Fear and hatred on the streets of Luton??

Yet another story -- in the Sunday Times tomorrow on this occasion --  that seeks to understand what is going on here. I guess it sells newspapers and keeps them in business and a lot of people employed, but the article really just tells the story so far with a few new twists. To be honest though, having watched, commented on and analysed what is going on since March 10th it is yet again a sensationalised version of events.

Fear and hatred on the streets of Luton   "When troops returning from Iraq marched through Luton, all hell broke loose. Muslims protested, white residents rioted and the Sikh mayor was viciously attacked. Can this multicultural community ever find peace — or is this eruption of long-simmering tensions a sign of even worse to come?"

Once again I sometimes barely recognise the town where I myself am spending most of my time working to bring peace and understanding around this very issue. These have been troubling times, but the dramatic language belies the reality. I spent most of the day today in Bury Park; so did my wife. We were not always together. I had no worries. The sun was shining, people were happy and happy to talk. 

We were meeting to work on opposing extremism. Muslims, other faith leaders, town councillors, unionists. It wa sgood - more soon. We have met before for other events. Christians and Muslims call for Peace in Luton   Does anything get said about that. No.

But, of course, the rest of the world knew little of the long, slow-simmering tensions in the town and its struggle for harmony — community cohesion, in the jargon of the age — over many years, during which its mix of race and culture has become increasingly diverse. It’s a story of our times — the struggle for all of us, with our varieties of races and religions, to accept our differences and live peacefully together, and the tricky balance of competing freedoms of expression: the freedom to march, the freedom to protest, the right to be free from religious or racial hatred or harassment. “I’m not a racist, but…” one middle- aged white man in Luton told me, “…if they don’t like it here, why don’t they piss off home?”

The article is true at one level, but certainly not the whole truth. Why don't they talk to the people are working their guts out to change all this, and are actually hopeful?  Why does it seem they are they so set to make the problem worse? 

This is the latest in a series of posts focusing on the issues currently being worked out in Luton. For the full list of posts see Seeking Peace in Luton - and Multicultural UK