Human Beings Are Welcome Here

This post is a bit different to the ones I usually share, as the focus isn’t specifically on therapy and mental health but rather on power, privilege and the importance of standing together against racism, Islamophobia and anti-immigration rhetoric.

I fundamentally believe that all human beings should be welcome in therapy, in Hull, across the UK, in any and every space regardless of race, religion, country of origin, age, marital status, sexuality, disability, or gender identity. If this is problematic for you, I respectfully encourage you to stop reading here and to go ahead and find other online spaces that are in better alignment with your values.

Before I get into this post, it’s important for me to acknowledge my privilege. I am a white, university-educated, heterosexual, cis-gender woman with an accent that most people are likely to identify as “English” in the way it’s often portrayed in TV programmes, films and the media. Although there are aspects of my identity that can put me at a disadvantage, I don’t face any of the dangers, threats and prejudice that People of Colour in particular do.

For example, I know that I can walk down the street without anyone screaming racist slurs at me or telling me to, “Go back to where I came from”. I know that a lynch mob isn’t going to corner me and attack me. I know that fundamentally, I am protected by my skin colour. This is white privilege.

Politicians and the media need to be held to account

None of the events that unfolded last weekend were “unprecedented”; they were the culmination of years of unchecked and unchallenged racism being enabled by politicians and the press, underpinned by entrenched colonial legacies and white supremacist ideologies. The focus has been deliberately shifted away from those with power and privilege, and projected onto vulnerable and minority groups.

This is intentional.

We have seen this tactic deployed before: it was a favourite of the Nazis, as well as other fascist regimes, and during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. By demonising certain groups and fuelling the flames of racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigration, those who wield power and status within a social structure are able to stoke fear and hatred, and to adjust the narrative to suggest that someone who appears to be “Other” is the “real” threat.

These narratives are picked up by media outlets (and social media platforms these days) and pushed out to the public as “the norm”, i.e. with an accompanying message along the lines of, “Majority of Brits believe X about [insert vulnerable minority group here]”. When these narratives are left unchallenged and unchecked, it creates an echo chamber, which rapidly snowballs and escalates any existing tensions.

The attacks aren’t about protecting children

There were all sorts of stories circulating in the news and on social media claiming that the original motivation for the “gatherings” of far-right groups was in protest to the killing of children at a dance class in Southport. It’s important to note that when 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin was killed by a white man in a sword attack in North-East London earlier this year, none of these self-proclaimed “protestors” were out protesting it; Daniel was a black child…

Let me be clear: we do not know what the suspect’s motivations were for the Southport attack, and whatever they were, there is still no excuse for the response we’ve witnessed. You may have noticed that the media reports about it are limited in the information they share. This is deliberate and part of the required standards that journalists have to meet when reporting on these types of incidents until legal proceedings against a suspect have concluded.

If any of what we’re seeing was about protecting children, we wouldn’t be seeing children being encouraged to shout racist slurs at people in the street or to attack homes and businesses owned by non-white people in their communities. We wouldn’t be seeing people set fires to hotels that may be housing children, then barricading the exits to prevent them getting out. If it was about protecting children, it would be about protecting ALL children.

Language matters

What we’re seeing has often been described as “mindless violence” by police and the media.

There is NOTHING mindless about: setting hotels on fire and barricading the exits with people inside; dragging people out of cars threatening to kill them; launching missiles at people’s homes and businesses; looting shops, and lynch mobs attacking brown and black people in the street and in parks.

These acts are planned and coordinated. If the perpetrators weren’t white, we sure as shit wouldn’t be seeing them still being reported on as “protests” or “far-right violence”, they’d be described as what they are: acts of domestic terrorism.

Although there is no universally-recognised definition of domestic terrorism, the FBI define it as, "activities: involving acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appearing to be intended to: intimidate or coerce a civilian population; influence the policy of government by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping; and occurring primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States."

What we’re witnessing fits with this definition, but unfortunately there isn’t a specific criminal offence of domestic terrorism in UK law, which is why the charges we’re seeing people get are for things like “violent disorder”, “inciting racial hatred”, “criminal damage”, and “rioting”.

“But the thugs are human too”…

Recognising humanity works both ways. The individuals involved in these attacks have not chosen to recognise the humanity in people who don’t necessarily look like them. There is inherent privilege in feeling so untouchable that you engage in these attacks in the first place, and privilege in being a white person responding to this with, “But these thugs are human too”.

I’m human first, and I’m condemning this as a human AND as a therapist. If these individuals were seeking therapy from a meaningful place of wanting to change and be able to recognise the humanity in the people they’ve harmed, that would be a different conversation, but from what I can see, that certainly isn’t the case.

We need to keep a check on the narrative that all racists are poor, uneducated and ignorant

Many of the attacks have been taking place in areas with high rates of poverty and lower literacy rates. That does NOT mean that all racists are poor and uneducated, but there has been an emphasis in the media of interviewing members of the public who don’t necessarily articulate themselves in a way that camoflages their racism.

Meanwhile, we see university-educated politicians and “commentators” using very particular language to express racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments, but doing so in such a way that it can appear to slip under the radar. Keep in mind that the concept of race itself is a construct designed by elite academics, which has been politicised to push supremacist ideologies.

One of the most disturbing things is that so many racists have seamlessly blended back into everyday society this week, and will be going about their every day lives in offices, educational institutions, and in public services as if nothing has happened…

There is so much love, kindness and support being expressed to counter the racism, Islamaphobia and anti-immigrant rhetoric

It has been wonderful to see communities come together to clear up the debris from the riots, and donating to fundraisers that are specifically going to support services and individuals that have been harmed. A fundraiser for Spellow Lane Library in Liverpool has raised over £200,000 (correct at the time of publishing this post) to replace books and resources that had been destroyed.

Another fundraiser, this time for a carer in Middlesborough who returned to his car after a 12-hour shift to find that it had been torched by rioters, has raised almost £50,000 (again, correct at the time of publishing this post) to buy him a replacement car. The organisers of the fundraiser have said that the additional funds will be donated to community hubs that helped to clean up after the riots.

Anti-racism marches are being organised across the country, and for all the hateful, racist vitriol that’s being spouted on social media, there are also so many posts expressing love, kindness and support for refugees and asylum seekers, Muslims and People of Colour.

As a white person, I can’t even begin to imagine how frightening it is to be a refugee or asylum seeker, a Muslim, or a Person of Colour in the UK right now. I’m unsurprised but utterly disgusted by what’s happening. My hope is that the legal system will serve its purpose of holding criminals to account, and that communities will continue to pull together against racism.

Please know that as far as I’m concerned, all human beings are welcome here.