**************************************** Goanet needs your participation to grow. Post your comments, views, queries and inputs to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************Whether the case of Berna Cruz is racism or not, we need to protest about the case to the respective authority in US and US Embassies.
It will be much appreciated if any Goanetter in Canada, could interview Berna Cruz and get the real facts from Berna then we could plan a mass protest by email and by other mode of communications. If Goanetters agree then we plan this protest in US and other countries, so that cases like this could be minimised. Cip Fernandes UK -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Eddie D'Sa Sent: 16 February 2003 18:11 To: GoaNet Subject: [Goanet] Racism in UK - what they say UK RACISM - what they say Introduction The case of Berna Cruz is a painful reminder that the kind of response you get in the West is often determined by skin colour. Many people of colour have had their share of bigotry, racial abuse or even attacks from white individuals but by far the more insidious form is state racism - experienced within the government services: immigration, police, courts, prisons. State racism never goes - the West requires it as an instrument of social control of the minorities settled there. Britain has been called the home of racism and it has been exported to other Anglo countries like North America, Australia & NZ. In fact these countries have regular meetings to coordinate their policies in regard to immigration & asylum. 400 years ago, English Queen Elizabeth I expressed dismay to find a number of blacks living in London. They had been dumped there by the owners of slave ships. The good Queen didn't condemn the slave trade but in 1601, she issued a decree ordering that the blacks be deported. Little has changed since. Non-Europeans have never been really welcome in Britain and they have had to put up with much race hate and discrimination. WHAT THEY SAY 1. "Racism is an integral part of our culture - of the sense of Britishness. It is a pervasive atmosphere, endemic within the body (politic), so that to threaten racism is to threaten the stability of the unjust order of which it is a central part." _____ (Anglican activist) Kenneth Leech, "Struggle in Babylon" (Sheldon Press 1988) 2. "Racism is an integral part of western culture, especially in the English speaking countries. It should not be seen as a deviancy from the norms of the culture but central to it." ____ S. Fernando, "Mental Health, Race & Culture" (Macmillan 1991) 3. "Britain must a) take action to stop racial violence, b) introduce laws banning racist organisations, c) improve police training & equipment to deal with race attacks, d) address discrimination against non-whites in employment and housing." ____ UN Committee on Race Discrimination, 1993 4. "A large number of manifestations of racism and racially motivated incidents directed against ethnic minorities continue to occur. Police brutality appears to affect members of minority groups disproportionately.allegations of police brutality are reportedly not vigorously investigated and the perpetrators not appropriately punished." ____ UN Report on Race Discrimination, 1996 5. "Racism in this country is institutionalised, widespread and routine. The UN comments on the government's failure to address racist attacks, police brutality, discrimination in employment, education, housing and criminal justice are right on target". ____ John Wadham, Director of Civil Liberties group,1996 6. "Every day, new incidents of racial harassment or violence are reported to the police. So many people's lives are ruined by the constant threats and abuse they receive because of the colour of their skin." ____ Jack Straw (Home Secretary), CRE Quarterly, Summer 97 7. "Racism exists within all organisations and institutions. it infiltrates the community and starts among the very young." ___ William Macpherson Report on The Stephen Lawrence inquiry (1999) 8. "Racism is deeply embedded in our culture - from the pub joke to the fire bomb that goes through the British Asian's family door on a council estate. There's still far too much racism and there's no point denying it." ___ Peter Hain (Foreign Office Minister), Independent (Oct 2000) 9. Institutional racism is still systemic in Britain's police forces, politics and the media.deaths in custody are disproportionately high for ethnic minorities. (there are) consistent inflammatory attacks on migrants and asylum seekers to the UK. ____ Report from the 43-nation Council of Europe (April 2001) 10. "I unreservedly accept the finding that as an organization, the Crown Prosecution Service has been institutionally racist." ____ David Calvert-Smith, Director of Public Prosecutions (July 2001) In late 2000, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Race Discrimination (CERD) condemned Britain for the third time for continuing racism: number of racist attacks, stop & search police practices, immigration and asylum policies, poor representation of minorities in public life. 11. Dr Wilfred Wood, (black) Bishop of Croydon (January/March 2000): "Blacks may be in the society but they are not part of the society." 12. Dr A Sivanandan, Director: Institute of Race Relations (Jan 2000): "It is the state that sets the tone of race relations in society. By refusing to outlaw racism within its own structures, the state gives a fillip to popular racism and contaminates civil society. It is the racism of the state that needs to be addressed first." 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