I think it’s an interesting question. I saw a lot of old friends while I was back in the UK, and I was surprised at some of the things I heard come out of their mouths. For example, one friend commented on the new Subway in the town’s Galaxy Centre that was still being fitted out when I arrived (it opened shortly before I left) and noticed there were a couple of Asian* lads waiting outside.
“They’re probably waiting for jobs,” he said. “They’ll probably get ‘em, too.”
I said nothing. I was shocked, but I decided not to comment. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard some kind of racially-motivated comment since I’d arrived. Walking into town, and walking around the town’s Mall, I’d heard all kinds of incredibly racist comments. There’s a lot of hostility towards the Polish emigrants who have been making Luton their home now for the past five years, for example**. Some people also still have a lot to say about the town’s Asian community, particularly the Asian youth who, you will be told by the people of Luton, are loud, abusive, and violent.
The racism doesn’t end there, though. Parts of the Asian youth of Luton seems to look down on white people as well. I’d heard a lot of racist comments coming from Asian lads, not just during the past two weeks but while I was living in the UK as well. I’d been the victim of what the Police chose to call “racially motivated assault” twice growing up in the town, and during my holiday I was attacked a third time as I walked from my Mum’s house to my sister’s.
Some of the white populous of Luton hates the Asian youth for being violent and aggressive. Some of the Asian youth of Luton hate the white for hating them, and so act out in a violent and aggressive manner. Do you see the problem here, perhaps? Are you noticing some kind of correlation?
I think it’d be dangerous to assume this problem is confined only to Luton, but at the same time it’s worth nothing that Luton has absolutely no redeeming qualities or features at present. It’s a Churn Town. People in Luton wake up, they go to work, they come home, they eat, they sleep, they repeat. II was doing the same thing while I lived there, and I had to escape. There’s no reason to stay there anymore. There is nothing in that town. There’s nothing for people to focus on besides living their lives.
So the people of Luton focus on the problems they think they have with the Polish, with the Asians, with the white people living there. They dwell on stuff like the Town Hall not flying the St George’s Cross on St George’s Day, but happily flying the Irish Flag on St Patrick’s Day. Because that is all they have. And when you have that many people focusing on small stuff like that, making mountains out of molehills, you’re watching a lit fuse slowly working its way down to the explosive.
* For my American readers, Brits tend to refer to people of Indian or Pakistani descent as Asian.
** Interesting aside: When I still lived in England I once walked into town, and on my way an elderly white man stuck his head out of his car as he drove by telling me to “Go back to Poland.”I think I’ve blogged about this before, but I think it’s indicative of the racial problems Luton has - a white Lutonian man sees another white man and instantly assumes that he must be Polish.