Letter to 'The Independent' [22.3.

2000] accompanying the article listed here

http://www.independent.co.u/news/u/this!"ritain/spat!at!threatened!and!a"used!the!
e#eryday!e$periences!%or!the!%amily!o%!an!asian!doctor!&2'0().html*
+ir, the legal system has "een shaen and stirred "y the e#ents o% the last
%ew years with respect to racially moti#ated criminal acts, the most nota"le
"eing the +tephen Lawrence case and the recent Tel%ord hangings. -ontrary to
pu"lic "elie%, racism is ri%e in .ritain today. The media may report the most
horrendous o% racist crimes "ut institutional racism may %orm the "eginnings o%
more serious o%%ences.
I was educated in .ritain, li#e in an a%%luent area, spea %luent /nglish,
yet %or years we ha#e had to su%%er "rics thrown into our %ront room, eggs and
tomatoes on our garage e#ery morning, spray paint on our cars with words to the
e%%ect 01o "ac home0. 2e are the only "lac %amily in this area and, a%ter )0
years, it is now a way o% li%e. The police are in%ormed and our complaints are
neatly %iled.
-oming "ac home to %ind your pet illed, your mother spat on when she
attempts to go a"out her normal li%e, is not something one e$pects %rom a
ci#ilised society o% today. This is the situation 20 miles %rom Tel%ord in a
so!called upper!class neigh"ourhood.
It is, there%ore, a %allacy to say that racism is a thing o% the past.
3cnowledgement is poor, as it is immensely di%%icult to ha#e discrimination
in#estigated. In the worplace we are told to choose less demanding careers
which will accept more o% the 0ethnic minority0. 4iscouraged "y high!%lying
pro%essions, one has to "e a cut a"o#e the rest to e#en "e gi#en a chance. To "e
tolerant to discrimination and a"use is a trait we as "lac indi#iduals ha#e to
learn in order to sur#i#e.
The truth is, those who are racially a"used are silent. The silence comes
"ecause one can "e pro%essionally and personally destroyed i% one taes a stand.
.lac doctors and lawyers are #ictims o% "eing prisoners in their own worplace.
5ne complaint and the whistle!"lower is strategically destroyed to pro#ide the
image that racism does not e$ist.
+ystematic co#er!ups in pro%essional en#ironments result in indi#iduals
assuming that these catastrophic, racially moti#ated attacs are accepta"le or
that they will not "e prosecuted %or it. 6acism is a common practice and hence
it opens the door to serious crimes. 4o we really need the "lood o% an
indi#idual to mae us realise that our society contains racism across all
classes7
8erhaps when institutions are %ree o% racism then there will "e a prospect
o% li#ing in a society as e9uals, irrespecti#e o% the pigment o% one's sin.
That is a %undamental human right in a ci#ilised society.