Does Brown’s ascension to No.10 mark the return of the British Empire?
- By News Hound
- Published 07/3/2007
- Politics
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View all articles by News HoundDoes Brown’s ascension to No.10 mark the return of the British Empire?
by Deborah Gabriel
So after a ten-year wait, Chancellor Gordon Brown will finally become Prime Minister on Wednesday, pledging to restore the British public’s trust in the government. But as the saying goes: ‘Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ If Brown hopes to restore public faith in the government, then he will need to do considerably more than offer a few choice words that amount to nothing more than empty promises, if we are to judge his pledge on the track record of the New Labour government.
Racism, social and economic inequalities have increased dramatically under Tony Blair’s reign. And in particular, black and Asian communities have borne the brunt of policies that have led to the oppression of black communities in every sphere of society. As the Home Affairs committee reported last week, black people and black youths in particular, are disproportionately targeted, stopped and searched, arrested, charged and imprisoned than whites, resulting in the criminalisation of black communities.
As Black Britain has reported, over one third of black males are on the DNA register even though they may have committed no crime. Muslim communities have themselves been terrorised and demonized under the so-called anti-terror laws and Islamaphobia has risen to unprecedented levels.
In April this year, research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed the extent to which poverty blights the lives of black and Asian communities compared with the white population. Whilst 20 per cent of whites live in poverty – the rates for non-white peoples are 65 per cent for Bangladeshis, 55 per cent for Pakistanis, 45 per cent for Africans and 30 per cent for African Caribbeans.
This is despite great improvements in higher education – which is supposed to lead to increased career and job opportunities. But for Africans, African Caribbeans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, gaining higher qualifications does not open doors or remove the glass ceiling for those aspiring to advance their careers.
Then there is the crisis in the mental health system in this country, which like many of our public institutions has been condemned as ‘institutionally racist’ and not without good cause. African Caribbean men are 46 times more likely to be detained in hospital, 50 per cent more likely to be placed in seclusion and 29 per cent more likely to have restraints used against them.
And what does Brown have to say about reversing the downward trend of ‘apartheid’ in Britain – that the Labour Party “must have soul.” If we are to take that quite literally- what Brown is saying is that the Labour Party is missing an essential part of human nature – that which makes us human. Well, that is hardly surprising given that denying the humanity of others usually results in the loss of humanity of the oppressors themselves.
This is more relevant than ever given the sham that people of African descent have endured in the form of the Bicentenary of the Abolition Act commemorations, which all but whitewashed history, whilst demands for a Parliamentary Commission on the African Holocaust and the issue of reparations go ignored, amidst hollow words of regret for Britain’s chattel enslavement of African peoples.
One must not forget that on more than one occasion our new Prime Minister has extolled what he perceives as the ‘virtues of the British Empire’ and has had the audacity to say that Britain “should stop apologizing for the British Empire.” Perhaps his plan for Britain is a revival of the heyday of British Imperialism. So don’t be fooled by the carefully choreographed New Labour spin – ‘Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.’
http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/comment/details.aspx?i=18&c=Comment
So after a ten-year wait, Chancellor Gordon Brown will finally become Prime Minister on Wednesday, pledging to restore the British public’s trust in the government. But as the saying goes: ‘Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ If Brown hopes to restore public faith in the government, then he will need to do considerably more than offer a few choice words that amount to nothing more than empty promises, if we are to judge his pledge on the track record of the New Labour government.
Racism, social and economic inequalities have increased dramatically under Tony Blair’s reign. And in particular, black and Asian communities have borne the brunt of policies that have led to the oppression of black communities in every sphere of society. As the Home Affairs committee reported last week, black people and black youths in particular, are disproportionately targeted, stopped and searched, arrested, charged and imprisoned than whites, resulting in the criminalisation of black communities.
As Black Britain has reported, over one third of black males are on the DNA register even though they may have committed no crime. Muslim communities have themselves been terrorised and demonized under the so-called anti-terror laws and Islamaphobia has risen to unprecedented levels.
In April this year, research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed the extent to which poverty blights the lives of black and Asian communities compared with the white population. Whilst 20 per cent of whites live in poverty – the rates for non-white peoples are 65 per cent for Bangladeshis, 55 per cent for Pakistanis, 45 per cent for Africans and 30 per cent for African Caribbeans.
This is despite great improvements in higher education – which is supposed to lead to increased career and job opportunities. But for Africans, African Caribbeans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, gaining higher qualifications does not open doors or remove the glass ceiling for those aspiring to advance their careers.
Then there is the crisis in the mental health system in this country, which like many of our public institutions has been condemned as ‘institutionally racist’ and not without good cause. African Caribbean men are 46 times more likely to be detained in hospital, 50 per cent more likely to be placed in seclusion and 29 per cent more likely to have restraints used against them.
And what does Brown have to say about reversing the downward trend of ‘apartheid’ in Britain – that the Labour Party “must have soul.” If we are to take that quite literally- what Brown is saying is that the Labour Party is missing an essential part of human nature – that which makes us human. Well, that is hardly surprising given that denying the humanity of others usually results in the loss of humanity of the oppressors themselves.
This is more relevant than ever given the sham that people of African descent have endured in the form of the Bicentenary of the Abolition Act commemorations, which all but whitewashed history, whilst demands for a Parliamentary Commission on the African Holocaust and the issue of reparations go ignored, amidst hollow words of regret for Britain’s chattel enslavement of African peoples.
One must not forget that on more than one occasion our new Prime Minister has extolled what he perceives as the ‘virtues of the British Empire’ and has had the audacity to say that Britain “should stop apologizing for the British Empire.” Perhaps his plan for Britain is a revival of the heyday of British Imperialism. So don’t be fooled by the carefully choreographed New Labour spin – ‘Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.’
http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/comment/details.aspx?i=18&c=Comment
