By Manthan Pathak.
First came the trauma. Then the fight. Now the hope.
It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. I’ve watched in horror as extreme violence by the far right, targeted at immigrants and all people of colour, has disfigured our country.
Perhaps it’s useful here to offer a brief portrait of what my childhood was like in 1980s and 90s Britain. This was a time when being chased by gangs threatening to kill me was an everyday reality, Being called p*ki, w*g, or n***er as I walked to or from school was nothing out of ordinary. I was spat at more times than I can remember, beaten up by middle-aged men for doing my paper round. When Stephen Lawrence was murdered, I remember hearing the news, and I wasn’t shocked.
And yet this terrible thunderstorm of far right violence throughout the land has managed to shock me, left me reeling, fearing for my safety and those I love all over again. What was unthinkable is now reality again. For so many of us, our worst nightmares have become real.
The year after Stephen was killed I went to my first anti-racist demonstration, a callow 15 year old marching with the Anti-Nazi League and Militant Labour to the Isle of Dogs, where a British National Party candidate had been elected. I’m not ashamed to say I was terrified, and on the coach back I wondered if we had won, if surviving the threat of violence had been worth it. I didn’t know what victory looked like.
Something transformative had happened inside me, and outside too. Fear had become hope
30 years later on Wednesday night here in Southampton, as I joined hundreds who stood up bravely to the fascist promise of violent destruction, as we outnumbered and outsung them, it felt victorious. Something transformative had happened inside me, and outside too. Fear had become hope, a joyous alchemy had occurred that we must cling to, that our community must believe in as the struggle continues. Because the struggle does continue.
Jayanti Shah, my brother in the resistance against racist hatred, told me that ours was a pyrrhic victory – because we must remember the threat of terror unleashed on our city brought it to its knees. For the hundreds who so bravely came out in full voice, thousands felt imprisoned in their homes, businesses were closed, areas of the city closed off entirely. Rumours of acid attacks and children being kidnapped proliferated on social media, driving ever more fear into our hearts. We must guard against complacency and remain vigilant to future far right attacks.
Most of all we must stand united against those seek who to destroy us and build a movement capable of resisting division and hatred. We ought to begin by recognising that the authors of the violent tyranny we’ve witnessed are not the goons of the far right – they are merely the foot servants – but the political establishment.
Years of austerity politics that have disintegrated our public services, the scapegoating of immigrant communities, the shameful rhetoric that has demonised them in the eyes of the public have emboldened fascists to commit the atrocities we’ve seen.
Years of austerity politics that have disintegrated our public services, the scapegoating of immigrant communities, the shameful rhetoric that has demonised them in the eyes of the public have emboldened fascists to commit the atrocities we’ve seen. The conversation about immigration has become so poisonous that the difference between the words of the political elite and the far right is often imperceptible.
Our resistance begins in earnest now. When governments fail us, when elected politicians fail us, civic society must come together and weave a narrative built on hope, one that fosters love and care for all. Those that have come before us illuminate the path ahead of us. Martin Luther King wrote that “it is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.”
It’s imperative that those of us who love peace do all we can. This Saturday at the Bargate at noon, Southampton Stand Up To Racism has organised a demonstration in the name of the unity that we so desperately need, and is part of a wider day of campaigning, with demonstrations of anti-racist solidarity being held in cities across the country. The event is open to all who oppose the far right, racism and Islamophobia. We’d love to see you there.
First came the trauma. Then the fight. Now the hope.
You can find event details here.
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