In Solidarity: Against Racism and White Supremacy

We stand in solidarity with racialised, minoritised and marginalised people, especially our siblings, friends and comrades who are Muslim, those who have migrated to the UK, and those seeking asylum. The horrific acts by far-right and fascist mobs in the last week are a stark manifestation of decades of normalised racism, hostile environment policies and scapegoating and vilification of migrants.

The violence we are witnessing and that our communities are experiencing are inevitable outcomes of deeply entrenched racism, Islamophobia, Afriphobia and Xenophobia enabled by British politicians and media.

Whilst the far-right and those mobilising around fascist ideology are attacking communities, buildings and infrastructure and using symbols of white supremacy, politicians are extending facial recognition technologies that disproportionately harm our communities and normalise intrusion to privacy. This is not new – there are deep parallels to the fascist riots of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that many of our elders lived through.

Black and people of colour being scapegoated and used as shields of distraction away from systemic, structural, economic, social, and cultural failings of successive governments that have been supported by the media.

Whilst important, tackling disinformation is not the only issue and the answers are not in increasing police surveillance. Doing so individualises the problem, and takes away from the underlying issues and responsibility to address the conditions that enable and embolden the far right.

Tips to Stay Safe

Below are some tips to stay safe:

Please stay and work from your place of residence as much as possible. If you must leave your accommodation, please do so with someone else. Make sure your phone is charged at all times.  Write down key contact information and any medical information and keep it close. This will be helpful if your phone battery dies. Remain vigilant and be aware of your surroundings. Where possible, avoid wearing headphones and earphones. If you are out and find yourself in a crowd: Walk with them and move slowly to the edge of the crowd. Where possible, stay away from the main aggressors or people who seem to be leading the crowd/ mob. Look for a safe exit away from the crowd and slowly walk away. Try not to run as this will likely draw more attention to you. If you’re in a dense crowd, stay away from glass shop windows and doors. Move with the flow until you are able to move away in a safe direction. If you’re out and are arrested Netpol has some ‘Know your Rights’ information. If you are out and stopped and scan, here are some resources from Stop the Scan to ‘Know Your Rights’.

Walk with them and move slowly to the edge of the crowd. Where possible, stay away from the main aggressors or people who seem to be leading the crowd/ mob. Look for a safe exit away from the crowd and slowly walk away. Try not to run as this will likely draw more attention to you. If you’re in a dense crowd, stay away from glass shop windows and doors. Move with the flow until you are able to move away in a safe direction. If you’re out and are arrested Netpol has some ‘Know your Rights’ information. If you are out and stopped and scan, here are some resources from Stop the Scan to ‘Know Your Rights’.

For those in Temporary Asylum Accommodation

Download free guides from Hope Not Hate. The guides cover:

An accommodation security guide, co-created with Safer Foundations, covering how to deal with key stakeholders as well as safety advice for residents in the accommodation or groups working there.

Online safety and security for temporary asylum accommodation.

Online safety

Hope Not Hate also has a free guide to online safety which covers social media, video calls, online community groups and issues such as doxxing, trolling and reporting.

How to support

There are a few simple things that you can do to support your racialised friends, family, neighbours and colleagues.

Check in with your racialised friends, family, neighbours. Ask what they need such as help with groceries, cooking a meal or watching out for signs of violence in your area. Check in with your racialised colleagues and find out what they need. If you are an employer, support racialised staff and volunteers to work from home, work flexibly and have access to wellbeing support. Make sure that they are not travelling or working alone outside their homes and can take taxis home if they don’t feel safe on public transport. Write to your local MP to demand urgent action to safeguard people seeking asylum. Get in touch with local migrant-led organisations and support them in the ways they need. This might look like immediate support in response to the right wing attacks or longer-term support.

If you would like to volunteer for Racial Justice Network, you can find out more and sign up here.