In the days since the UK faced pockets of racially motivated rioting, it has become commonplace to depict the police reaction as the first step before the real work begins. However, it is important to consider why these riots caught fire in communities up and down the country.
On one side, there are lawless racists that we need not appease. Their arguments are invalid, and there is little to gain by trying to rationalise their lawless behaviour. However, on the other side, there is another group, those who did not riot, but supported the display because they feel Britain is no longer British. This group found an unlikely spokesperson in a young man who called up LBC, a popular radio station, and told a national audience that the ‘Asians and blacks are taking over the UK’. It’s this group I believe we need to address.
Let’s move past lip service
Now that it seems like these breakout riots across the country have stopped, it would be a good time to start a national conversation about community cohesion. As someone who’s been working in the community cohesion space for many years now, I’ve often found that there are a lot of people happy to pay lip service to ‘bringing the community together’. Many government agencies speak at length about the importance of integration and community resilience but there aren’t enough people who are willing to get on the ground, commit money and stay engaged long enough to see things change.
One of the most powerful phrases I often use in community work is that ‘it’s not enough to simply prevent war, but folks interested in the community have to wage peace’. This means as a community builder, I don’t only want to be known for what I’m against but rather, for what I’m for. What are members of the community rallying for? What do they want? What are they animated about?
This means community work is far more than stopping riots, it’s about helping communities genuinely come together, promoting shared values and constructing a vision of British values large enough for everyone to fit in.
One of the major challenges for community builders and those working in the community cohesion space is working out how to measure success. During ‘good times’ funding is often pulled from community work because people say there are no issues, so what’s the need for funding community work?
Rather than seeing things this way. we ought to reorientate what success means. The truth is, Tommy Robinson’s message would not have landed in communities if they had deep enough ties. When he tried to turn people against each other, people would have replied, ‘In this community, we know each other’. In this community, we understand our neighbours.
Meters apart but miles apart
The sad reality many of us may not want to admit is that Robinson’s message landed because many societies and communities across the UK are fractured. There’s a cosmetic unity in that we all come together during the Olympics and football games. We all smile at each other when we are getting on the bus. However, if you take a deeper look, many people live meters apart geographically but are miles away ideologically so much work is needed to foster genuine community cohesion.
In a 2018 survey, fewer than half of Labour and Conservative voters said they were willing to talk about politics with someone from the other side, and around 75% wouldn’t be happy for their child to marry someone from the opposite political side.
When political views become political identities, we see people who agree with us in a positive light (intelligent, selfless and open-minded) and people who disagree with us as the opposite. Researchers have found that, when people disagree politically, they disregard each others’ expertise in unrelated domains
What does off-ramping look like?
I have been studying Far-right parties for the past 11 years and one area that needs far more work and research is in the space of deradicalisation and ‘off-ramping’. In other words, It’s not enough to simply label someone ‘far-right’. That doesn’t help them change their viewpoint. Instead, we need to put far more language and work into how we help those who have fallen prey to and believe in dangerous ideologies change. Those currently consuming far-right materials and engaging with people fanning the flames of their bad ideas. What does progress look like for them? There is nothing morally wrong with being right wing but where does right-wing being far right and then does it spill over into dangerous and unlawful behaviour that puts the safety of others at risk?
Charlotte England
How can we help these people think more broadly and engage with more nuance? We have to help them reject the often binary framing that far-right leaders use to cajole and mobilise followers to act. We can’t simply demonise these people. We have to engage with them and help them come in contact with reality. These ideas presented only matter if we want to build up strong communities that can reject the attempts of far-right leaders to stoke division in the future.
Like many, I was horrified looking at the riots, it made me feel uncomfortable. It made me feel unwanted in a country I’ve grown up in, served in and quite frankly, is my home. The headlines might now have changed, but the community or the deep community work should now begin.
