The Daily Mail

Sleepy kindly sent me an article from the Daily Mail (not usually a paper I subscribe to) which set me thinking. For those who would not have read it, it was an interesting piece focusing on the life of a woman whose plight was highlighted in Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech. In it he spoke of a constituent in Wolverhampton whose neighbourhood was being taken over by West Indian and Asian families to the extent that in her road, only she and another family were left as ‘indigenous’ members of the community. Powell spoke of the victimisation she suffered: excrement through her letterbox, claims of racism because she refused to let out rooms to non-whites and continual harassment from children.

Actually, the truth was somewhat different to the claims made by Powell. He kept her identity secret in his speech, and the Mail only ran the story because the lady in question had recently died. Given the scenario outlined, you would expect to find that the woman had moved from her street – in fact she stayed in the same house until she died. Amongst the flowers at her funeral were several bouquets from local West Indian families, suggesting that at least some connection existed between her and her neighbours. The claims of excrement being placed through her letter box were inaccurate – the truth being that this happened to her next door neighbours who were involved in a local feud (not racially motivated) which escalated alarmingly with a dead dog carcass being thrown through their window. A fact that was also featured incorrectly in Powell’s tirade.

One thing that seems to me to be good about serious journalists is that they would have not just trusted Powell’s account but would have taken some time to find the woman concerned – just as the Mail’s correspondent seemed to have done. There is something to be said for doing your research and not relying on assertion. Given Powell’s allegedly superior intelligence and intellect, you might expect that sources would have been checked before such a story was promulgated in a key note speech – one he knew would cause controversy. But, hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story or justification for action by the state – ask Tony and George.

Another thought of mine was how evocative the piece was. I can vaguely remember the very racist nature of British society when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s where it was not uncommon to find notices in shop windows advertising accommodation – with the caveat of ‘no blacks or Irish’. Ah yes, the Irish! One of the things that give me hope is that within my lifetime, we seem to have rid ourselves of anti-Irish racism (I say ‘seem’ deliberately – it might not be the case, but certainly there are very few manifestations of it in the ways that there used to be). To give you a flavour of how deeply rooted that form of racism was, my dad’s family were Irish in origin and it ain’t too long ago that we were hanging out in Cork. But even he had no time for the country he came from and would use plenty of opportunities to denigrate them – to such an extent that my mother pointed out (quite bravely) that his vitriol seemed misplaced.

I would like to be an optimist today and hope that if we can come this far that there is hope for the future. It seems to me, from working in an institution which is genuinely a league of nations, that we are becoming simultaneously less and more tolerant of diversity. The classes I teach have a genuinely diverse mix of ethnicities and races – let alone creeds. The staff mix, whilst still predominately white, is changing quite profoundly with a lot of new hires being Chinese, Asian and Indian. We have our courses running all over the world and partner with great people who do a good job. Yes, I get worried about the hold extremist views are exerting over young people, but I think that this can be overcome through dialogue and a change in certain foreign policies (i.e. the Middle East). As I type, I am watching Spurs play Man U. the teams have players from all over the world, a manager who’s a Scot and another who’s Dutch. Both are highly respected within the football world. Clubs now do all they can to ensure that those players from overseas find their feet. OK, there is a shrewd business rationale behind this as well as a welfare one, but I’ll take it. Years ago, the black players on the pitch would have been greeted by monkey noises from opposing fans. Today, such demonstrations would see the supporters ejected and their season tickets confiscated. It’s not perfect and there is a long way to go, but the Daily Mail article prompted me to think that we’ve come a hell of a long way.