Life Post-Brexit
On June 23, 2016, UK voters took part in the decision of whether the UK should stay with or leave the European Union. Surprisingly, the Leave vote to exit the European Union won by 52% while only 48% of voters wanted to remain.
Because of the surprising turn of events, Prime Minister David Cameron resigned and has since been replaced by Theresa May. In a BBC interview, she stated that she was against Britain splitting up from the EU but "will respect the will of the people." The main questions that followed were mainly those of economics. But something no one thought to bring up, was how Brexit would affect race relations within the UK.
Image Credit: Flickr/mazz_5
Be Careful, Your Racism Is Showing
Life post-Brexit has not only brought about questions of economic uncertainty, but has also unleashed a frenzy of hate crimes and xenophobia within the UK. After the referendum occurred, hate crimes across the UK increased by 14%. According to The Independent, who compiled a list of 500 events that occurred in the weeks following the vote, some of these incidents include:
- Gangs prowling the streets demanding passers-by to prove they speak English
- Swastikas appearing in cities such as London, Sheffield, and Plymouth
- Assaults, arson attacks and dog excrement being thrown at doors or shoved in mailboxes
- Toddlers being racially abused alongside their mothers
Image credit: Shutterstock/elena castaldi viora
Many citizens have begun to fear for their safety because of the sudden and blatant racism. I was able to speak with Kate*, a 21-year-old girl living in the UK. She was able to tell me about her own personal experiences as a Bermudian/Japanese woman pre/post-Brexit.
A: What is your experience with racism pre-Brexit?
K: My experience with racism pre-Brexit was non-existent; you always get the few ignorant people, but that's normal anywhere. I worked at a Chinese noodle place before Brexit and I really didn't get many comments that concerned me.
A: Sources show that hate crimes involving race has increased by at least 14% post-Brexit, do you agree with this statistic?
K: Definitely! I totally agree with this, and I'm sure the figure was much more in the week following the announcement of the referendum result. Like I said before, pre-Brexit I didn't have any problems at work, but post-Brexit has been a nightmare. It got so bad that I quit my job at the Chinese place. People were horrible to me, and I was shocked, considering I am British (due to Bermuda being an overseas British Territory).
A: Can you name any specific instances post-Brexit where you or another person's race has caused them to be the victim of hate crimes?
K: I'll name two which have stood out to me, and both happened at the noodle bar (a casual dining place in the city center):
My 18 year-old sister was waiting for me to finish my shift at work. She was sitting in the customer area in a corner table just staring down at her phone and minding her own business. A man who worked in the Piccadilly train station was eating alone and sitting three tables down from my sister. The guy suddenly started yelling things like: "Get out of here! I'm going to call the council. She is a health and safety violation. She brings germs into this country...fucking immigrants!" Because I was working, I politely explained that she is my sister and was simply waiting for me to finish my shift. Of course, he continued to yell, and I had to call the police who were very swift in dealing with the situation. The man was fired from his job, and taken to court on charges for harassment.
The second situation was when me and a Malaysian girl, who is Muslim and wears a Hijab, were working at the restaurant. Five boys (I don't want to call them men, but they were about 25 years-old) were outside the store, and I was watching them out of the corner of my eye just to see if they were going to come in the store or not. But they started waving, so I looked up at them. One of them pointed directly at me, then turned his hand around and stuck up his middle finger to me, then licked his middle finger and wrote "fuck you" on the glass with his saliva. And because that wasn't enough, they opened the door, spat their gum on the floor and walked out.
A: Why do you think the environment became so hostile towards race post-Brexit?
K: I believe the reason the environment became so hostile towards race post-Brexit is because the Leave campaign seemed to blame immigrants and EU for basically everything. And by majority voting to leave, it was almost like giving the people validation that it is okay to have those thoughts and say them aloud. Don't get me wrong, I believe in freedom to believe in whatever you wish. However I do not believe you should voice your opinions if you know they will be especially hurtful to someone.
Stories and experiences like Kate's have become all too common in post-Brexit UK.
Image Credit: Flickr/mazz_5
The Power of The Government
The reason why incidents of hate crimes have begun to rise is due to a mix of repressed opinions and Brexit campaign tactics. The Guardian spoke to a sociologist at University of Leeds, Paul Bagguley, who thinks it to be some sort of "celebratory racism." With immigration as the second-most common reason in voting for Brexit, "people are expressing a sense of power and success, that they've won." This group most likely felt that they had no freedom to express these opinions pre-Brexit, but they now feel that they have the right to actively perform crimes. Since the UK government played off of feelings of xenophobia and racism during the Brexit campaign, that group now feels empowered since Brexit has been approved.
But it wasn't just the campaign that made them so bold, political officials have also encouraged this mentality. Many critics point to the current Prime Minister, Theresa May, for not only failing to monitor and control the strong xenophobia, but also for being one of the main players in the racist outbreaks that are occurring. In an early 2012 interview, Theresa May stated that she wanted Britain to be a "really hostile environment for illegal migration." She continued this hateful pattern when, according to The Independent, she refused to guarantee EU nationals legal status to stay in the UK.
Image Credit: Flickr/mazz_5
Trending Worldwide
The UK is not the only one dealing with the emergence of hateful outbursts towards immigrants and racial minorities. Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States of America. Similar to the Brexit campaign and Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump has achieved his success due to his xenophobic and racist views, that he has no shame in sharing. Much like post-Brexit UK, post-election US has had an increase in racist and anti-semitic violence which has been drawn directly from Trump's inflammatory rhetoric. Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center told USA Today that "since the election, [the center] has seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, and intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr. Trump's election."
*In order to protect the privacy of the interviewee, an abbreviation/alternate name has been used.
