Identity politics and the rise of ethnic conflict

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

The government has chosen to use the umbrella phrase ‘far right’ to explain recent civil unrest. Indeed, the orthodox response from Stand Up to Racism supporters implies that increased hostility to different ethnicities is at the heart of social tensions. This, they argue, explains broader concerns, for example, about mass immigration. But how true are these assertions?

It is true that initial false rumours that the Southport killer was a Muslim refugee led to attacks on mosques and ugly violence aimed at migrants. While this may have been aggravated by pre-existing fears – the grooming-gangs scandal, mass-casualty jihadist terrorism and headline stories of crimes committed by asylum seekers – it nonetheless brought to the fore unpleasant divisions in society. In turn, some armed Muslim gangs took to the streets to deal with these ‘far-right’ thugs, a spectacle which prompted speculation that the country was witnessing a new era of race wars and ethnic conflict.

Some blame official policy for these tensions, which, in recent decades, attempted to reshape Britain as ‘a community of communities’. Ethnic and religious minorities have been engaged with as minorities, treated as homogenous identity ‘blocs’ and even pitted against one another in competition for state recognition and support. Combined with contemporary identitarian policy initiatives, this in turn is said to have created new forms of racial thinking – for example, public institutions now seem fixated on amplifying racial differences. While the now dropped ‘BAME’ label grouped various unconnected ethnic groups together solely by virtue of their non-European origin or skin colour, fashionable critical theory now lumps ethnic British and other Europeans together as white.

Perhaps inevitably, there has been a backlash against the unfairness of blame or virtue attached to skin colour. Unhelpfully, too many right-wing commentators – both those responding in good faith as well as more malevolent ethno-nationalist opportunists – now ape the most divisive aspects of identitarian grievance-mongering. It is increasingly common to hear complaints of ‘systemic anti-white racism’ and even displacement of the white majority population. To confuse things further, imported grievances from identity groups have caused conflict, such as when Hindu and Muslim youths fought violent inter-communal street battles in Leicester two years ago.

Some believe that a more full and frank national conversation about difficult topics, such as the impact of mass immigration or the long-standing failure to integrate certain ethnic and faith groups, would help diffuse racial animosities. After all, most British people, of all ethnicities, are concerned about Britain’s fraying social fabric and polling suggests that ethnic-minority Brits also want immigration to be reduced. Others point to the fact that class is rarely mentioned, despite the fact that what often unites identity communities is that they face similar social and economic challenges in dealing with crumbling public services, lack of housing or the cost of living.

Is such a debate feasible today, when diversity dogma often ring-fences identity politics or multiculturalism from any criticism or challenge, dismissing it as far right or racist? Conversely, can we untangle real reactionary racial thinking from what gets lumped in with catch-all claims of ‘abuse’? Is it possible to conceive of a civic conception of Britishness that can transcend divisive ethnic identities?

SPEAKERS
Dr Rakib Ehsan
author, Beyond Grievance: what the Left gets wrong about ethnic minorities

James Heartfield
lecturer and author

Khadija Khan
journalist and broadcaster; editor, A Further Inquiry; co-host, A Further Inquiry podcast

Kunle Olulode
director, Voice4Change England; author, A New Era of Trust: Trust, politics, race and civil society; co-opted commissioner, Commission of Race and Ethnic Disparities

Charlie Peters
GB News national reporter

CHAIR
Ella Whelan
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist; author, What Women Want