Riots and Racism — A Tale of Ignorance and Violence
This week in the UK and the upsetting scenes across the island
As I have said in a previous article, I am not what one would call a definite left wing or right wing advocate. I believe both sides have merits, with the left being more open to change and inclusivity, and the right believing in maintaining past events and not rewriting history at the expense of political correctness. However, this past week has shown the tension that has been building for the last 10 or so years, ever since the Brexit debate in this country. For those out of the loop, a man in Southport murdered 3 young children and injured 10 other people, wielding a large blade during a youth dance class. Now, this has led to large scale riots from the right wing fanatics. This is where I would draw the line personally in my beliefs and why I will always fall to the left.
Since the event, there have been violent protests across the UK against those of the Islamic faith, with several targeted attacks against mosques and the larger Muslim community. This was due to inaccurate reporting by extreme right wing personalities such as Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon (I will not be referring to him as his stage name) that the attacker was a Muslim immigrant who had arrived in the UK illegally. Despite the fact that this has been disproved during Court reporting, which listed the attacker as a Welsh national of Christian background, this has not stopped the depraved aggressors to launch full scale assaults against those they hold as lesser.
For many who follow the likes of Nigel Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, this was just the excuse they needed to exercise their hatred of outsiders into physical conflict. It seems clear, then, that these ultra-nationalists are the types who are likely to cause violence on football match days, and who hold outdated views on migration and what the idea of “being British” means. Do they believe that a person who is not white is not a Briton? I saw this argument for the murderer, as “his parents are migrants” that he is not a Briton — does this mean Idris Elba, himself son to a Sierra Leonean father and Ghanaian mother, is not British? He is arguably one of the most popular and respected British actors currently operating.
It also makes no sense to me why they seem to pick and choose when they are okay with multi-culturalism. They seem to be okay to get haircuts from Turkish barbers, or going for a Chinese takeaway on a Friday, but do not seem happy with others who are fleeing war-torn countries and have nothing to their name. Also, especially in Liverpool (which does make me upset to see), to see further right wing attacks against Muslims, when arguably Liverpool’s most important player in the last 10 years, Mohammad Salah, is a Muslim himself. Will they not celebrate when he opens the scoring in two weeks? I do hope the more popular Muslim players show some backbone and speak out about the atrocities currently being committed.
It is not only those who hold hatred for minority groups who have been causing mayhem. In my own city of Liverpool, there has been plenty who have took this chaotic opportunity to join the riots in order to cause destruction to local businesses and neighbourhoods. Whether it is small convenience stores owned by Muslims, or electronic stores in the community, flocks of youths with balaclavas and ill intent have been seen in large droves in the centre of the destruction. Going on Tiktok, I saw a number of livestreams on County Road in Walton, close to Everton’s Goodison Park, which has always been a multicultural hub. Last night, shops were attacked, bins were overturned and used as battering rams, and rubbish was thrown not only at police, but at innocent bystanders.
What is the worst for me is that the focus is no longer on the poor girls who tragically lost their lives due to somebody suffering with severe mental health issues. Their families have not only had to endure losing somebody so young and so precious, but their community has now been destroyed by violent thugs who use the disaster as an excuse to unleash their ill intentions. Even when questioned, their answers on why they are doing this do not seem coherent — there is whataboutery about Black Lives Matter and their protests following the death of US citizen George Floyd. And rather than protesting those who make the decisions in regards to immigration, they would rather decimate communities of their peers who have no say, fighting to “make women and children feel safe” whilst being bigger threats themselves. I hope the cowards partaking in these acts are tried and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I hope Yaxley-Lennon and his cowardly bunch of degenerate neo-nazis wannabes are stripped of all power and ability to influence the idiotic drones and forced to face their crimes of inciting terror across the UK.
To all my Muslim friends and acquaintances, I hope you remain safe and know that the fascist few will never match the tolerant many in this country.
