June 27, 2016

No more Polish vermin

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

The British electorate has voted to leave the European Union. Just over 51.% of the roughly 70% of the electorate that voted in the Brexit referendum opted to terminate its membership of the European Union.

They are probably two of the most boring sentences I’ve ever written. Yet, beneath those two statements lies some of the most transparent and widespread prejudice the UK has witnessed in recent memory. There are already an endless number of articles and blogs about what the Brexit might potentially mean politically and economically (disaster, basically) and there’s an endless stream of blithe centre-right Britons either celebrating or telling those protesting to just ‘get on with it’; I don’t want to talk about either of these issues. I want to discuss two, personally heartbreaking issues for me.

• Racism: Ethnic minorities in the UK have always faced racism. It’s no surprise to people of colour that a victory for the leave campaign would be seen as a victory for white supremacy; The entire leave campaign was predicated on a xenophobic platform of shutting out undesirable migration. That racism has now leaked to include EU nationals in Britain, and there have been reports of incidents across the country of people of colour, and EU nationals being told to ‘go home’, or worse.
• Disintegration of solidarity: The idea that many Britons had no idea what they voted for bothers me – google searches of ‘what is the EU’ went up by a factor of 3 after the referendum result. This challenges the idea that there could ever be a widespread ‘European solidarity’ in the UK – but the referendum result sends a clear message to all people in Europe and the EU: you are not important to us.

There are people saying the Brexit has had no impact on the volume or type of racism the UK is now seeing. That’s as stupid as Nigel Farage claiming the UK will inevitably fall into recession now, but that’s also got nothing to do with Brexit. No, Worrying Signs, a Facebook page dedicated to highlighting incidents of racism and prejudice post-Brexit highlights many – far too many – cases, including horrendous cases in Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire where Polish residents have had cards put through their doors reading ‘no more Polish vermin’.

As a Briton, the sense of outrage I personally feel is enormous; so is my gut-reaction to the notion that somehow, this Brexit result is some kind of ‘working-class revolt’. Not only is there no consolidated and traditional working-class in the UK (there are underclasses of course, the precariat, digital-workers, students etc.) but the whole debate was poisoned by misinformation, false promises and xenophobia – essentially the idea that if ‘we leave the EU, we can get these foreigners out’. It’s heartbreaking to see racism and xenophobia given such a ringing endorsement in the UK – a country that prides itself on fairness, common sense and moderation. It’s sad to see that many leave voters now reveal themselves to have been misinformed. It’s sad to see underprivileged people being lied to, manipulated, to push through a vote that has consequences for the rest of the world. It’s sad to see right-wingers across Europe emboldened.

It’s depressing, but what we across Europe have to do now is clear: Fight right-wing politics with solidarity. Show support for minorities and POCs. Build solidarity across borders. Find out what’s going on in your community and show your community you will not stand for any kind of prejudice. This isn’t a time to be weak. It’s a time to be brave. Prejudice should never be able to win.