Race & Riots 2024

In 2011, I wrote about the nationwide riots in the UK sparked by the death of Mark Duggan at the hands of the police. Over a decade later, this country finds itself in the grip of another wave of violence and unrest. On 29 July 2024, eleven children and two adults were stabbed at a dance class in Southport. Unfortunately, three of the children have died. This tragedy has shaken the country to its core due to the magnitude of this horrific crime. The suspect in this case is Axel Rudakubana who was 17 years old at the time.

Initially, the media withheld the identity of Axel due to his age. In the absence of verified information, false reports and rumours spread rapidly, particularly among far-right circles. These groups falsely claimed that the perpetrator was an illegal Muslim immigrant who had entered the country by boat. However, the truth is that Axel is a British citizen, born in Wales, and is a Christian—not a Muslim.  Despite these facts, the misinformation ignited a wave of riots, starting in Southport, where a mosque was attacked. The unrest quickly spread to numerous cities across the UK, particularly in the north. There have been Arson attacks, shops have been looted, immigrant-owned businesses and property have been destroyed, hotels housing migrants have been targeted and there have been numerous attacks on brown and black people as well as Police Officers. Those who hold far-right beliefs must understand that the actions of a few individuals from a particular race do not define the entire race.  It is unfair that innocent ethnic minorities have to fear for their safety due to the colour of their skin. The violence of the rioters is not justified and I'm glad that the Law is coming down hard on them.

I've come across multiple videos of rioters being questioned about their motives. Many express anti-immigrant sentiments, with statements such as, "Immigrants are taking over our country," "We want our country back", "Immigrants are taking all of our jobs", "They are committing all the crimes and aren't helping our country". These views are rooted in ignorance. According to the 2021 census, the UK is 81.7% white, with 74.4% being white British—clearly still the majority. Historically, during World War II, around 2.5 million Indian troops supported British soldiers. After the war, facing a labour shortage, the UK invited immigrants from India and the Caribbean to help rebuild the country. Immigrants have made major contributions to British society. Let's not forget that the British Empire colonised/invaded roughly 90% of the world's nations and the exploitation of these nations helped to build the British economy. The UK's current demographic makeup is a direct result of this history.

Another perspective to consider is why these rioters harbour such strong anti-immigrant sentiments. The north of England, in particular, has higher rates of poverty, fewer job opportunities, and higher levels of crime compared to the south. There is a significant North-South divide in the country. Many of these people feel marginalised and forgotten by society, and their frustrations are exacerbated by the false information spread about immigrants by figures such as Tommy Robinson.  I believe this ideology is why the Reform Party had 4 million votes in the last general election. Immigrants have become scapegoats for the broader issues facing the UK, including economic hardship and social inequality. Much of this anger is misplaced, fueled by racism and a lack of understanding that ethnic minorities/immigrants often have to work harder and face barriers that white British people do not.

What does give me hope for the UK is the widespread counter-protests that have taken place across the country which outnumbered the far-right protests. People of all races—Black, White, and Asian have come together to stand against racism. This is the UK I'm proud of. As a Black woman who grew up surrounded by people from all ethnic backgrounds, I have always valued the diversity that makes the UK unique, especially in London. Not everyone in the world has the privilege of experiencing such rich cultural variety. I can have a chat with my Scottish neighbour, order Indian food, and learn Arabic from the Moroccan handyman working on my house. We live in a globalised world, and this diversity is something to be celebrated. I understand that racism will always exist in society, but there are countless individuals committed to building a more inclusive society where people from all walks of life come together to stand up for what is right. 

Is Social Media real or not?

Social media is great for connecting with people you know and making new connections with those who you would never cross paths with in real life. It is great for entertainment and getting information across to people. However social media today is very different to how it was when I was younger. I remember when I first joined instagram, about a decade ago. Back then, the main pictures people would upload onto the app were usually restaurant meals, pictures of nature, holiday pictures and basic selfies. The picture quality wasn't great. Fast forward to today things have drastically changed. 

Nowadays social media is more about lifestyle, image and looking rich. When I was young I used to watch a show called MTV cribs. On this show celebrities used to show off their mansions and the luxury items they own. Celebrities (and the rich) drove the expensive cars, had the latest electronics, had all the designer clothes, flew on private jets and lived this expensive lifestyle. This  lifestyle seemed far fetched for the average  everyday person. Nowadays it appears as if this “rich lifestyle” is normal for the average person. On Instagram you see average everyday people dripped down in designer wear, taking pictures with expensive cars, flying first class, in exotic holiday locations. It’s in our faces all the time. Now people expect this to be the norm. The sad thing is that people believe they are failing in life if they are not able to achieve this lifestyle, especially the younger generation. 

Social media has distorted reality for many people. They believe that living lavishly and being able to afford that lifestyle in your 20s is the norm, however that is not reality. In the UK the top 1% earn £160k per year. The average age of a millionaire is is around 57 years old and I'm sure the majority of them were broke in their 20s (minus the ones born into wealth). Most people are living average lives. Growing up, young people who did have cars drove bangers, and the most expensive brand people would wear was probably Nike. Now I see young men have very expensive cars as their first car and schoolkids wearing designer items. Young people don't realise that it is not the norm for the average 20 something year old to financially be on the level of wealth as a successful middle aged person. Yes there are millionaires in their 20s but it is a minority of people. Due to inflation and the cost of living crisis there are many people struggling financially. People need to discern what they see online to what actually happens offline. Plus there are many people out there who do not use social media. What we see on social media is not representative of what happens in society.

I've seen a number of cases on the news where people who portray themselves as rich online get arrested for doing scams, fraud or drugs. There are people willing to do anything and risk their freedom for "image". Mental health is on the rise, especially in younger people due to social media. It causes people to think that they are not good enough and haven't achieved much. When I was in my 20s I was pretty much broke, drove a banger and earned low income like many other poeple in that age range. Your 20s is your first time experiencing adulthood, you are still figuring life out, this is the time to learn and make mistakes, experience life and try different things. It's an exploratory time.

I think it boils down to self-esteem and validation. If you know your own identity and your worth and value, you wouldn't need external factors to validate you. If you have low self esteem and don't see yourself as worthy you will latch onto external things to find worth and value.

Social media platforms are now monetised and there is a whole "influencer culture". When I was growing up, influencer culture did not exist. I am am not against the influencer culture as some people have been able to make careers off of it, however I do question the type of content that is promoted by them. Some influencers do have a positive influence, while others don't. There are examples of the latter promoting scams, bad products and false lifestyles. You also get the 'baddie' influencers which are young women that have a particular aesthetic and build their careers on how they look. They tend to wear  excessive makeup, have lip fillers, BBL's, and wear fast fashion brands such as Fashion Nova and post heavily edited pictures. Some even try to make themselves look racially ambiguous.

The issue I have with this standard of beauty they present, is the influence it has on younger girls. I see teenagers who try and fit into this beauty standard with the make-up, and hairstyles, and even lip fillers. Due to this many young women suffer from low self-esteem. They compare themselves to something that doesn't even exist in reality.  Personally, I did not wear make  up until I was 20. Also, there is a lot of financial pressure on young men which is unfair. I do not expect a man in his 20's to afford luxury cars, tons of designer items or to be able to provide a rich lifestyle for his partner. It is not realistic. The loud minority have made it seem that this unrealistic lifestyle is the norm. NEWSFLASH it is not.  The majority of people are average, they earn average incomes, live in average homes and have average lives. Do not be hard on yourself because you have a normal life. There is nothing wrong with it. Live your life at your own pace, do what makes you happy. If social media makes you depressed, delete the apps and live in the real world. Your value is not determined by someone's opinion on social media, you are born with inherit value. Aim to be your best authentic self. God doesn't make mistakes, so you are not one.

Death to expectations

As humans that exist through this journey called life, we are met with numerous expectations that society expects us to fulfil. I see life as a path that we take but no matter how much we plan ahead we do not know everything that will lie ahead. We just have to face whatever obstacles we meet and try to figure out how to overcome them. We may not always make the right decisions, we may not have a clue how to proceed, we may fail at times but all of this is a learning journey. 

Society puts pressure on us from a young age to have everything figured out, to have a solid plan for our lives, and to know where we are going at each point of our lives. It's like taking a map out and figuring out which path to take from point A to B. No matter how much you plan this path, the map won't show you when it will rain heavily, or if there are wild dangerous animals you will encounter which can affect your journey. This shows that regardless of how much you plan, something can always happen which can completely change your plans. We don't plan for sickness, we don't plan for betrayal, we don't plan for loss, we don't plan for bereavement, we don't always plan for failure. These things can happen at any time.

We all go through hardships but we live in a society where it has been normalised to hide these and only show our successes, which promotes a false narrative to others that you can be successful without going through any difficulties. When people do fail they struggle with how to deal with this and feel that they are a failure in life, not knowing that failure is part of the learning journey and that life is a series of failures. Every successful person I have ever researched has stated in their life story that they have failed so many times, but the difference is that they never gave up despite these failures. They will simply try again and again and again. 

Sometimes we want to be able to control every aspect of our lives. Yes, there is a lot we can control, we can choose our friends, who we listen to, which path we want to take, and the places we visit. We can even mitigate risk in our lives, that's why insurance exists, in the event something bad happens insurance will pay out. But we have to let go of the idea that we can control every single thing because we can't as there are circumstances that will come up that we can not control.

This links with society's expectations. You may be expected to earn a certain salary by a particular age, but this may not take into account the socio-economic background you come from. You may be expected to be married by a certain age but this doesn't factor in the environment in which you live in which can greatly impact this. You may be expected to have children by a certain age, but this doesn't factor the health of your reproductive organs which can affect this.  You may be expected to "look" a certain way, but this may not take into account your genetics. Many of us are currently in life situations that we may not have expected to be in, we thought we would be further in life than we are, but circumstances beyond our control have affected this.

I wish society normalised failures so that people will know that it is a part of life so that they can feel encouraged to find ways to navigate this without feeling like a failure themselves. I wish society didn't put unrealistic expectations on people who end up thinking that due to them not being able to meet these expectations placed on them they are failures. I wish society didn't put pressure on people to have everything figured out because we can't. I wish society gave people more grace when they fail. We are humans, we do not know everything, and we never will. We will grow, we will make mistakes and we learn. Sometimes we may not know what decision to make and may feel lost in our journey. This is totally normal. So whatever point in your journey you are at currently at, know that your jouney is unique to you and step out in faith to carry on into the unknown.