East Europeans are soft targets for bigotry
Tuesday 30th November 2010, 9:57AM GMT.
I’m so tired of Eastern Europeans being the acceptable target for bigotry in this country, blogs Emma Kasprzak.
Last week I asked our internet bod to remove a comment from a story.
I wouldn’t normally do this because I believe passionately in free speech, for one thing its how I earn a living.
But I also believe that one group of people aren’t any better than another.
I don’t think a local newspaper website is the place to spout racism. There are plenty of places on the internet for that and while I’m not happy about it I can avoid it.
The comment was on a story about a scam involving charity collection bags. People have been going around Shropshire pretending to collect goods on behalf of the air ambulance.
Somebody had commented that it was “those Eastern Europeans”. There is no evidence for this with the charity itself saying despite investigating they don’t know who is responsible.
I’m so tired of Eastern Europeans being the acceptable target for bigotry in this country.
If someone had said it was “those Blacks” or “those Irish” the comment would have been roundly condemned by most people.
After all not all Irish or black people are the same so for one thing it just doesn’t make sense.
But saying all Eastern Europeans are the same is somehow ok and if the stereotype chosen to describe them is a negative one then so much the better.
Now I should point out my granddad was Polish. He fought in the British army after Poland was invaded in the Second World War, as did thousands of his fellow countrymen.
After the war he decided to start a new life in the country he had defended. He encountered racism from plenty of bigots.
I had much the same experience when I moved to Shropshire from Wolverhampton where I grew up.
One contact called me “a foreigner” with real hatred, another stupid person said I didn’t have a good British surname.
But does that mean I think all Salopians are bigots and idiots? No, because I know you’re not all the same. Nobody is.
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I’m glad someone has finally said this. It’s true in the south as well, the racism du jour has become a general prejudice against Eastern Europeans, who, if you ask anyone in our local pub are all either drug addicts or prostitutes. It’s good to see someone pointing out the hypocrisy.
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These people are economic migrants and i for one am not racist but feel there are far too many in the country purely to gain financially and as i cant afford to go abroad they must have had money to get here so this is sadly reality of a sad situation which has been brought on by those who loved the demise of the old ussr.
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Well said Emma, a brilliant blog!
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It’s in the nature of bigots that they opt for easy targets. That’s because they lack any viable justification for their views.
Nowadays it’s Eastern Europeans and Muslims who are their targets, historically it was the immigrants from the West Indies, before that it was the Jews and the Irish, and so it has gone through history.
Bullies need their victims – it’s sad that some of these vindictive people continue to make headlines, but, as history has also shown us, they rarely, if ever, thrive.
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Quite right Emma! I hate the way some ignorant people make sweeping generalisations about other races or cultures.
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Well said….It is a shame some people think this way….do they truely understand what they are saying and the impact it has?
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Well said Emma. It’s very easy to pick on the less visible minorities and convince yourself it’s “ok”. But, you’re quite right, it’s not acceptable and if eastern europeans feel unwelcome or threatened then we need to rethink our attitudes. The Poles especially have given a lot to this country and they deserve better.
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I agree to an extent.
Sweeping statements such as Eastern Europeans isn’t helpful, people should be more specific. There is currently an increasing amount of crime, mainly pickpocketing and child trafficking being done by Bulgarians, hence maybe one reason for the generalization?
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Woody says “There is currently an increasing amount of 7 crime, mainly pickpocketing and child trafficking being done by Bulgarians”
Care to quote your sources Woody?
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Look at http://bulgarianbusiness.org.uk/london-secretly-opened-uk-borders-bulgarian-crime-gangs/
Not to mention the Romanians too, who are just as guilty
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-smash-romanian-child-trafficking-ring-2104694.html
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So that would be “Bulgarian crime gangs”, not Bulgarians, and “Romanian child traffickers”, not Romanians then.
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Jake,
Indeed. The problem with some people is that they cannot distinguish between a minority of bad people who happen to have a certain nationality and visiting the bad things that this minority do upon all those who happen to be of that nationality.
Perhaps I can offer a similar comparison a little closer to home:
Just because a small number of British people are bigoted, bullying, small-minded racist morons, doesn’t mean that you can by inference define all, or even a significant minority, of British people as such.
Does that help?
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Thank you ‘Original Jake’ my point exactly – to think that there weren’t any Brits involved in this, or similar crimes, is just plain ignorant and to view a whole group of people as the same just because a few is a sad reflection on the whole of society.
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OJ….. semantics! but funnily enough they are both East European countries, unless you want to be specific yet again?
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After OJ and Peter have finished slapping each other on the back, please read what I originally said #7.
Did I say it was all Eastern Europeans? did I say it was all Bulgarians or indeed Romanians? NO! What I said was that since the borders were open there has been an increase in crime by certain factions from these countries, FACT, which will give the perception to the general public that all crimes are undertaken by then, hence the sweeping statements.
YES, crimes are committed by the endogenous population but when particular types of crime are reported by the local/national press then people will jump to conclusions.
Whether you like it or not, there are generational differences and hence I guess millions are guilty of racism and bigotry, just go down any High Street and ask people what they really think. You will either be naively shocked or not really surprised.
To say “a small number of British people are bigoted, bullying, small-minded racist morons” is wishful thinking and also misinformed. If you break down the ethnic make-up of British people you will encounter so called racism in all it’s guises in all areas, it is just ignored or tolerated.
People have been “racist” since history began and to think it will ever change at the rate we would like is unlikely. Positive steps have been made, especially in the last 30+ years, but you will never remove it totally, so if you are easily offended develop a thick skin or ignore it.
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‘Endogenous’? That a new word to me…
‘…which will give the perception to the general public that all crimes are undertaken by then, hence the sweeping statements…’
I would suggest that only a gullible and frankly rather ignorant sub-set of the general public would jump to the conclusion that a small number of crimes commited by certain ethnic minorities are cause to negatively affect the overall perception of these groups. This minority of the general public are perhaps the sort of people who read our tabloid newspapers and swallow every slanted word, hook, line and sinker. Or maybe those who follow certain right-wing groups?
I think it likely we will always have a small minority of those who will commit theft, burglary or many other crimes – but I wouldn’t seek to excuse their behaviour.
You, on the other hand, seem to be working quite hard in your email to excuse bigotry.
I give the general populace more credit than you do – I see the vast majority as fair-minded people to whom a person’s skin colour or their religion really don’t matter – they take people as they find them.
You obviously mix with (and defend) people who are willing to discriminate on such an arbitrary basis.
Perhaps you need to meet with a broader range of people?
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Peter, to assume is really a negative action and the mother of all cock-ups!
For the record, the new word means “to originate from within”. I also have a wide range of friends from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds, hence why I feel qualified to pass comment. It’s called the bigger picture!
For you to try and take the “moral high ground” is commendable but flawed as you do not know me..
It’s best if we agree to disagree because this could be debated on a continual basis.
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Emma; you were born here your parents were born here your Grandfather fought for this country and then decided to settle here and make this his home, that makes you all British, it is only fools who would think differently.
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Excellent blog Emma. Bigots are (I hope) a small but nonetheless vocal minority. They direct their bile in general and sweeping terms towards those of other ethnic origins or different religious beliefs. The press can inadvertently (usually by supporting the need for free speech) give them more publicity then their views merit. One only has to look at the Star letters pages most days and one will find some ill thought out, false or scaremongering letters about Muslims. Not some Muslims, not a few Muslims, but Muslims in general. I’m all for free speech but I feel passionately about tolerance, and the latter should take priority over the former.
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Emma- I think most would agree that there’s both good and bad in all people but we can’t ignore the fact that particular types of crime are synonymous with certain groups.
A crime is a crime, whoever commits it – but please let’s not start censoring certain facts for the sake of political-correctness.
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Totally agree with you Nelson, but be prepared to be questioned!
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“…particular crimes are synonimous with certain groups”.
It is indeed the case that crimes of sexual violence were once so rare in Southern Europe and so prolific in Northern Europe that they were called ‘anglo-saxon crimes’ and Scotland Yard was regularly consulted
on how to deal with them. No one in their right mind would have assumed that the Brits were all guilty. In today’s Spain, Cyprus and popular British tourist destinations, the levels of violence, vandalism and anti social behaviour caused by English guests are so high that one might be tempted to think our youth is the most delinquent in Europe! This is not the case. For the press it is a case of reporting accurately and responsibly, NOT one of censorship or political correctness. If people break the law it has little to do with what country they come from. Let’s therefore mind what we say and respect others as much as we want to be respected.
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“its how I earn a living” should be “it’s how I earn a living”, and “one group of people aren’t any better than another” should be “one group of people isn’t any better than another”.
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Emma, I am with you 100 per cent on this. My grandfathers are both Ukrainian, unable to get back home after WWII when Russia closed the borders and came to Britain to try and build a life for themselves.
They worked damn hard to do so. They didn’t ask for or get any handouts, never expected them and wouldn’t have dreamed of committing a crime.
Even now, trying to convince my surviving grandfather to accept a winter fuel payment for pensioners was a battle as he felt he was taking ‘charity’.
The same grandfather, knowing he had a family to provide for, once walked 10 miles through heavy snow to the factory where he worked in Halifax, as he knew if he did not get to work then he would not get paid.
My other grandfather would have given the shirt off his back to help anybody who needed it.
To label ‘those Eastern Europeans’ in such a way is bigotry and racism, pure and simple. How many home-grown criminals are there in Britain? I’m willing to bet the ratio of British-born law-breakers to British-born law-abiding folk is much higher than the ratio of ‘Eastern European’ criminals in the UK to Eastern-European immigrants.
Even though I was born here, as were my parents, it makes me feel ashamed to call myself British when I see and hear some of the comments that some people and indeed, some of the media make.
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