Multiculturalism: Is the UK as tolerant as we think?

The question of multiculturalism and whether it is working is something of continuing importance in a world still often divided by race and hatred, but is the UK really as progressive as some people like to believe? Many students maintain that the UK is a place of multiculturalism and tolerance, but perhaps our ‘country of tolerance’ is being viewed through rose-tinted spectacles.

Primarily, the issue with defining whether we are a tolerant nation involves the definition of racism – something which may not seem subjective, but can be. Is harmless ‘banter’ amongst friends racist? When is the definition of racism taken too far into political correctness?

However, in a country where I have seen my Asian friends turned away from clubs in London and heard a friend be told (by another Exeter student!) that she is ‘pretty for an Indian’, racism still seems rife. Perhaps there are fewer race-based attacks, but verbal racist ‘banter’ and discrimination mean that racism is not dead.

According to recent statistics, black men are 26 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white men. On top of this shocking statistic; 60% of black people in a study carried out by the BBC said that they had experienced verbal racial abuse. 

One of the major arguments put forward by those who believe Britain to be tolerant and multicultural is that it is relative to other countries in Europe. While it may be true that there is far less discrimination here than in other countries (such as Sweden, where job-seekers have a 50% higher chance of getting an interview if they have a Swedish sounding name rather than an Arab one), does this make our level of racism more acceptable? Just because someone else has committed a worse crime does not mean that your crime is not a problem.

A video was posted online recently of a woman in a hospital racially abusing two young women from Nigeria and Spain. Reading the comments on the youtube video, many of which refer to “third world people” and other such derogatory remarks about the unsubstantiated claim that the women concerned do not pay their taxes, demonstrates that there are still many people who think that an unprovoked racial attack is justified. 

A Huffington Post article by Shamim Chowdhury also emphasised the way that the media use a small number of people within a religion or race to criminalise the entire population and sensationalise any hint of ‘scandal’ involving minorities – highlighting a (frankly, disgusting) article written in the Telegraph in which the self-pitying Jane Kelly laments about Acton Vale: “Most of the shops are now owned by Muslims and even the fish and chip shop and Indian takeaway are Halal. It seems that almost overnight it’s changed from Acton Vale into Acton Veil.” “I’m a stranger on these streets and all the “good” areas, with safe streets, nice housing and pleasant cafés, are beyond my reach. I see London turning into a place almost exclusively for poor immigrants and the very rich.” Chowdhury, who also lives in Acton Vale, points out that: “The Vale […] consists of a café run by Europeans, two Chinese takeaways — run by Chinese –, a hardware shop and a car parts shop run by English guys, a post office run by Tamils, a dry cleaners run by secular Iranians, a hairdresser run by a Polish woman and a store run by a Hindu family. At the most, about six of them are Muslim-owned. Multicultural? Absolutely. Muslim-dominated? Hardly.” The fact that an overtly racist article, in which the author is a self-confessed ‘reluctant racist’, was published by a prominent newspaper shows just how big of an issue racism still is in Britain. 

Overall, while we can be pleased that the UK is more tolerant that other European countries, it is clear that this by no means makes us innocent. We still have a long way to go before we can truly be multicultural, and each and every one of us has a responsibility to help this progress by realising that racist jokes and ‘banter’ can be hurtful and malicious. Exeter, where I struggled to find any minorities to ask about their experiences of racism, is just one example of how the UK is nowhere near as multicultural as it seems. HCX wonders what you think about multiculturalism is the UK? 

Sources: bbc.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, huffingtonpost.co.uk

Picture and video sources: Hopenothate.org.uk, vice.com, youtube.com, axisoflogic.com