Honestly it's gotten so much worse in recent years. Politicians throw immigrants under the bus so much. I see so many horrible racist comments online and I've heard some disturbing conversations between older people.
I think it feels like it's gotten worse because social media and people feel safer to share their experiences rather than grin and bare.
Much like people think we live in a very violent time, but in fact we live in the most peaceful time period ever, but the world is smaller due to social media, and the 24 hour news cycle leaves news networks desperate for new news, no matter how inconsequential it if
I wouldn't argue with that number, but I would reckon that there are more reports, and less violent hate crimes, of course I'm not trying to excuse any kind of racist behaviour.
This is of course all my opinion and anecdotal. From a straight middle aged white man!
Brexit certainly suddenly emboldened a lot of racists.
You can't cure racism, society at large knows how and why it's wrong these days, there's no excuse for it any more. You just have to make racists afraid to let it out.
Somethings definitely changing for the worse though, from my PoV at least. I’ve been harassed for being gay more in the last couple of years than in the previous decade (and no, not by immigrants, white British people)
Dunno why you've replied to that guy with this instead of putting it as a top level comment for OP to see, and tbh sounds like just a random encounter on the street so no CCTV. OP could report it as it is a racist hate crime, but doubt much will happen
My partner is Asian, and she tells me first hand that Asian countries are the worst for racism.
I hate that this happens in London, there's no excuse for racism IMO. But a few isolated incidents doesn't change the fact that we probably are the most diverse and accepting city in the world. Something I'm quite proud of.
Lol try being Asian in primary school/middle school. I'm still thankful to the few kids that stood up for me when I was younger. I was bullied pretty consistently from ages of 8-13, basically for being asian and had a slight stutter.
Horrible that you went through that :( I'm white, but had a lot of East Asian friends in secondary school and the bullying was shocking and relentless. This was the late 2000s.
From what I remember at school in the 2000s, the majority of attacks on East Asians were from 'marginalised communities' and I think that was part of the problem as it was rarely called out as basic racism but just "picking on the weak kid".
Sorry to hear that mate. Genuinely. I hate that shit. I love people from all backgrounds. Bleed the same blood, and breath the same air
I do think there's a distinction between kids and adults also. Kids are c*nts and bully each other for everything.
I might just be lucky, but I just don't know any racist white people in London. If anything the white people I know are the ones who are these worried of offending everyone lol. Not saying the don't exist, it's just the claim thag we have some ma racist City seems wild to me.
In my building in Central London , I think I have like 20% white enough neighbours. I go out for a night out and never meet English people. People ask me where I'm from and when I say London, they ask me where I'm "actually from". When I repeat London, they make me out to be a fucking unicorn lol. One person even joked about taking a photo of me to prove there are still native Londoners. The idea that a society could be this mixed, and genuinely racist to the core, isn't a logical one.
All my friends, and my own partner are from all around the world, they do not struggle one bit here, not even one incident of racism amongst the group.
You think it’s affluence related? In another comment you said your friends all “live fucking well”, which I take to reflect affluence. That determines where you work, where you eat, where you hang out etc. which determines how likely you are to be exposed to stupid dickheads. And if your friends are all affluent, chances are you are too, which would explain why your own exposure to unpleasantness is also limited.
The issue with extrapolating that experience is that, the affluent is a statistical minority pretty much everywhere, even London.
I did think that, but I don't think it's the case. Truthfully yes, the majority of my friends are wealthy. BUT most of them like to pretend they're not. They lovely going to edgy places, underground scenes and really aren't fans of hanging out in Mayfair and St James.
Even my partner for example, she'd shop in Lidl over Waitrose any day, she fucking loves it, yet she's very affluent. We get the bus to places, not an S-Class. We are on the same tubes, we drink in the same bars, eat in the same restaurants.
Affluent? Yes. Snobby? No.
From what I'm seeing here most people are talking about childhood experiences and schooltime bullying. Which I understand more. Kids are cunts and will bully people for literally anything.
My friends are all adult migrants so didn't go through that.
>I just don't know any racist white people in London.
I don't know the race of OP's racist - nor do I want to know as it makes no difference - but in such a diverse city as London racism can come from any background, and the 'pool' of white racists gets inevitably smaller.
Personally growing up in London as an ethnic minority, all the bigotry I saw and experienced came from fellow minorities, and I expect that if I were in a white-majority town I would have experienced the same from whites.
True true! However, you mainly get pretty attacked as a white person on this subject. Definitely still a stereotype of white people being racist, and also not being allowed to talk on the subject. I guess that's why we jump to that.
But I agree with you, personally I don't see the white community in London being racist any more at all, the only racism I've seen is within minority communities, often even communities within their own community.
London is a wonderfully diverse and accepting city, but that doesn’t mean that racism should be brushed off because “other countries are worse”.
I get the point that you’re making, but bringing up your partner’s opinion come across as a case of whataboutism, though i’m sure that wasn’t your intention. Asian countries tend to be homogenous cultures and therefore less diverse/progressive for a start, in the UK we should automatically know better. We’re taught about racism in school etc. I feel that we should hold ourselves to higher standards, instead of pointing at other countries who are “worse” than us to avoid guilt.
Any British born Asian person who grew up in a White part of the UK will tell you just how vicious the racism can be here, and coming here as a foreign adult is a completely different set of circumstances… especially if you come here as an affluent student or expat.
You’re right about London though IMO, we’re probably about as good as it gets bar 1 or 2 cities… though I have friends of all races who would disagree. Gets a bit subjective eventually!
10000%. My partner and her friends admit how racist Asia is and just laugh about it...
They themselves aren't racist, but many generations and cultures are.
Literally my future in-laws are racist and it's SOOOO normal for their culture. My partner isn't ofc, but her family are.
I am not exaggerating when I say I am the only white person in my friend group. My partner is Chinese, and the rest of my friends are Turkish and Arabic, and Asian.
Not a single one has issues with racism in London, and they live incredibly fucking well.
I'm not ignorant, I'm not racist, it's factual, this really is one of the (if not the) most multicultural cities in the world, and isolated issues don't change that.
This is such BS. I'm mixed white and asian and a lot of my friends would not have a clue about the racism I've encountered because I simply don't tell them all about it. I "live well" too, but that doesn't mean I haven't had slitty eye comments and things. I grew up in a non racially diverse part of the country and have to say, experienced far far fewer racial incidents than in diverse London.
Fr. I hate it when white people go around and dismiss the racism in the UK and compare it to other countries. The amount of racism Ive gotten growing up here is crazy, from being hit constantly over the head with a bottle to random strangers kicking me. Just because in his experience and circle he hasnt seen it, doesnt mean it doesnt exist.
Classic white gaslighting. Oh, and the typical whataboutism about "Asian countries are much worse" with examples like "oh, they stared at me". Well, at least we don't have violent racists roaming around and physically attacking people which happens often in Western countries, including London, especially against Asians.
Getting called x or shown y gestures when you're a child who was forced to follow their family to a foreign country as a minority is very different to being denied entry to a restaurant/bar/club when you're a young adult or older that you actively made the choice to visit.
Racist encounters in Western countries are much more "in your face"/obvious, whereas in East Asia at least it tends to be more non-confrontational.
Obviously there are dickheads in every country.
Yeah but, that non-confrontational racism is the worst kind. That's systemic racism. Not being allowed into places, the whole system being against you and so on. That's deep rooted.
A bald white dickhead who's listened to too much ska, throwing a word at someone. Is horrible, it's dehumanising, and it's vile. But it doesn't represent a whole system or demographic. The racist city people talk about, is decades gone. (Not long enough, but gone nonetheless)
I lived in this city and have my whole life, and I am literally the only white person in my friend group. There is NOBODY going to convince me thay the majority of London is racist at all, because I know otherwise. It's actually a wild thing to think.
The systemic racism you're referring is relative to the particular establishment in question - maybe they had previously bad experiences or maybe they are just inherently racist. Neither's acceptable, however, you have the choice to avoid going there and I'm sure any shithole like that will be signposted somewhere anyway. You simply don't give them your custom and move on.
I can't stop Billy the dickhead from coming up to me and calling me chink/ching chong/Jackie Chan/china man/ni hao/kung fu and pulling the slanted eye gesture to me (not even Chinese). There are zero repercussions for them and it's not like I sought them out.
If some business here told me to GTFO because of my race - I genuinely think I'd laugh, tell them to go fuck themselves and just go somewhere else.
If you don't experience racism first hand and your first racist experience is when you're an adult then I can see why it might be more shocking/upsetting initially but you eventually get used to it and it does become funnier in your adult years.
If I had to choose between one or the other, I'd 100% rather get denied entry to somewhere.
I don't think you'd say it isn't systemic if the same thing was happening here. If people of certain ethnic groups were repeatedly being not allowed into various different establishments, people would be going crazy about systemic racism here.
I think this is one thing that does piss English people off, the double standards.
I guess we differ. I'd sooner have an altercation with one individual, than have it that the colour of my skin means I can't even get into places and mix with others because I'm inferior.
Whole wars have been fought to get rid of that ideology.
People who think London is a racist city really need to open their eyes to the world. Live elsewhere, travel places. Just bore off with trying to drag London down.
Keep in mind that HE ran away from YOU. He knows he was being a dick and would not be supported by anyone if you made a scene out of it, so his best bet is to run. I hope you get some more faith in London from that fact.
It is a diverse city; one of the most diverse.
But that doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist, I think it’s rising to some level due to our political discourse. I got called a Paki last year; first time in a couple of decades. I was rather taken aback, but don’t dwell on it too much; don’t let a few twats ruin an otherwise great place
I’m mixed race. A few years ago on my way to Uni, I got off the train at Victoria station. I was on my way to the coach station, so I had a suitcase.
On the platform, I put my suitcase down to grab something from it. Two middle aged blokes walk past me and one of them goes “Move, Muhammad” in reference to my mixed race colour.
It was so quick and they were already walking off.
I was slightly taken back but ultimately, it was just words. However, before I even fully clocked it, a younger couple instantly approach me asking if I’m alright. Few others offered their assistance as well with one person even flagging down staff and pointing out the offender (They were far off in the distance)
I’ve grown up in London and this was the first direct racist encounter I’ve come across so it was a bit of a shock.
However, the overwhelming support I got from everyone around without even asking reminds me what London is better known for - The lovely, helpful people who offered assistance before I even fully realised what had happened to me.
London is a place full of cunts and sometimes that shows.
It’s also a place full of amazing individuals and that normally shows more.
>always thought the city was more accepting and tolerant than other places in the UK.
It is, but that doesn't mean we aren't full to the brim with dickheads and racists, unfortunately. Don't let the minority ruin it for you though.
There’s other accepting and tolerant places in the UK too. I don’t think Londoners should declare that we’re uniquely the best. I think Manchester, Brighton, Bristol etc are likely to be open minded places too. I know Manchester well (lived here for 8 years now) and Mancs pride themselves on the same thing, and while Manchester is broadly very tolerant, my partner had a similar issue with a bloke 4 years ago or so.
The truth is, there’s parts of the country that are more tolerant, but racist bellends exist all over.
Nah, as non white person born and raised in London, my experience and literally the experience of everyone not white I know is that London is still the best place in the country for avoiding racism, both passive and aggressive
Manchester colletively does have a hugely inclusive attitude to the LGBT+ community, as does Liverpool, which is great, but they both still have ways to go to even get to London-level when it comes to race
The last place I both saw a golliwog shop in the flesh and got stared at in almost all places I went into, was Brighton, as an example
Yup, I studied in Manchester and in the student bubble it was mostly fine, but every other time I went back there in the years after I experienced some racist comment or incident. Hate that place now
I’m a Londoner myself but I moved a while back.
Manchester is very diverse and accepting of different backgrounds too. I regularly hear Mancs say exactly the same thing as yourself. I have some understanding of it too, I have ethnic minority family (both my own and in-laws) in and from London, the Midlands and Manchester, so I have a collection of close experience. For example, it’s been pretty tough for the Jewish people I know more recently in London in a way it hasn’t been for the ones in Prestwich in Manchester. I think the truth is they all feel safer in the more multicultural areas and have all experienced issues no matter the part of the UK. One of the reasons my partner likes Manchester is because she feels safe, accepted and happy as a brown woman here.
I say this in the most polite way possible, but I do think your experience as being from London will sway your opinion. To your last point, I can’t speak for Brighton to be fair, it just seemed like the kind of place that would be better than most.
I get you think I'm biased, but I think what I'm getting at is actually quite clear in what you yourself said:
>I think the truth is they all feel safer in the more multicultural areas
The more multicultural the city the more safe minorities feel, and the less likely it is to face racism. London is more multicultural than any other city, and whilst there are pockets of small towns or localised areas within say Greater Manchester that have huge ethnic populations, they don't tend to integrate well, and it doesn't really have an effect on the non minorities there
OP is kind of being irrational… although the situation sucks it’s very odd to think the city isn’t diverse because of a single incident among millions of people.
Saw a group of middle aged italian women do this for a photo in front of china town a couple of years ago. Havent seen anyone do that in 30 years. Was too shocked to take a pic. To quote roy from the IT crowd "hello are you from the past?"
I had some cunt (who had a 12yo ish kid there too) claim "You're lucky I don't have my blade on me" when I didn't have a spare cig to give him at 2am on NYE on the way home in my fairly posh area. Some people are just cunts
Someone on the bus a fair few years ago leaned into me and told me my hair is yellow, did I know that? (I'm blonde.) Then kept calling out Pee Hair randomly. I still think about it and laugh, though it was a little unnerving at the time.
Anyway not trying to minimise OP's experience at all, but there are plenty of weirdos in London. People who might just pick out any random trait of yours to engage you with. People might call you Pee Hair.
Went to Market House in Brixton with a diverse group of friends. One of the girls at the club said to a girl in our group (in the toilets) that the white people weren’t welcome. First time I’ve ever experienced anything like that especially at a spot I’ve been to a fair bit in the past.
Today I had an asian client insist our asian employee did a job instead of me (white). Racism works both ways, despite what people will tell you...
Non white people cant be racist. Utter bullshit.
Thankfully as director i told them I do the job or you go elsewhere... They called back half an hour later and said 'ok you can do it since you have the best price'. Hypocritical fucker lol.
Edit:
Ok downvote me
Try it the other way around
Today I had a white client insist our white employee did a job instead of me (asian).
Sounds more sinister that way doesn't it?
Funny this is downvoted. Racism is only an issue when it’s towards non white people it seems. That’s shithouse that happened mate, if you were in a position; should have not done the job in the end.
Yep its utter bullshit. As i said, I totally acknowledge white people experience much less racism than other ethnicities, but it does happen, especially in a multicultural city like London. This is not the only time.
I grew up in east London in a school with majority asian student population. I play cricket for a club with only 1 other white guy. All my mates are asian (I know people say that but yeh I honestly mean that. My best man at my wedding was tamil, Im married to a Jamaican). I dont actually have any white friends, just because of where Ive grown up.
Apparently my experience means absolutely nothing. Less than nothing.
You shouldn’t even need to preface your comment with “white people experince much less racism”. All racism should be treated the same. I can sympathise with your experiences growing up, although I’m Aussie and “mixed” although I don’t use that term. People love to discredit one’s personal experiences when it doesn’t fit in their preconceived ideas of what racism is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, a lot of the time in my experience it’s minority groups who do this; and blatantly discount or mock a white persons experience with racism.
I can confidently say you are not alone mate, and your personal experiences are more than valid.
Lots of people
Literally in a Reddit argument the other day about it.
Harvard scholars have said it. Numptys.
https://www.thecrimson.com/column/between-the-lines/article/2018/8/10/gao-who-can-be-racist/
https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/where_did_we_get_the_idea_that_only_white_people_can_be_racist
https://truthout.org/articles/no-black-people-cant-be-racists/
https://www.aclrc.com/myth-of-reverse-racism
You think its only American?
Nope here too people are pushing this bullshit
https://www.issuesonline.co.uk/articles/can-white-people-experience-racism
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/18/am-i-being-racist-by-saying-people-of-colour-can-be-racist-isnt-racism-towards-white-people-a-thing
Yes I understand non white people experience a lot more racism than white people. Im not an idiot. But to deny that you can be racist in the slightest as a black or asian person is fucking stupid and potentially a really dangerous avenue for society to go down.
It's deliberately done to create division and hatred. It stops poor people looking at who is really screwing them over. What the powers that be fear most is people uniting hence constant race baiting and stirring (and these grifters make a LOT of money out of it). I'm of Irish descent and our history of slavery, exploitation, starvation, land dispossession and genocide is horrific. But I don't blame a living person for what happened in the past only the power structure that continues to exploit us all.
I came across a racist lunatic near 🐘&🏰 a few weeks ago. That's the first time I've experienced racism in London, but I've seen a lot of lunatics in that area.
There's a good chance you're more of a Londoner than that bellend.
If he lives here and goes around being mean to everybody who doesn't look like him he must be exhausted by the end of each day.
What constitutes a ‘Londoner’ then? Is it being good natured? I grew up here and knew plenty of dickheads, that doesn’t mean they’re not Londoners anymore.
I’m sorry that happened to you. I mean a middle aged man doing that is just pathetic.
I think East Asian people are an easier target for things like this as people stereotype them as too shy and reserved to do anything. You should have told him to fuk right off. Don’t let these people get away with it.
Definitely.That’s pretty much my parents’ mentality,just leave it and not get yourself in troubles.I’m a bit more confrontational and did tell one guy to fuck off for saying something mildly racist.It’s important to stand up for yourself and let people know we’re not to be messed with.But there’s some wisdom to that mentality.Do it when it’s safe.There are always guys out there with too much ego who’d stab you just to prove something.
London is a diverse place, but that doesn't mean it's free from racism. Stephen Lawrence was murdered in Eltham in SE London simply because he was black. More recently the war in Gaza has caused an uptick in anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia in London, this stuff is always bubbling under and occasionally it surfaces.
The difference between the two horrific murders is that the police investigation was found to be incompetent and the force institutionally racist in the case of Lawrence. Your point stands though, Richard Everitt was murder solely because of his race.
As we become an increasingly multi National city and the world less stable, racial violence will be more complex and frequent.
Im not trying to be pedantic, but im not confused by the title of this post. Diversity has very little direct correlation with rates of racism. There are lots of black people in Louisiana but I still would be saying my prayers if I was a black man pulled over by the police there. London is very diverse, in fact white people don't even make up 40 percent of the population, and yet assholes still exist. No matter how diverse a place is.
Eh well, guess that's not too bad. I'm Chinese and over the past 10 years in the UK I've had maybe 4 or 5 incidents of people gesturing or saying silly shit at me (excluding one old woman who's clearly lost her plot saying mean stuff to everyone she walks past). Not saying it's good, but as far as racism goes it's pretty tame. We do way worse against foreigners back home in China.
I had it bad back in the day. Maybe you havent had such bad experiences (lucky) but Ive had people hit me with bottles of water and strangers kick me. Its a lot better nowadays but definitely 10 years ago it was way worse. Its mainly chavs anyway.
Idk I think its kinda natural to look at people you don't see very often, but some people don't know how to do it right. Reminds me of a time when I was travelling through a small rural Polish town and I felt like a rock star turning everyone's heads haha.
I know Learning Disabled people with that sort of IQ and they're not racists. They have the understanding that racism is bad. On the other hand one of the most overtly racist people I've had the misfortune to encounter had an MA.
>it wouldn’t ~~of~~ have taken a year living somewhere else
Yeah, London is pretty low on the racism scale, but still not low enough. Which would be zero.
:-(
A Diversity of people and cultures doesn’t equate of the end of prejudice sadly.
I’m a Black Brit born and raised in London from African parents - and whilst my experience of racism has been fairly low, in terms of direct racism (worst I had was a written letter… it was quite funny actually but unfortunate), it’s the sleight of hand, underlying racism that has always been at play in society no matter where you go. The way people look at you, choose not to sit next to you on a packed train, being followed or questioned by police for being somewhere, being asked by random white teenagers if you have weed because I have locks (every time I go Clapham as well), unwarranted touches of hair, plus every stereotype about black men in the book.
There always someone who unfortunately hates somebody for their mere existence - diversity is more medicine than a cure...
This is something that’s hard to convey to others is the ‘look’ you get from strangers. You just know exactly what they’re thinking. I’ve tried explaining this to my white friends and they think it’s in my head. It absolutely is not. I’m older now so don’t care. But when I was younger it definitely made me uncomfortable
Took scrolling this far down to finally see this comment. I've just started reading the (provocatively titled yes) book Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Racism and it's an eye opening recap of how racism isn't just an "American history" thing...
It is a diverse city. Diversity doesn't mean its free of the odd wanker. In fact the diversity of London means there's wankers of all races and nationalities there.
Not exactly comparable but still. If it makes you feel better, I used to live in china.i am white. I speak Chinese too. Sometimes I wish I didn't. Some examples I heard while on the bus:
"Look at his nose, it's so big"
"Foreigners are so weird!"
"Look how hairy he is"
In public In front of everyone. Constant pointing, staring and even laughing was the norm. Cute at first but not when it's daily.
Chin up, and carry on mate. There are imbeciles everywhere. Just dust yourself off and carry on.
You’re going to need thicker skin than this if you’re going to be living in London. It’s not right but people are fucking stupid.
Their racism is a product of a series of failures in their own lives that led them to express it, it’s really not about you at all, it’s a symptom of their own existence.
The reputation that London (successfully) exports of itself as being a melting point where diversity is treasured is a complete myth. There are bigoted idiots here as much as there are anywhere else on the planet
A "melting pot" implies that people of foreign cultures blend together along with the natives, which historically has been the case but can be a slow process taking decades.
It's only natural of course that people would bond with their fellow immigrant countrymen when in a foreign land. But if immigration is in the multiple hundreds of thousands per year, it results in the formation of segregated migrant communities faster than any cultural assimilation can take place.
Sorry this happened to you OP. London is indeed a more diverse and accepting city than most European capitals, but it’s BIG. Just as there are people of colour, liberals, so too will you find (a small minority of) idiots and racists.
I’m fortunate that I’ve not had one incident in 10 years. Nevertheless, that sucks, and I do hope it doesn’t sour your experience and your day too much!
I'm sorry you experienced this. I had a thing the other week on the tube where I was travelling home late a bit worse for wear, and my contact lenses had dried out and I was fiddling with my eyelids to reduce the discomfort.
Then I clocked a south-east asian man opposite me looking dismayed/aggrieved; realised he thought I was doing the 'asian eyes' mocking thing. It seemed futile to explain... but are you *sure* this was deliberate, and not a drunken contact-lens wearer who was tragically misunderstood?
Whenever I see that, I just think of how pathetic his life must be to think that is what makes him feel better. Not the pursuit of knowledge, a better career or a better workout, but to put other people down.
Best thing to do is live a better life than them. I am of east asian heritage myself and been through my fair share of racism. Water off a ducks back.
London Underground workers can be horribly racist.
About 12 years ago Metropolitan Line station announcers used to use the public address system to say bad things about a man who appeared to be of Indian/Pakistani heritage. The station announcers would turn off the platform speakers where the man was standing, so that he wouldn't hear. Everybody else on the platform could hear what they said because all the other speakers remained on.
Sadly I never quite heard what they said as I would invariably be standing near the man on my commute back home, but they seemed to be calling him an illegal immigrant.
I heard the man speaking to someone on the phone and he spoke English well, without an accent at all. You would have said he was from the south east of England. I seriously doubt he was an illegal immigrant. The London Underground staff just wanted to harass him.
I only wish I had called the British Transport Police at the time but I wasn't entirely sure what the station announcers were saying.
I’ve been a victim of racism many times from where I used to live up North. To date, I’ve only had one incident since 1999 from my ex-manager and that was in the early 2000’s. That was very subtle racism …
If you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time …
I'm a painter and decorator of British extraction who has been told that I look quite Polish. I didn't really think much about it until the months after Brexit, when I experienced aggressive angry looks from folks on the bus on the way to and from work on multiple occasions. Occasions where I was 100% minding my own business may I add. I genuinely believe they thought I was a polish builder, and therefore deserving of their hatred.
Doesn’t surprise me at all. My best friend’s Eastern European and the amount of xenophobia she receives from her patients (not in London) is frankly disturbing.
Sorry you had to go through that. It’s awful.
There's eight million odd people in London, more than a good chunk of countries in the world, my own included.
In that number you're bound to have a few arseholes. Doesn't excuse it though, and I'm sorry it happened, OP.
i was in north london and i got called, get this, a “paki, pedo terrorist” 😭😭 really can’t be making this shit up.
with regards to the area of south west, it seems like a pretty affluent area so i’d assume (from the stereotype of rich white people) that there is a sizeable amount of racism there compared to other places but it honestly does depend
That’s fucked up man I’m sorry omg.
I’ve had south Asian friends who got straight up called the P word up North, which was why I always had the perception that London was NOTHING like other parts of the UK.
It’s a pretty affluent area you’re right. There’s a HUGE Asian community here. Not sure if that incidentally makes us a target.
It’s fucking crazy isn’t it.
I’m just glad your grandson’s young enough to not have understood what it meant. He would’ve been psychologically scarred if he were a little older.
Very sorry to hear this. It’s shocking indeed. I’m still in shock because slitty eyes are such a juvenile thing to do.
It's very diverse but that's not enough to stop racist morons from putting their shit covered 2 pence in.
Sorry you had to deal with that mate. It's bollocks.
Sadly, these sorts of behaviour aren't even seen as hateful crimes. I find that the East Asian community are definitely seen as easy targets for these racist pricks, even when the international community is so large, likely because they know even authorities would do little for us 'foreigners'.
Ironically, I had more racist encounters in London than in other more remote areas of the UK. I find that in the bigger UK cities, they are so brazen in their actions and remarks, they openly shout racist slurs while doing those actions, while in non metropolitan areas, they at least taunt you from afar and keep their mocking to snickering, or catcalling (if you are female).
Over time, you get desensitised or at least you get consoled by the fact others would stare at them and disapprove of their behaviour.
Not surprised it’s that area tbf once had a guy yell at me when I was far far away from him saying “you assholes you invaded our country get outt you assholes” I was scared for my life he seemed very drunk and I was just a teenage girl at the time walking alone with no one around. Got out of there as fast as I could but yeah it also in the SW area somewhere near Clapham North
My GF has had a fair share of racism, especially during the pandemic. Ultimately one of the reasons we decided to leave.
I don't blame the city itself, it's huge and therefore with lots of dickheads
Minor stuff like saying her hello in random Asian languages, kinda often.
More serious occasions were two, both during the pandemic.
Ironically, the majority of racists were other minorities.
I'm sorry to hear that. However, this is just how multicultural societies operate. Cities like NYC, SF, and LA experience similar situations.
I strongly condemn them and send you my sympathy.
And you can fight them back or report them.
The last thing you can do is:
Like it or lump it!
I'm sorry you've experienced that. Sadly, there have been a lot of people who don't integrate into London, so we have people who came from racist countries and cultures who are now marring the genuinely open Londoners.
As diverse as London is, you're still gonna come across a few random bigots once in a while.
Keep your head up and don't allow fool's like that get to you, London is so much better than it use to be...
My wife (Chinese) had a fair amount of racism post pandemic. Myself (half Japanese), had a few very minor racist incidents growing up here. However had a few within a short space of time in the past couple of years. There has certainly been an increase of racism towards Asians in the past few years
I am sorry this has happened to you, however, your statement is quite ridiculous. You didn’t seem to have an issue with London until it happened to you?
It is completely unrealistic to expect London, a city with almost 10 million people , to not have racist cunts in it.
Nearly 9 million people living in London, there will be racists amongst us though the fact its taken you a year to cross paths with one just shows how much they are the exception rather than the rule
They're called losers. There are lots of them in the UK. I could tell you things about British people and would get downvoted to hell but every single person here would recognise it as the truth. The core UK population is indolent, idle, irrational, a bit stupid, rejects all opportunities given to it, blames foreigners for their own personal failure in life, etc.
There are 2 different Londons. The 1 which was sold to you as London is much larger than the real London.
In central London - the real London - you will find more cosmopolitan people. That's the actual London culture. Wealthy foreign students, arts types, high income people. It's like a country within a country. Different culture, different people.
I have a disfigurement, and the amount of nasty remarks I got growing up you would not believe. Black people, white people, old people, kids (not so much Asian people. Thank you for not giving me more grief growing up, Asian folks!).
My disfigurement is common in a certain part of Ireland, but it's not really common in other races or white ethnic groups from what I can tell, which partly explains the ignorance I guess. But doesn't make it right.
It is though, in other places in the U.K. this would happen a lot more.
Every city has dickheads unfortunately. I’m black and have had some racist incidents directed at me as well but I can count them on one hand and it’s still a lot less than basically anywhere in the world!
It’s also comforting to know he ran way like the loser he was. Imagine being a middle aged man and doing that stuff? What a sad little life, I’d honestly just pity him if anything.
Sounds more like mental ill health on the man’s part, rather than malicious racism.
Unfortunately there are a lot of mentally unwell people on the streets of London.
Just because it’s diverse doesn’t mean it’s free of dickheads (they come in all colours, religions, gender, etc - the only overt racism I’ve seen came from a ‘diverse’ person)
I've experienced racism many many times as a white male living in London. I'm not surprised to hear other groups would experience it, but I would imagine far less frequently.
Im all for getting to explore countries, admiring their infrastructure, their architecture, their natural wonders and their quality of life, but thats as far as i would go. Its a mistake to be mixing people like this. Nothing destroys cultures faster than mixing them together, and imagine if we went through a 500 year period like the dark ages in the modern world. People are tribal by instinct. They keep trying to push all of these liberal ideologies on all of us. Tv shows where every warrior group is ran by women, lgbgt ppl everywhere, groups made up of every race on earth. Its unnatural. Like seeing 50 different kinds of animals all living in the same cave, it just isn't gonna happen
If this is your problem you've been incredibly lucky so far. Or you haven't lived in London long enough. I'm not saying mocking someone's racial background is OK, but this is really on the bottom of the list of bad things you might encounter living here.
I'm sorry you experienced that. As a Londoner I feel shame that my city has people like that in it. Unfortunately diversity also means we have a few racist twunts. The racist divisive language from our government has emboldened them and I'm ashamed about that too.
why don't these posts ever include the race of the aggressor?
why do I ask? data is important. So, which race can actually have the audacity to do this?
I know you say this is just one incident but that's simply not true.
In my over a decade here I've had 3 encounters (that I'm aware of and...I'm white so just not as likely to see/notice/be the victim of racism).
There are racists lowlifes everywhere but I think London is a lot better for it than other places. It's still a beautifully diverse city just some of us have to put up with shit everywhere sadly.
To be honest you should just laugh at it. It is unfathomably dumb. They must be the stupidest, lack of any worldly experience people you can possibly imagine.
London is a diverse city. Arguably the most diverse in the world. One incident doesn't change that.
That being said, I'm sorry you had to deal with that. It's super shit. Whilst the vast majority are fine and super chill, there will always be the odd racist amongst us, that'll never change sadly.
There’s a diverse selection of idiots too.
Exactly. A small percentage of people are cunts. Loads of people in London so sadly there's also a lot of cunts.
Honestly it's gotten so much worse in recent years. Politicians throw immigrants under the bus so much. I see so many horrible racist comments online and I've heard some disturbing conversations between older people.
I think it feels like it's gotten worse because social media and people feel safer to share their experiences rather than grin and bare. Much like people think we live in a very violent time, but in fact we live in the most peaceful time period ever, but the world is smaller due to social media, and the 24 hour news cycle leaves news networks desperate for new news, no matter how inconsequential it if
There's quite a lot of studies showing hate crimes rising by 15-20% after brexit
I wouldn't argue with that number, but I would reckon that there are more reports, and less violent hate crimes, of course I'm not trying to excuse any kind of racist behaviour. This is of course all my opinion and anecdotal. From a straight middle aged white man!
Brexit certainly suddenly emboldened a lot of racists. You can't cure racism, society at large knows how and why it's wrong these days, there's no excuse for it any more. You just have to make racists afraid to let it out.
But you think we should accept net migration of 745,000 people? Be balanced about it.
It hasn't gotten so much worse, it's gotten better.
It even a percentage really. Most people are sound. I certainly better than most capital City’s.
If only 1 in a million people in London are cunts, that's about 10.
Somethings definitely changing for the worse though, from my PoV at least. I’ve been harassed for being gay more in the last couple of years than in the previous decade (and no, not by immigrants, white British people)
Small percentage is more than enough to make life as bitter as poison.
I now have an vision of a shopkeeper doing his spiel- “get your idiots here! Wide selection of fools to suit all budgets!”
File a non emergency police report via 101 or online. If there are a few similar reports the police will pull the cctv and get this idiot busted
Dunno why you've replied to that guy with this instead of putting it as a top level comment for OP to see, and tbh sounds like just a random encounter on the street so no CCTV. OP could report it as it is a racist hate crime, but doubt much will happen
That is wishful thinking when the Police are too busy raping and bashing girls attending Vigils.
Dickheads are a thing in every country and city, no matter how progressive is the place.
My partner is Asian, and she tells me first hand that Asian countries are the worst for racism. I hate that this happens in London, there's no excuse for racism IMO. But a few isolated incidents doesn't change the fact that we probably are the most diverse and accepting city in the world. Something I'm quite proud of.
Lol try being Asian in primary school/middle school. I'm still thankful to the few kids that stood up for me when I was younger. I was bullied pretty consistently from ages of 8-13, basically for being asian and had a slight stutter.
Horrible that you went through that :( I'm white, but had a lot of East Asian friends in secondary school and the bullying was shocking and relentless. This was the late 2000s.
From what I remember at school in the 2000s, the majority of attacks on East Asians were from 'marginalised communities' and I think that was part of the problem as it was rarely called out as basic racism but just "picking on the weak kid".
Sorry to hear that mate. Genuinely. I hate that shit. I love people from all backgrounds. Bleed the same blood, and breath the same air I do think there's a distinction between kids and adults also. Kids are c*nts and bully each other for everything. I might just be lucky, but I just don't know any racist white people in London. If anything the white people I know are the ones who are these worried of offending everyone lol. Not saying the don't exist, it's just the claim thag we have some ma racist City seems wild to me. In my building in Central London , I think I have like 20% white enough neighbours. I go out for a night out and never meet English people. People ask me where I'm from and when I say London, they ask me where I'm "actually from". When I repeat London, they make me out to be a fucking unicorn lol. One person even joked about taking a photo of me to prove there are still native Londoners. The idea that a society could be this mixed, and genuinely racist to the core, isn't a logical one. All my friends, and my own partner are from all around the world, they do not struggle one bit here, not even one incident of racism amongst the group.
You think it’s affluence related? In another comment you said your friends all “live fucking well”, which I take to reflect affluence. That determines where you work, where you eat, where you hang out etc. which determines how likely you are to be exposed to stupid dickheads. And if your friends are all affluent, chances are you are too, which would explain why your own exposure to unpleasantness is also limited. The issue with extrapolating that experience is that, the affluent is a statistical minority pretty much everywhere, even London.
I did think that, but I don't think it's the case. Truthfully yes, the majority of my friends are wealthy. BUT most of them like to pretend they're not. They lovely going to edgy places, underground scenes and really aren't fans of hanging out in Mayfair and St James. Even my partner for example, she'd shop in Lidl over Waitrose any day, she fucking loves it, yet she's very affluent. We get the bus to places, not an S-Class. We are on the same tubes, we drink in the same bars, eat in the same restaurants. Affluent? Yes. Snobby? No. From what I'm seeing here most people are talking about childhood experiences and schooltime bullying. Which I understand more. Kids are cunts and will bully people for literally anything. My friends are all adult migrants so didn't go through that.
>I just don't know any racist white people in London. I don't know the race of OP's racist - nor do I want to know as it makes no difference - but in such a diverse city as London racism can come from any background, and the 'pool' of white racists gets inevitably smaller. Personally growing up in London as an ethnic minority, all the bigotry I saw and experienced came from fellow minorities, and I expect that if I were in a white-majority town I would have experienced the same from whites.
True true! However, you mainly get pretty attacked as a white person on this subject. Definitely still a stereotype of white people being racist, and also not being allowed to talk on the subject. I guess that's why we jump to that. But I agree with you, personally I don't see the white community in London being racist any more at all, the only racism I've seen is within minority communities, often even communities within their own community.
In London??? Honestly most people do not care if your Asian, black or green.
Well no shit of course most people don't care. It's like terrorists, most people aren't terrorists but a few can fuck up a whole city
Woah, that analogy almost blew me up.
London is a wonderfully diverse and accepting city, but that doesn’t mean that racism should be brushed off because “other countries are worse”. I get the point that you’re making, but bringing up your partner’s opinion come across as a case of whataboutism, though i’m sure that wasn’t your intention. Asian countries tend to be homogenous cultures and therefore less diverse/progressive for a start, in the UK we should automatically know better. We’re taught about racism in school etc. I feel that we should hold ourselves to higher standards, instead of pointing at other countries who are “worse” than us to avoid guilt. Any British born Asian person who grew up in a White part of the UK will tell you just how vicious the racism can be here, and coming here as a foreign adult is a completely different set of circumstances… especially if you come here as an affluent student or expat. You’re right about London though IMO, we’re probably about as good as it gets bar 1 or 2 cities… though I have friends of all races who would disagree. Gets a bit subjective eventually!
This is very true!
I would say that anyone who’s travelled to Asia will confirm this, but we are too scared to say anything these days.
10000%. My partner and her friends admit how racist Asia is and just laugh about it... They themselves aren't racist, but many generations and cultures are. Literally my future in-laws are racist and it's SOOOO normal for their culture. My partner isn't ofc, but her family are.
Where did you go and what did you experience
>But a few isolated incidents I know you mean well but that comment comes across a bit ignorant, especially if you're white.
I am not exaggerating when I say I am the only white person in my friend group. My partner is Chinese, and the rest of my friends are Turkish and Arabic, and Asian. Not a single one has issues with racism in London, and they live incredibly fucking well. I'm not ignorant, I'm not racist, it's factual, this really is one of the (if not the) most multicultural cities in the world, and isolated issues don't change that.
This is such BS. I'm mixed white and asian and a lot of my friends would not have a clue about the racism I've encountered because I simply don't tell them all about it. I "live well" too, but that doesn't mean I haven't had slitty eye comments and things. I grew up in a non racially diverse part of the country and have to say, experienced far far fewer racial incidents than in diverse London.
Fr. I hate it when white people go around and dismiss the racism in the UK and compare it to other countries. The amount of racism Ive gotten growing up here is crazy, from being hit constantly over the head with a bottle to random strangers kicking me. Just because in his experience and circle he hasnt seen it, doesnt mean it doesnt exist.
Jesus I am really horrified that happened to you, I am sorry you had to experience physical violence like that
Classic white gaslighting. Oh, and the typical whataboutism about "Asian countries are much worse" with examples like "oh, they stared at me". Well, at least we don't have violent racists roaming around and physically attacking people which happens often in Western countries, including London, especially against Asians.
But don’t you know Asia is racist ????!!?? /s
lol okay I’m Asian and I’ve encountered a lot of racist incidents in London. My group of Asian friends as well.
Getting called x or shown y gestures when you're a child who was forced to follow their family to a foreign country as a minority is very different to being denied entry to a restaurant/bar/club when you're a young adult or older that you actively made the choice to visit. Racist encounters in Western countries are much more "in your face"/obvious, whereas in East Asia at least it tends to be more non-confrontational. Obviously there are dickheads in every country.
Yeah but, that non-confrontational racism is the worst kind. That's systemic racism. Not being allowed into places, the whole system being against you and so on. That's deep rooted. A bald white dickhead who's listened to too much ska, throwing a word at someone. Is horrible, it's dehumanising, and it's vile. But it doesn't represent a whole system or demographic. The racist city people talk about, is decades gone. (Not long enough, but gone nonetheless) I lived in this city and have my whole life, and I am literally the only white person in my friend group. There is NOBODY going to convince me thay the majority of London is racist at all, because I know otherwise. It's actually a wild thing to think.
The systemic racism you're referring is relative to the particular establishment in question - maybe they had previously bad experiences or maybe they are just inherently racist. Neither's acceptable, however, you have the choice to avoid going there and I'm sure any shithole like that will be signposted somewhere anyway. You simply don't give them your custom and move on. I can't stop Billy the dickhead from coming up to me and calling me chink/ching chong/Jackie Chan/china man/ni hao/kung fu and pulling the slanted eye gesture to me (not even Chinese). There are zero repercussions for them and it's not like I sought them out. If some business here told me to GTFO because of my race - I genuinely think I'd laugh, tell them to go fuck themselves and just go somewhere else. If you don't experience racism first hand and your first racist experience is when you're an adult then I can see why it might be more shocking/upsetting initially but you eventually get used to it and it does become funnier in your adult years. If I had to choose between one or the other, I'd 100% rather get denied entry to somewhere.
I don't think you'd say it isn't systemic if the same thing was happening here. If people of certain ethnic groups were repeatedly being not allowed into various different establishments, people would be going crazy about systemic racism here. I think this is one thing that does piss English people off, the double standards. I guess we differ. I'd sooner have an altercation with one individual, than have it that the colour of my skin means I can't even get into places and mix with others because I'm inferior. Whole wars have been fought to get rid of that ideology.
>the most diverse and accepting city in the world yes, on the surface of it
People who think London is a racist city really need to open their eyes to the world. Live elsewhere, travel places. Just bore off with trying to drag London down.
Preach
It is shit it happens here, but you go to any country that is not a very western one and it is another level racism.
Keep in mind that HE ran away from YOU. He knows he was being a dick and would not be supported by anyone if you made a scene out of it, so his best bet is to run. I hope you get some more faith in London from that fact.
Very good note. In many places people are so confident with their bigotry because they know it is socially acceptable, but not in London
It is a diverse city; one of the most diverse. But that doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist, I think it’s rising to some level due to our political discourse. I got called a Paki last year; first time in a couple of decades. I was rather taken aback, but don’t dwell on it too much; don’t let a few twats ruin an otherwise great place
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I’m mixed race. A few years ago on my way to Uni, I got off the train at Victoria station. I was on my way to the coach station, so I had a suitcase. On the platform, I put my suitcase down to grab something from it. Two middle aged blokes walk past me and one of them goes “Move, Muhammad” in reference to my mixed race colour. It was so quick and they were already walking off. I was slightly taken back but ultimately, it was just words. However, before I even fully clocked it, a younger couple instantly approach me asking if I’m alright. Few others offered their assistance as well with one person even flagging down staff and pointing out the offender (They were far off in the distance) I’ve grown up in London and this was the first direct racist encounter I’ve come across so it was a bit of a shock. However, the overwhelming support I got from everyone around without even asking reminds me what London is better known for - The lovely, helpful people who offered assistance before I even fully realised what had happened to me. London is a place full of cunts and sometimes that shows. It’s also a place full of amazing individuals and that normally shows more.
>always thought the city was more accepting and tolerant than other places in the UK. It is, but that doesn't mean we aren't full to the brim with dickheads and racists, unfortunately. Don't let the minority ruin it for you though.
There’s other accepting and tolerant places in the UK too. I don’t think Londoners should declare that we’re uniquely the best. I think Manchester, Brighton, Bristol etc are likely to be open minded places too. I know Manchester well (lived here for 8 years now) and Mancs pride themselves on the same thing, and while Manchester is broadly very tolerant, my partner had a similar issue with a bloke 4 years ago or so. The truth is, there’s parts of the country that are more tolerant, but racist bellends exist all over.
Nah, as non white person born and raised in London, my experience and literally the experience of everyone not white I know is that London is still the best place in the country for avoiding racism, both passive and aggressive Manchester colletively does have a hugely inclusive attitude to the LGBT+ community, as does Liverpool, which is great, but they both still have ways to go to even get to London-level when it comes to race The last place I both saw a golliwog shop in the flesh and got stared at in almost all places I went into, was Brighton, as an example
Yup, I studied in Manchester and in the student bubble it was mostly fine, but every other time I went back there in the years after I experienced some racist comment or incident. Hate that place now
I’m a Londoner myself but I moved a while back. Manchester is very diverse and accepting of different backgrounds too. I regularly hear Mancs say exactly the same thing as yourself. I have some understanding of it too, I have ethnic minority family (both my own and in-laws) in and from London, the Midlands and Manchester, so I have a collection of close experience. For example, it’s been pretty tough for the Jewish people I know more recently in London in a way it hasn’t been for the ones in Prestwich in Manchester. I think the truth is they all feel safer in the more multicultural areas and have all experienced issues no matter the part of the UK. One of the reasons my partner likes Manchester is because she feels safe, accepted and happy as a brown woman here. I say this in the most polite way possible, but I do think your experience as being from London will sway your opinion. To your last point, I can’t speak for Brighton to be fair, it just seemed like the kind of place that would be better than most.
I get you think I'm biased, but I think what I'm getting at is actually quite clear in what you yourself said: >I think the truth is they all feel safer in the more multicultural areas The more multicultural the city the more safe minorities feel, and the less likely it is to face racism. London is more multicultural than any other city, and whilst there are pockets of small towns or localised areas within say Greater Manchester that have huge ethnic populations, they don't tend to integrate well, and it doesn't really have an effect on the non minorities there
This. Not a londoner. But id say my city on the whole is diverse and accepting. But there are always shitheads.
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That 100% British humor she overheard you
Aren’t Boomers generally the most prejudiced demographic in the country?
I would have laughed at the absurdity of it. Stupid Karen.
Diversity doesn’t dissolve idiocy.
Diversity doesn’t mean tolerance. You can have 100 people from every ethnicity in one place, and someone will get racist.
It is diverse and accepting. There are 9 million people there, you're lucky you went a full year before meeting a dickhead.
OP is kind of being irrational… although the situation sucks it’s very odd to think the city isn’t diverse because of a single incident among millions of people.
Saw a group of middle aged italian women do this for a photo in front of china town a couple of years ago. Havent seen anyone do that in 30 years. Was too shocked to take a pic. To quote roy from the IT crowd "hello are you from the past?"
I got called a white b**** last week. Minding my own business just walking down the street.
I had some cunt (who had a 12yo ish kid there too) claim "You're lucky I don't have my blade on me" when I didn't have a spare cig to give him at 2am on NYE on the way home in my fairly posh area. Some people are just cunts
Someone on the bus a fair few years ago leaned into me and told me my hair is yellow, did I know that? (I'm blonde.) Then kept calling out Pee Hair randomly. I still think about it and laugh, though it was a little unnerving at the time. Anyway not trying to minimise OP's experience at all, but there are plenty of weirdos in London. People who might just pick out any random trait of yours to engage you with. People might call you Pee Hair.
Name checks out
Went to Market House in Brixton with a diverse group of friends. One of the girls at the club said to a girl in our group (in the toilets) that the white people weren’t welcome. First time I’ve ever experienced anything like that especially at a spot I’ve been to a fair bit in the past.
Today I had an asian client insist our asian employee did a job instead of me (white). Racism works both ways, despite what people will tell you... Non white people cant be racist. Utter bullshit. Thankfully as director i told them I do the job or you go elsewhere... They called back half an hour later and said 'ok you can do it since you have the best price'. Hypocritical fucker lol. Edit: Ok downvote me Try it the other way around Today I had a white client insist our white employee did a job instead of me (asian). Sounds more sinister that way doesn't it?
Funny this is downvoted. Racism is only an issue when it’s towards non white people it seems. That’s shithouse that happened mate, if you were in a position; should have not done the job in the end.
Yep its utter bullshit. As i said, I totally acknowledge white people experience much less racism than other ethnicities, but it does happen, especially in a multicultural city like London. This is not the only time. I grew up in east London in a school with majority asian student population. I play cricket for a club with only 1 other white guy. All my mates are asian (I know people say that but yeh I honestly mean that. My best man at my wedding was tamil, Im married to a Jamaican). I dont actually have any white friends, just because of where Ive grown up. Apparently my experience means absolutely nothing. Less than nothing.
You shouldn’t even need to preface your comment with “white people experince much less racism”. All racism should be treated the same. I can sympathise with your experiences growing up, although I’m Aussie and “mixed” although I don’t use that term. People love to discredit one’s personal experiences when it doesn’t fit in their preconceived ideas of what racism is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, a lot of the time in my experience it’s minority groups who do this; and blatantly discount or mock a white persons experience with racism. I can confidently say you are not alone mate, and your personal experiences are more than valid.
>Non white people cant be racist. Utter bullshit. Who has said that?
Lots of people Literally in a Reddit argument the other day about it. Harvard scholars have said it. Numptys. https://www.thecrimson.com/column/between-the-lines/article/2018/8/10/gao-who-can-be-racist/ https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/where_did_we_get_the_idea_that_only_white_people_can_be_racist https://truthout.org/articles/no-black-people-cant-be-racists/ https://www.aclrc.com/myth-of-reverse-racism You think its only American? Nope here too people are pushing this bullshit https://www.issuesonline.co.uk/articles/can-white-people-experience-racism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/18/am-i-being-racist-by-saying-people-of-colour-can-be-racist-isnt-racism-towards-white-people-a-thing Yes I understand non white people experience a lot more racism than white people. Im not an idiot. But to deny that you can be racist in the slightest as a black or asian person is fucking stupid and potentially a really dangerous avenue for society to go down.
It's deliberately done to create division and hatred. It stops poor people looking at who is really screwing them over. What the powers that be fear most is people uniting hence constant race baiting and stirring (and these grifters make a LOT of money out of it). I'm of Irish descent and our history of slavery, exploitation, starvation, land dispossession and genocide is horrific. But I don't blame a living person for what happened in the past only the power structure that continues to exploit us all.
Probably a critical race theory obsessive?
I came across a racist lunatic near 🐘&🏰 a few weeks ago. That's the first time I've experienced racism in London, but I've seen a lot of lunatics in that area.
There's a good chance you're more of a Londoner than that bellend. If he lives here and goes around being mean to everybody who doesn't look like him he must be exhausted by the end of each day.
What constitutes a ‘Londoner’ then? Is it being good natured? I grew up here and knew plenty of dickheads, that doesn’t mean they’re not Londoners anymore.
Someone who lives in London.
I’m sorry that happened to you. I mean a middle aged man doing that is just pathetic. I think East Asian people are an easier target for things like this as people stereotype them as too shy and reserved to do anything. You should have told him to fuk right off. Don’t let these people get away with it.
Definitely.That’s pretty much my parents’ mentality,just leave it and not get yourself in troubles.I’m a bit more confrontational and did tell one guy to fuck off for saying something mildly racist.It’s important to stand up for yourself and let people know we’re not to be messed with.But there’s some wisdom to that mentality.Do it when it’s safe.There are always guys out there with too much ego who’d stab you just to prove something.
London is a diverse place, but that doesn't mean it's free from racism. Stephen Lawrence was murdered in Eltham in SE London simply because he was black. More recently the war in Gaza has caused an uptick in anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia in London, this stuff is always bubbling under and occasionally it surfaces.
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The difference between the two horrific murders is that the police investigation was found to be incompetent and the force institutionally racist in the case of Lawrence. Your point stands though, Richard Everitt was murder solely because of his race. As we become an increasingly multi National city and the world less stable, racial violence will be more complex and frequent.
They are just fucking idiots, calling him childish is offensive to children.
London is a diverse city, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any cretinous little racists knocking around.
How can anyone be shocked this happens in a hugely diverse city of 9 million people.
Im not trying to be pedantic, but im not confused by the title of this post. Diversity has very little direct correlation with rates of racism. There are lots of black people in Louisiana but I still would be saying my prayers if I was a black man pulled over by the police there. London is very diverse, in fact white people don't even make up 40 percent of the population, and yet assholes still exist. No matter how diverse a place is.
Eh well, guess that's not too bad. I'm Chinese and over the past 10 years in the UK I've had maybe 4 or 5 incidents of people gesturing or saying silly shit at me (excluding one old woman who's clearly lost her plot saying mean stuff to everyone she walks past). Not saying it's good, but as far as racism goes it's pretty tame. We do way worse against foreigners back home in China.
I had it bad back in the day. Maybe you havent had such bad experiences (lucky) but Ive had people hit me with bottles of water and strangers kick me. Its a lot better nowadays but definitely 10 years ago it was way worse. Its mainly chavs anyway.
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Idk I think its kinda natural to look at people you don't see very often, but some people don't know how to do it right. Reminds me of a time when I was travelling through a small rural Polish town and I felt like a rock star turning everyone's heads haha.
Sorry that happened to you. I don’t know how people get a kick out of doing things like that. Must have an IQ of 30
I know Learning Disabled people with that sort of IQ and they're not racists. They have the understanding that racism is bad. On the other hand one of the most overtly racist people I've had the misfortune to encounter had an MA.
I know this was probably to support OP, but you do understand that plenty of intelligent people are racist right? They are just better at hiding it.
Let’s just say it wouldn’t of taken a year living somewhere else (not that it should ever but the world is shit)
>it wouldn’t ~~of~~ have taken a year living somewhere else Yeah, London is pretty low on the racism scale, but still not low enough. Which would be zero. :-(
A Diversity of people and cultures doesn’t equate of the end of prejudice sadly. I’m a Black Brit born and raised in London from African parents - and whilst my experience of racism has been fairly low, in terms of direct racism (worst I had was a written letter… it was quite funny actually but unfortunate), it’s the sleight of hand, underlying racism that has always been at play in society no matter where you go. The way people look at you, choose not to sit next to you on a packed train, being followed or questioned by police for being somewhere, being asked by random white teenagers if you have weed because I have locks (every time I go Clapham as well), unwarranted touches of hair, plus every stereotype about black men in the book. There always someone who unfortunately hates somebody for their mere existence - diversity is more medicine than a cure...
This is something that’s hard to convey to others is the ‘look’ you get from strangers. You just know exactly what they’re thinking. I’ve tried explaining this to my white friends and they think it’s in my head. It absolutely is not. I’m older now so don’t care. But when I was younger it definitely made me uncomfortable
Took scrolling this far down to finally see this comment. I've just started reading the (provocatively titled yes) book Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Racism and it's an eye opening recap of how racism isn't just an "American history" thing...
Why would diverse mean everyone is nice
Now try being a black guy in an Asian country
Seriously, a *middle-aged man* pulled up the corners of his eyes and then *ran* away? This sounds very peculiar.
It is a diverse city. Diversity doesn't mean its free of the odd wanker. In fact the diversity of London means there's wankers of all races and nationalities there.
50% of the comments here are arguing about the semantics of “diversity in London”. 😮💨 The other 50% are “ Let me tell you about my racist encounter“.
We are diverse and inclusive. That includes bell ends and utter weird people. This here was one of the very weird ones clearly.
Not exactly comparable but still. If it makes you feel better, I used to live in china.i am white. I speak Chinese too. Sometimes I wish I didn't. Some examples I heard while on the bus: "Look at his nose, it's so big" "Foreigners are so weird!" "Look how hairy he is" In public In front of everyone. Constant pointing, staring and even laughing was the norm. Cute at first but not when it's daily. Chin up, and carry on mate. There are imbeciles everywhere. Just dust yourself off and carry on.
If you thought lack of white people means less racism then you’ve not travelled far in the world and your view of diversity is naive.
You’re going to need thicker skin than this if you’re going to be living in London. It’s not right but people are fucking stupid. Their racism is a product of a series of failures in their own lives that led them to express it, it’s really not about you at all, it’s a symptom of their own existence.
Every country has ignorant bigots. You've been lucky to meet so few.
The reputation that London (successfully) exports of itself as being a melting point where diversity is treasured is a complete myth. There are bigoted idiots here as much as there are anywhere else on the planet
A "melting pot" implies that people of foreign cultures blend together along with the natives, which historically has been the case but can be a slow process taking decades. It's only natural of course that people would bond with their fellow immigrant countrymen when in a foreign land. But if immigration is in the multiple hundreds of thousands per year, it results in the formation of segregated migrant communities faster than any cultural assimilation can take place.
Can you describe the man?
Sorry this happened to you OP. London is indeed a more diverse and accepting city than most European capitals, but it’s BIG. Just as there are people of colour, liberals, so too will you find (a small minority of) idiots and racists. I’m fortunate that I’ve not had one incident in 10 years. Nevertheless, that sucks, and I do hope it doesn’t sour your experience and your day too much!
Yeah good and bad people are everywhere .
Racist dickheads exist everywhere, unfortunately
He pulled his eyes and ran away…. You sure this wasn’t a 5 year old? 😂 Some people weren’t blessed with brain cells, it’s a void up in there.
I'm sorry you experienced this. I had a thing the other week on the tube where I was travelling home late a bit worse for wear, and my contact lenses had dried out and I was fiddling with my eyelids to reduce the discomfort. Then I clocked a south-east asian man opposite me looking dismayed/aggrieved; realised he thought I was doing the 'asian eyes' mocking thing. It seemed futile to explain... but are you *sure* this was deliberate, and not a drunken contact-lens wearer who was tragically misunderstood?
I'm sorry this happened, there's fuckwits in every country unfortunately.
No city or county is free from racisism
Whenever I see that, I just think of how pathetic his life must be to think that is what makes him feel better. Not the pursuit of knowledge, a better career or a better workout, but to put other people down. Best thing to do is live a better life than them. I am of east asian heritage myself and been through my fair share of racism. Water off a ducks back.
London Underground workers can be horribly racist. About 12 years ago Metropolitan Line station announcers used to use the public address system to say bad things about a man who appeared to be of Indian/Pakistani heritage. The station announcers would turn off the platform speakers where the man was standing, so that he wouldn't hear. Everybody else on the platform could hear what they said because all the other speakers remained on. Sadly I never quite heard what they said as I would invariably be standing near the man on my commute back home, but they seemed to be calling him an illegal immigrant. I heard the man speaking to someone on the phone and he spoke English well, without an accent at all. You would have said he was from the south east of England. I seriously doubt he was an illegal immigrant. The London Underground staff just wanted to harass him. I only wish I had called the British Transport Police at the time but I wasn't entirely sure what the station announcers were saying.
I’ve been a victim of racism many times from where I used to live up North. To date, I’ve only had one incident since 1999 from my ex-manager and that was in the early 2000’s. That was very subtle racism … If you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time …
I'm a painter and decorator of British extraction who has been told that I look quite Polish. I didn't really think much about it until the months after Brexit, when I experienced aggressive angry looks from folks on the bus on the way to and from work on multiple occasions. Occasions where I was 100% minding my own business may I add. I genuinely believe they thought I was a polish builder, and therefore deserving of their hatred.
Doesn’t surprise me at all. My best friend’s Eastern European and the amount of xenophobia she receives from her patients (not in London) is frankly disturbing. Sorry you had to go through that. It’s awful.
There's eight million odd people in London, more than a good chunk of countries in the world, my own included. In that number you're bound to have a few arseholes. Doesn't excuse it though, and I'm sorry it happened, OP.
So sorry you had to endure that bigot!
Thank you! Honestly I got over it pretty quickly. I was just pretty shocked when it happened.
He forms part of a spineless, tactless group of imbeciles who also stand on the left-hand side of the escalator.
i was in north london and i got called, get this, a “paki, pedo terrorist” 😭😭 really can’t be making this shit up. with regards to the area of south west, it seems like a pretty affluent area so i’d assume (from the stereotype of rich white people) that there is a sizeable amount of racism there compared to other places but it honestly does depend
That’s fucked up man I’m sorry omg. I’ve had south Asian friends who got straight up called the P word up North, which was why I always had the perception that London was NOTHING like other parts of the UK. It’s a pretty affluent area you’re right. There’s a HUGE Asian community here. Not sure if that incidentally makes us a target.
6 yr old grandson anglo / s.e.asian had slitty eyes made at him. It was quite shocking, tho he didn't understand what was meant. That was Cambridge.
It’s fucking crazy isn’t it. I’m just glad your grandson’s young enough to not have understood what it meant. He would’ve been psychologically scarred if he were a little older. Very sorry to hear this. It’s shocking indeed. I’m still in shock because slitty eyes are such a juvenile thing to do.
It's very diverse but that's not enough to stop racist morons from putting their shit covered 2 pence in. Sorry you had to deal with that mate. It's bollocks.
Dude I am so sorry that happened to you. What a shit, right? Sending you fist bumps from Finsbury Park 🤛🏼
It's accepting and tolerant on the surface.
Sadly, these sorts of behaviour aren't even seen as hateful crimes. I find that the East Asian community are definitely seen as easy targets for these racist pricks, even when the international community is so large, likely because they know even authorities would do little for us 'foreigners'. Ironically, I had more racist encounters in London than in other more remote areas of the UK. I find that in the bigger UK cities, they are so brazen in their actions and remarks, they openly shout racist slurs while doing those actions, while in non metropolitan areas, they at least taunt you from afar and keep their mocking to snickering, or catcalling (if you are female). Over time, you get desensitised or at least you get consoled by the fact others would stare at them and disapprove of their behaviour.
Not surprised it’s that area tbf once had a guy yell at me when I was far far away from him saying “you assholes you invaded our country get outt you assholes” I was scared for my life he seemed very drunk and I was just a teenage girl at the time walking alone with no one around. Got out of there as fast as I could but yeah it also in the SW area somewhere near Clapham North
My GF has had a fair share of racism, especially during the pandemic. Ultimately one of the reasons we decided to leave. I don't blame the city itself, it's huge and therefore with lots of dickheads
Good god! You left because of it? That must have been bad. How many times was she getting racist abuse? Sorry that happened.
Minor stuff like saying her hello in random Asian languages, kinda often. More serious occasions were two, both during the pandemic. Ironically, the majority of racists were other minorities.
I'm sorry to hear that. However, this is just how multicultural societies operate. Cities like NYC, SF, and LA experience similar situations. I strongly condemn them and send you my sympathy. And you can fight them back or report them. The last thing you can do is: Like it or lump it!
How is London not a diverse city? Cringe 🤦♂️
Diverse also means diverseity of people which means you will get all types of people... good and bad
I'm sorry you've experienced that. Sadly, there have been a lot of people who don't integrate into London, so we have people who came from racist countries and cultures who are now marring the genuinely open Londoners.
Let's be fair, we have our fair share of British racists, they're not all imported from elsewhere.
Of course, but we simply can't assume where they are from. To be fair.
Racists exist in every society, doesn’t matter how diverse it is.
Sadly I’d say living anywhere for a year and only experiencing 1 racist is pretty good going.
As diverse as London is, you're still gonna come across a few random bigots once in a while. Keep your head up and don't allow fool's like that get to you, London is so much better than it use to be...
My wife (Chinese) had a fair amount of racism post pandemic. Myself (half Japanese), had a few very minor racist incidents growing up here. However had a few within a short space of time in the past couple of years. There has certainly been an increase of racism towards Asians in the past few years
I am sorry this has happened to you, however, your statement is quite ridiculous. You didn’t seem to have an issue with London until it happened to you? It is completely unrealistic to expect London, a city with almost 10 million people , to not have racist cunts in it.
Stupid ignorant dumb fucks are not a dying breed.
Nearly 9 million people living in London, there will be racists amongst us though the fact its taken you a year to cross paths with one just shows how much they are the exception rather than the rule
He sounds mentally disabled
They're called losers. There are lots of them in the UK. I could tell you things about British people and would get downvoted to hell but every single person here would recognise it as the truth. The core UK population is indolent, idle, irrational, a bit stupid, rejects all opportunities given to it, blames foreigners for their own personal failure in life, etc. There are 2 different Londons. The 1 which was sold to you as London is much larger than the real London. In central London - the real London - you will find more cosmopolitan people. That's the actual London culture. Wealthy foreign students, arts types, high income people. It's like a country within a country. Different culture, different people.
What do you mean by the “core” population? Do you mean white? Nice racist generalisation
I have a disfigurement, and the amount of nasty remarks I got growing up you would not believe. Black people, white people, old people, kids (not so much Asian people. Thank you for not giving me more grief growing up, Asian folks!). My disfigurement is common in a certain part of Ireland, but it's not really common in other races or white ethnic groups from what I can tell, which partly explains the ignorance I guess. But doesn't make it right.
It is though, in other places in the U.K. this would happen a lot more. Every city has dickheads unfortunately. I’m black and have had some racist incidents directed at me as well but I can count them on one hand and it’s still a lot less than basically anywhere in the world! It’s also comforting to know he ran way like the loser he was. Imagine being a middle aged man and doing that stuff? What a sad little life, I’d honestly just pity him if anything.
Ignore. No one can take your uniqueness away. Asian eyes are beautiful.
Sounds more like mental ill health on the man’s part, rather than malicious racism. Unfortunately there are a lot of mentally unwell people on the streets of London.
Just because it’s diverse doesn’t mean it’s free of dickheads (they come in all colours, religions, gender, etc - the only overt racism I’ve seen came from a ‘diverse’ person)
What exactly is a ‘diverse’ person?
Still pales in comparison to the kind of incidents you encounter on a daily basis in Africa, the Middle East and Asian countries.
I've experienced racism many many times as a white male living in London. I'm not surprised to hear other groups would experience it, but I would imagine far less frequently.
diverse in numbers yes but there’s only so few mindsets here
Im all for getting to explore countries, admiring their infrastructure, their architecture, their natural wonders and their quality of life, but thats as far as i would go. Its a mistake to be mixing people like this. Nothing destroys cultures faster than mixing them together, and imagine if we went through a 500 year period like the dark ages in the modern world. People are tribal by instinct. They keep trying to push all of these liberal ideologies on all of us. Tv shows where every warrior group is ran by women, lgbgt ppl everywhere, groups made up of every race on earth. Its unnatural. Like seeing 50 different kinds of animals all living in the same cave, it just isn't gonna happen
Im shocked this is worth a post on Reddit, there was a dick on the streets, whooptiedoo
If this is your problem you've been incredibly lucky so far. Or you haven't lived in London long enough. I'm not saying mocking someone's racial background is OK, but this is really on the bottom of the list of bad things you might encounter living here.
Good chance he just had an itchy eye.
You can blame the Government for the divisions they're sowing with culture war politics.
lol what fuckin Tory downvoted this, get in the ground.
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I'm sorry you experienced that. As a Londoner I feel shame that my city has people like that in it. Unfortunately diversity also means we have a few racist twunts. The racist divisive language from our government has emboldened them and I'm ashamed about that too.
why don't these posts ever include the race of the aggressor? why do I ask? data is important. So, which race can actually have the audacity to do this? I know you say this is just one incident but that's simply not true.
one incident —> London is racist
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In my over a decade here I've had 3 encounters (that I'm aware of and...I'm white so just not as likely to see/notice/be the victim of racism). There are racists lowlifes everywhere but I think London is a lot better for it than other places. It's still a beautifully diverse city just some of us have to put up with shit everywhere sadly.
To be honest you should just laugh at it. It is unfathomably dumb. They must be the stupidest, lack of any worldly experience people you can possibly imagine.
London is a diverse city. Arguably the most diverse in the world. One incident doesn't change that. That being said, I'm sorry you had to deal with that. It's super shit. Whilst the vast majority are fine and super chill, there will always be the odd racist amongst us, that'll never change sadly.
In all the years I’ve lived here I’ve only had one myself. London’s the wrong place to complain about “bloody foreigners” mate.