the dole and build more council houses - killing two birds with one stone. (see source)
The only reason it has failed, if at all, is because of the hysteria and xenophobia whipped up amongst white working class people by the gutter press, right wing tabloid papers they read.
This helps the politicians by finding scapegoats (the immigrants) to blame for the mess the country is in. The real battle is about all working class people of all races and cultures uniting to fight the politicians as they sell us all out to global capitalism and the New World Order. We should be embracing and celebrating our cultural differences, rather than being fearful of them and fighting over them.
I live on a very multicultural estate, and whilst people do not always socialise with each other, nor do they cause each other any bother. The only bother has been between some of the white "indigenous" people.
Parties like the BNP, or any other nationalist party are not the answer. They are just trying to legitimise their racism and thuggery.
Difficult question and I don't think that discussing Powell's speech will help, since it was so long ago. Being British means accepting influences and people from all sorts of places - I'm descended from Normans and Saxons, with a few Scots mixed in and a bit of Welsh influence and my best friend at school was a Ugandan Asian. I've also worked with East European refugees, Iraqis and Afghans and I'm proud of the links that Britain has made with these people and those of the Commonwealth. However, we never voted for mass immigration or multiculturalism, whatever that is supposed to mean. At the time of Powell's speech most immigrants wanted to be British, not some other culture. Now the combination of mass Asian migration, uncontrolled east European migration, pseudo-Jamaican youth culture and general malaise means that no community is safe. Has the white working class got a raw deal - yes, but so has nearly everyone else. It's not the Asian's fault, or the Blacks or the Poles. Just get rid of this crappy government, stop further immigration and let us sort ourselves out.
I do believe that white working class people got a raw deal from multiculturalism, but that doesn't mean that Enoch was right or that the BNP is any sort of answer. Immigration is fine so long as it's properly managed and people are compelled to integrate.
Multiculturalism was an awful idea because it encourages immigrants to keep their own little clique instead of integrating properly into society. That's why you have segregation and ghettos, and problems such as Islamic extremism and so-called honour killing.
In principle I think multiculturalism is a good idea. People are just people at the end of the day, they shouldn't be divided or judged because of the colour of their skin or which religion they adhere to.
In application I think it would work better if immigration wasn't happening so quickly and if people were encouraged to learn British culture and integrate.
The BNP definitely are not the answer, they are racist, they are undemocratic, they don't understand economics and the only reason some praise them for not being politically correct is because Nick Griffin can't string a sentence together without putting his foot in it.
How would you define successful or unsuccessful multiculturalism?
I would say that those who are unhappy or disaffected with a variety of cultures in this country are by far in the minority, and therefore, it has succeeded.
I see people eating foods from all over the world, using fashion from all over the world, listening to music, looking at artists and reading books from people all over the world. 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen immigrants play a large part in the UK military, politics and in sport.
For sure, there are areas that have more of one race, or contain a large amount of people from 1 immigrant population. However, history tells us that this generally happens because 1st gen immigrants are poor - need cheap rent and want to be around their countrymen. For example, look at Kilburn or Luton in the 1960's - 1980's, full of Irish. Come 2nd or 3rd gen, people spread out and mix around with others.
If you want to find problems, there are certainly problems, but 99% of us all get along fine. It's just that getting along fine doesn't sell newspapers.
I am young, and am not experienced in Britain prior to the 90s, so I am not really in a position to comment, but I am nonetheless :P It seems from my perspective that racism used to be far worse in terms of violence e.t.c. I am not saying it is not bad now, but by no means is it as bad as it used to be from programmes I've watched- I would also say the same for gang culture. As I said, I am probably all wrong...
As one who has lived in an all white Britain with all my own around me , I mourn our lost country and to the idiots that say it was not so, I am a Londoner born and bred i had never seen a black man until i was about twelve years old , Me and my Friends followed him in fascination for about ten minutes because we thought that the black men on the Tarzan films were really white men with black on there faces . No ghettos or no go area's then i used to wander the streets of London until ten at night without fear of anything or anybody. Our country has been sacrificed on the altar of do gooders and liberalist idiots who hate our history culture and way of life . Enoch saw it coming but was shouted down and abused by those with vested interest's in cheap labour . The BNP would have us believe that we can rid ourselves of this massive problem ,but it has gone to far down the road to correct now , civil strife and violence are coming and i see no way back to my once peaceful and stable country . Only going back in time to the mid fifties and making Enoch prime minister would do that .
the white working class natives are second class citizens to all non natives including white immigrants. multiculturalism only works in well off areas where there is money and people are more concerned if their neighbours have a new car and a new ski chalet they still want something more. try telling that to a family from peckham been in the area for years generations, some immigrants come in get a house state benefits while the natives own kids are still at home because they cant even get a one bedroom bedsit on the social housing. the bnp are the only answer. you take out what you put in, if you put nothing in especially as an immigrant what gives them the right to take more than everyone else?.
by the way ellie im reporting you for hate speech, it goes both ways you know
in my opinion the rivers of blood speech was racist, and i'm not stereotyping but a lot of racists in this country are white working class, the ones on the councils estates and all that. i haven't been in an asian area personally so can't comment on that but there is a lot of racism towards the asian community, just watch this panorama episode, "Panorama: Undercover - Hate on the doorstep" if you can.
i don't think PC has been abused, in the UK anyway. i think the government are too OTT with it though. you seem to have this "them and us" view on white and other races. we are people, why does it matter who lives where?
and BNP scum are NEVER the answer.
edit to person who's reporting me - i don't care, this is my opinion, the only "hate speech" i've said is about the BNP, and they deserve it. they are racist, bigoted and facist and there is a thing called freedom of speech. i think racism is wrong and i think that racists are scum.