Protests against a hotel housing refugees are set to hit Newquay next Saturday. (More details here). Activists from Cornwall have spoken out against those who claim it is not a racist protest. They explain why it is, and why so many groups in Cornwall are opposing it. Here is their statement:
It’s become so unfashionable to say that you’re a far-right racist, that far-right fascists don’t dare admit their true politics anymore. But saying you’re not racist doesn’t make you not racist!
So – here’s exactly why the protest called in Newquay is racist and why so many groups in Cornwall are opposing it!
If you judge a whole group of people based on the actions of a couple of individuals, because you don’t like where they’ve come from, then you are racist. If you call refugees “illegals” when they’re people fleeing persecution and war, then you’re racist. If you’re concerned about refugees because you don’t know their criminal backgrounds but you’re not asking the same question of the thousands of tourists that come to Cornwall every year, then you’re racist.
Blaming refugees for the problems caused by years of Tory rule and an entrenched class system is racist scapegoating. We don’t have affordable homes in Cornwall because rich people use them as second homes. 22.3% of all properties in Cornwall are second homes; 5% of homes in Newquay are second homes. These are the homes that we should be giving to unhoused people living on our streets. Our towns and villages are decimated in the winter, our shops close, and income dries up. Cornwall has become a playground for the rich, and those of us that live here are supposed to be grateful for being their serfs.
So, if you’re blaming refugees for the housing crisis and not the rich then you’re both a fascist and a class traitor.
If you’re saying Cornwall can’t cope with refugees because we only have one hospital, then you’re racist. There are 103 rooms in the hotel. But tens of thousands of tourists come to Cornwall, without the same outcry. Our NHS is on its knees. This isn’t the fault of refugees. This is the fault of the government deliberately starving it of oxygen in order to push a pro-privatisation agenda.If you don’t take the time to hear people’s stories, learn about why they came to the UK, and try to understand what they’ve been through, then you’re a racist. If you don’t realise that so many of the people seeking sanctuary here have had to flee because of the impact of British made bombs in their homeland – for example, the UK has sold £23bn of arms to Saudi Arabia to use in Yemen since 2015, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters – then you’re a naive racist.
And if you’re pushing a narrative that the UK should only be home to those that were born here, you’re a racist. If you think that the privilege of being born within certain lines drawn on a map gives you more rights than others, then you’re a racist. If you don’t have the courage to look at our colonial past and present, and realise that the UK has responsibility for so much of the conflict in the world that people are escaping, then you are, again, a coward and a racist.
Finally, if the only time you care about the safety of women and girls is when you can use our safety as a stick to beat refugees with, then you’re a mysoginistic racist. If you’ve never taken an interest in the huge number of women harassed and assaulted by drunk white men, but you suddenly care when there’s refugees involved, then you’re a racist. Oh and just for the record, women don’t need defending by idiotic white men itching for a fight – we’ve got this – we can fight back and defend ourselves.
THIS IS WHY WE ARE OPPOSING THE DEMO ON 25th FEBRUARY. THIS IS WHY WE WILL TAKE A STAND ON THE STREETS OF NEWQUAY AND SAY RACISTS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.
WE WILL NOT TOLERATE FASCISM ON OUR STREETS!
This is one of the “not racist” men who will be protesting on Saturday. He admits he is a former EDL activist and convicted Islamophobe. Real name David Hesketh
David “not a racist” Hesketh is a member of the facebook group “Newquay Female Protection Team”.
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