building bridges not division
World view: our young people at work
By Razia, KRAN CEO
There is undercover warfare on the streets of Faversham. Vigilantes patrolling the streets to “keep ‘em colours flying vs Ninjas taking down the flags.
Faversham (population 20,936/2021 Census) has even been picked up in media coverage in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph (see below). And at the recent annual carnival, there was evidence of the intent to bring far right politics into the family event.
We must stop the racists spewing hate from taking over our towns | The far right | The Guardian
Patriots’ vs ‘De-flaggers’: how a war over the Union Flag is dividing Faversham.
Other Kent towns may start having to contend with something similar. Margate, Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone have already been used as protest hotspots. Deal and Lydd may well become hotspots with the planned opening of reception centres for looked-after children, who are refugees and asylum seekers on the National Transfer Scheme. Reception centres for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children - Kent County Council.
Ashford and Cranbrook have had unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) reception centres for a long time, so limited scope to antagonise and mobilise residents there - hopefully. Dartford and Gravesham are a little more ethnically diverse given their proximity to London, so unlikely there also. But the Rochester protest planned for this weekend is an example of how things are spreading.
How is this affecting the local community? Local activists are going to burn out, anyone of colour or their allies are feeling intimidated, neighbours harassing neighbours, strangers randomly hurling verbal abuse, or throwing things at someone because of their race, hate mail, calls and spamming tactics being used to deter people from speaking out. These are all things that I have witnessed in the past month alone. There is no justification to hurt others and inflict pain on a stranger because they believe in humanity not hate.
Of the far right/anti migrant protestors, Prof Paul Jackson, an expert in the history of radicalism and extremism at the University of Northampton, was unequivocal: “I think it’s quite an effective dog whistle… a cheap and effective way for a small, very vocal minority to articulate certain things in an ambiguous manner with a degree of plausible deniability,” he said. (Patriots vs De-Flaggers).
In a recent Guardian Politics Weekly UK podcast interview, Linden Kemkaran, Kent County Council Leader of Reform, denied being far right in her politics Kent, where the politics of small boats and asylum has exploded – podcast | Politics | The Guardian.
It’s a very slippery slope from right wing politics to the far right rhetoric. When a recent potential philanthropic funder said to a staff member: “I’m not racist, but…”, you know that there is a courageous conversation to be had to turn the tide of understanding and change hearts and minds.
However it is not all doom and gloom. According to Faversham resident Frank Furedi, an academic and writer, flags are for everyone who wants to express a sense of national solidarity.
“Finally, the dominant narrative that represents Britishness as toxic and its past as a history of shame has been challenged!” (ibid).
The party conference season is over and each one was - yet again - tinged with the debate around migration. Labour reclaimed the flag by giving them to party members, and the Leader with an energising speech to renew Britain. The Green Party talked about inequality not migration, suggesting the need to tax the millionaires. The Liberal Democrats talked about a humanitarian approach with more safe and legal routes. I think we all know what the COnservative and Reform parties positions were!
More locally, Canterbury City Council and Thanet District Council are planning to become Cities of Sanctuary; the University of Kent and Deal Town Council have already been awarded this status. People are starting to take a stand.
So, we need to maintain a counter presence in Kent, but we also need to build bridges and bring divided communities together with understanding and compassion if we are to find a sustainable way forward. The alternative does not bear thinking about.