The Geography of Racial Differences in the UK - Essay Example

? White hegemony and racism in the rural and suburb areas of the United Kingdom al affiliation White hegemony and racism in the rural and suburb areas of the United Kingdom 1.0 Introduction The geography of racial differences in the UK has historically concentrated on the occurrence of this phenomenon in the urban areas. However, in recent years, issues of “whiteness”, “nationhood” and “otherness” have spread to the rural and suburban areas of the UK. The idea of the superiority of the white race is rife in theses areas, thereby threatening the peace of other ethnic minorities. As a result, there is urgent need to come up with strategies to eliminate or at the very least, reduce cases of racist violence in rural areas. This essay aims at analyzing the various forms of racism in rural and urban areas of the UK, through the eyes of both the whites and the ethnic minorities. The essay also examines the various ways in which such forms of racism can be addressed. 2.0 Rural racism in the English countryside The idea of the English country side for most people is almost fantasy-like, where life is easy-flowing and communities are like “small nations”. According to Garland & Chakraborti (2006, pp. 161) the rural life of most communities in England is characterized by a quite, cozy life, greenery, close-knit relations among people, and deep feelings of belonging. As a result, the country side is perceived as the place where the “real” England is represented. Accordingly, there is a common perception that the countryside is a very peaceful place, with no cases of racial segregation and violence. On the contrary, other people coming from other towns and cities, especially ethnic minorities always find it hard to fit into the community life. These minorities are then perceived as unwilling to adopt the English culture, and are subject to racial discrimination. 3.0 Strategies for refiguring rural racism 3.1 Various forms of exclusion In the UK, exclusion can range from differences in skin colour, cultural identity, and economic status. Nonetheless, it seems that racial segregation is the most dominant form of exclusion practiced by most people in the UK today. The main racial categories include White, Black, and Asian. The White category according to Woodward (2004, pp.139) includes the British and the Irish, while the Black category is made up of people from African and Caribbean countries. The Asians are then categorized as being Chinese, Pakistani, or Indian. However, even within the “White” group, the English still seem to alienate the Irish and the Welsh. The English seem to have a sense of cultural hegemony, which they believe represents true British nationalism. Therefore, any other ethnic group, especially the Irish is seen as a contaminant of British national identity. The issue of authentic Englishness then comes to the fore of societal structures, and forms a basis for racial segregation. 3.2 Definitions of rurality for indigenous and ethnic minorities, differences Indigenous people and ethnic minorities have very different perception of the term “rurality”. For most whites, rurality bears the last hope for the preservation of whiteness (Garner 2007, pp.78). The countryside, should, therefore, be protected from the evils of city life, the latter which is characterized by multiculturalism and disorder, represented by ethnic minorities. Accordingly, to a majority of ethnic minorities, life in the countryside is not as smooth, since they constantly have to worry about racial abuse and violence (McKinney 2005, pp. 20). However, cases of violent assault are relatively fewer compared to reported incidents of verbal abuse. It is also alarming to note that the criminal system does not take the victimization of the ethnic minorities seriously, as the former chooses to believe in the “good” of English people (ibid). As Bonnet (2000b, pp.113 ) noted, English rural dwellers always suspect and treat “others” with mistrust, as evidenced by the tense political climate following the move by the labour government to send asylum seekers to rural England. The rural residents claimed that the asylum seekers would erode the cultural identity of the English people (Hubbard 2005, pp. 55). This is because, in such rural settings there usually is some unwritten code of conduct that newcomers may find hard to adjust to and end up being alienated from community life, or forced to conform. To the rural dwellers, the countryside is their “space” and any other person is an intruder. 3.3 Rural poverty In the UK, the countryside is characterized by three basic classes of dwellers, distinguishable by economic status. Byrne (2006, pp. 122-127) states that first, there are the bourgeoisies who own most of the land and businesses in the countryside. Secondly, there are the petit-bourgeoisie who mainly own and manage shops and pubs in their areas of residence. The last class comprises of the proletariat who are self-employed people mainly working as builder, cleaners, waitresses, and mechanics, among other manual jobs (ibid). At the countryside, the social standing of a person, which is determined by how much money they have, establishes where and how they live. Accordingly, the affluent agriculturalists and businessmen own most of the countryside land as well as most housing units which are rented out at very high prices. This means that most of the ethnic minority and the poor live in deplorable housing conditions, since they cannot afford to rent the houses or buy land. As Neal (2002, pp. 448-452) states, the state policy of putting social housing up for sale only serves to worsen the housing crisis. The poor rural people, especially the youth and ethnic minorities end up homeless and sleeping in vans (ibid) and camping sites. Most property owners are also converting their properties to holiday homes which are ridiculously expensive, further denying the poor proper housing. 3.4 Challenging white supremacy The study of racism has been mostly one-sided, with the white race being treated as a fixed referral point for the study of ethic minorities (Bonnet 2000a, pp. 138). As Tyler (2012, pp. 73) asserts, most studies have always concentrated on the ethnic minorities and failed to study the white race. Quoting Agyeman & Spooner (1997), de Lima (2008, pp.3) states that the focus on ethnic minorities in rural areas has led to the “invisibility of whiteness as an ethnic signifier”. In most rural parts of the UK, ethnic minorities form a very small percentage of the countryside populations, thus making these minorities very conspicuous to the white majority. Therefore, it is not that the white race is superior to the others; it is just that very few researchers have taken time to study the issues affecting white people in the UK. A meticulous study of the white race would probably also reveal that they are some whites who face racial discrimination in the UK, especially in areas populous with ethnic minorities. It is common knowledge that some immigrants can be good workers, with good education, and who can genuinely help the economy of the UK grow. (Taylor (2012 pp.125-127) states that despite this, the white people tend to categorize all immigrants as asylum seekers out to deplete national resources. To most people, the UK should be kept white and free of “aliens’, especially colonial subjects (Frankenberg 1997, pp. 283). 3.5 Effects of post-colonial histories and geographies According to Neal (2009, pp.26), history has had a lot of influence on the ruralist version used to describe England as “home”. During the First World War, most soldiers would come back to England, southern to be particular, and establish settlements according to their degree of “sameness”. In this case, sameness represented being white, heterosexual, and belonging to the middle class (Shaw 2006, pp. 860). Therefore, any sense of nationality within the UK was depicted by images of the country side. Similarly, during World War II, African soldiers fought for Britain, while Asian people worked in cotton mills after the Second World War and Caribbean people built most of the residential homes in the countryside (Kumar 2003, pp.202). It is therefore, outright hypocrisy to deny the historical attachment of the United Kingdom, especially Britain, to these racial groups. During the world wars, Africans, Asians, and Caribbean people were useful to Britain, yet today, their descendants are treated as parasites undeserving of being called British. Then again, the way these races are treated might just be a continuation of the white supremacy exercised on these minority races during that period. The Blacks and Asians were never equal to the whites during that period, and the whites today are determined to ensure the status quo remains unchanged. 4.0 Suburban racism Most people move into suburbs from the city in search of quieter lives with less complexity as compared to city life. According to Keith (2005, pp. 7) a city such as London is seen by most people as being too cosmopolitan, with increased levels of crime, something totally different from the idea of “home” held by most white people. As such, cities are seen as dangerous multiethnic places, while the suburbs are perceived as safe places for the white population who chose to move away from the cities (Butler & Hamnett 2011, pp.64). A majority of white people feel that they have become the minority race in the cities, therefore opting to move to areas they can identify with “Englishness”. Watt (2011, pp. 10) terms the migration from cities into suburbs by the white population as “white flight”. Therefore, to these white folks, the continuous influx of ethnic minorities into the suburbs makes the very reason for relocation of the whites meaningless. It is considered that these ethnic minorities bring the characteristic features of the city to the suburbs. Amazingly, when other white people move into the suburbs from the cities, they are not seen as representatives of city life; rather they are welcomed on grounds of “sameness”. While studying the patterns of racism and whiteness in the London suburb of Essex, Watt (2011, pp.3) states that the area has two differing sides. On one part, there is the affluent side of Essex and on the other hand, there is the economically deprived part. Here, economic deprivation is characterized by low incomes, little industrial activity, low educational levels, and low skill levels (ibid). The eastern side of Essex is made up of a very high percentage of middle-class white people, almost 95 per cent. Accordingly, this area has those characteristics of an English “village”, including green sceneries, a mediaeval church, and housing projects. However, the economic difference does little to keep those people from the poor side from discriminating against the ethnic minorities. In Watt’s (2011, pp.13) one respondent from the Thurrock suburbs of eastern London can even name every member who has moved into the area, who belongs to one of the ethnic minorities. Birmingham, according to Allen & Eade (1999, pp. 255) is no different in terms of racial violence against the ethnic minorities, especially the Asian shopkeepers. Most of the abuse and violence is carried out by white youth between the ages of 12-25, who are involved in petty theft, vandalism, verbal abuse and sometimes physical assault against the Asians (Allen & Eade 1999, pp.256-260). According to one respondent the parents actually encourage their children to racially abuse people of ethnic minorities, especially in the Kempton Dean area of the Birmingham suburb. 4.1 Case study: suburban sentiment about Asian-owned shops Neal and Agyeman (2006, pp.140-141) give the following conversation between two women friends to show how whites perceive Asian shopkeepers in Greenville: Louise: ‘I have never been in the Asian shop” Janet: “No I have only been in twice” Louise: “Asians act a bit sly; they try to get their end up. My husband dealt with a man from India and he said that we have got all the low caste rubbish here. The higher caste ones are still in India. A few years ago the Leicester Gazette said that 75 % of muggings are done by coloureds.” Janet: It is true that more of the snatchings … on the streets are done by Asians.” Louise: “Well I’m not keen … the problem is that they are demanding so much and that causes friction. They come here and they do not accept our way of life.” 5.0 Conclusion Considering the issues in this discussion concerning rural and suburb racism, it is obvious that the popular images of tranquility and peace that are representative of the UK are just imaginary (Burden & Kohl 2006, pp. 213-215). The old all-white countryside characterized by greenery, local churches and close-knit communities has almost entirely been replaced by modernity. Evidence of poor housing, racial violence and emergent holiday homes serves to dilute the very idea of whiteness associated with most countryside areas and suburbs. Racism is present in the urban, suburban, and rural areas, and the idea of “place” for most white people is rapidly disappearing. The future will see more networks being opened up to allow ethnic minorities access the suburbs and rural areas more easily, and lead a comfortable life with proper housing. References Allen, T., & Eade, J.1999. Divide Europeans: Understanding Ethnicities In Conflict. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Bonnet, A. 2000 a. White Identities: Historical and International Perspectives. London: Prentice Hall. Bonnet, A.2000 b. Anti-Racism. London: Routledge. Burden, R., & Kohl, S. 2006. Landscape and Englishness. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Butler, J., & Hamnett, C. 2011. Ethnicity, Class and Aspiration: Understanding London’s New East End. London: Policy Press. Byrne, B. 2006. 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Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity. London: Routledge. Read More