Earlier this week, a disturbing video emerged from the UK in which a young Asian man could be seen being kicked and punched as he lay defenseless on the ground at Manchester Airport. Most reports state that three Greater Manchester police officers were assaulted first – one of whom suffered a broken nose – and that this led to the police response. An officer was suspended after the incident – which, in fact, the right-wing Reform Party was quick to politicize, praising the police action.
No national outrage followed the incident, save some weak debate over alleged police brutality. If a similar act had been committed by an Indian police officer, the Western media would likely have judged the entire police force, highlighting India’s poor human rights record.
Akhmed Yakoob, the Asian boy’s lawyer, described it as police brutality against people from BAME (British Asian and Minority Ethnic) backgrounds. Some people took to the streets to protest police action as the incident reminded them of the attack on George Floyd in 2020, which spurred the Black Lives Matter movement across the West.
Racism, discrimination and misogyny in British police forces are widespread. Last year, following a year-long official review of London’s Met Police, reviewer Baroness Casey stated, “the force suffers from institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia”, further adding that “it was time the force did not deny these deeply rooted issues”.
The many types of racism
Racism is not a trait limited to just police forces in the UK. Several recent official reports have highlighted racism in some major British institutions, including the BBC, the armed forces and several government offices. All of these are controlled primarily by white men. For non-whites, reaching top positions in these institutions is nearly impossible, and if it happens, it’s mostly just tokenism. Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC, famously said in 2001 that the media company was “terribly white”, highlighting the lack of diversity in its workforce at the time. His comment sparked a wider conversation about the representation of ethnic minorities in the British media and elsewhere. It’s true that some improvements have been made since then, but not many.
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There is also overt racism, which comes to life during the 10-month football season (August-May) across Europe. I am a football fanatic and an avid follower of European club football; not only have I witnessed racism firsthand inside and outside of stadiums, but I have also been a victim of it. After being called “Paki” or “chutney” from time to time, I now prefer to watch games on TV.
Even so, there is little guarantee that you will be spared because you are watching the game in the company of your white teammates. But even saying that, I managed to escape the worst of racism. Think about those black players who suffer daily humiliation and inhumane treatment from fans of rival teams. Some call them “monkeys” and throw bananas at them.
Colonialism, Slavery and Subjugation
White and Western racism has persisted for decades, even centuries. The Western Hemisphere calls itself “civilized,” a notion perpetuated by the media, writers, academics, and leaders, who position themselves as advocates of bringing “civilization” to third world countries. One form of this “civilizing” role was played long ago by religious missionaries, who believed that people outside Christendom needed to be “led onto the right path.”
Historical figures such as Rudyard Kipling and Winston Churchill defended these ideas. The first, The White Man’s Burden, promoted this self-declared “colonial duty” to civilize colonized societies. Churchill once said: “I do not admit, for example, that great harm has been done to the red Indians of America, or to the black people of Australia… by the fact that a stronger race, a race of a superior grade… came in and took their place.” Churchill, who is seen in India as a racist and imperialist, is Britain’s national hero – more specifically, England’s national hero.
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More recently, Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, said in 2019: “We are the guardians of a civilization that has developed over millennia… We are the ones who built the modern world, who built the West, who built the European Union. We wrote the world’s rulebook.” The statement not only reflects the arrogance of the Hungarian Prime Minister, but also exposes him as an ignorant fool. Unfortunately, this arrogance is endemic in the West.
Western Hypocrisy
In this same context, the speech given by US President George W. Bush in November 2003, during his official visit to London, was interesting. “The United States and Great Britain share a mission: to bring the values of freedom and democracy to the world… We will not be deterred. We will not be defeated. We will bring freedom and civilization to the world,” he said. .
Bush’s comments came several months after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The two “civilized” nations, the US and the UK, invaded a distant country to civilize its people, implementing democracy there and transmitting Western values. However, getting rid of weapons of mass destruction was the logic presented to the world. All Western media outlets bought into the “civilizing” narrative, completely ignoring their duty to question the true reason behind the invasion. Ultimately, no weapons of mass destruction were found. It was all a bunch of lies, spread across the “most civilized country in the world”.
‘The biggest, the most powerful’
Who can forget the gaffe of President Donald Trump – the commander-in-chief of the world’s deadliest military force and the President of the most powerful country – when he mistakenly claimed to have met the “President of the Virgin Islands”, without realizing that it was a Territory from the USA? How can we expect Trump to know the ancient civilizations of India, China, Syria and Egypt when he is unsure of the geography of his own country? And yet, Trump once confidently declared in 2017: “We are the greatest country in the world. If you think about it, we are the greatest. We are the greatest because of our values, because of our principles, because of our Constitution, because of our system of government, because of our economic system We are the greatest because we are a beacon of hope for the rest of the world.”
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The West’s superiority complex and its fervent need to civilize others continue to shape attitudes and policies. The challenge is to recognize and dismantle these deeply ingrained prejudices. While Tuesday’s incident at Manchester airport may not have the gravity of some past events, it is still an example of systemic racism and the poisoning of the West’s inflated self-image. These issues require continued scrutiny and action to promote a more equitable society. In fact, several laws were passed in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, and things have improved compared to where we were in the 20th century. But legislation is barely enough. It is necessary to change the mentality, from schools and police forces to the media and private institutions.
(Syed Zubair Ahmed is a senior Indian journalist based in London with three decades of experience with Western media)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
