You know, I find the whole difference in race relations between the U.s. and the u.k. very interesting.

Rosa Parks died today. As one of the most iconic figures of the civil rights movement, her arrest for refusing to give up her seat on the bus launched a struggle for equality between the races that most would say is still going on today. The landmark events in Selma, montgomery and birmingham were the foundation for enforced desegregation around the country. And the prevailing message from that time became “separate but equal is not equal”. america continues to grapple with the fallout from hundreds of years of institutionalised racism, and it’s easy to forget that the civil rights movement was fewer than 50 years ago, only 2 or 3 generations removed. however, whatever other fights still need to be fought to eradicate persistent discrepancies on the social, economic and political fronts, that message carries through as the cornerstone of our belief in the need for an integrated society in america.

here in the u.k., it is a very different kind of world. because the u.k. was never saddled with the legacy of slavery in the same way the u.s. was, it seems that much of the historic atmosphere here *has* been “separate but equal”. while there has never been a need for a “civil rights movement”, there has also never been a head on confrontation of just how divisive racism can be. while london is a large multiracial city, there seems to me to be a lot of self-segregation in comparison to other large cities (not just in the poorer, inner-icty areas). It’s not uncommon to hear black people described as “coloured”, or biracial people called “half-caste”. These are terms still make my ears cringe, although they don’t carry the same sort of weight as they would in the u.s. And while there are laws on the books against “inciting racial hatred”, scratch just below the surface in many areas and you’ll find racial tensions still run deep.

there is no such thing as “freedom of speech” here. you can, in fact, be jailed for saying the types of things aryan nation and the kkk routinely spout (or certain bonkers black activists, for that matter). at the same time, they often deride the u.s. for being too “politically correct”. but trying to legislate civility doesn’t keep hate crimes from occuring, or race riots from breaking out . in fact, i think it’s a false sense of security – the illusion that things are better than they are. in my opinion, birmingham, england is not, in fact, that different to birmingham, alabama. the only difference being that at least in the u.s., we are forced to continually acknowledge and address our faults and issues. and i truly believe it is better to expose things to light and air so they can heal, rather than let them fester just below the skin. and somehow i think mrs. parks would have agreed.

as rosa said: “I am leaving this legacy to all of you … to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die – the dream of freedom and peace.”

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