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BBC MUNDO RADIO
As I write this, I am watching BBC online coverage of London's tragic rioting.
So far, there has been no reported loss of life but pictures of massive damage, fires and looting are deeply disturbing. The riots began on Saturday after the police shooting death of a young black man, Mark Duggan, in the poor borough of Tottenham. Initially, there was a peaceful protest staged by his supporters but this soon spiralled out of control. It probably did so due to young black youths striking back at the oppressive tactics of police in the borough. Duggan's death was probably the final straw for them with regards to police behaviour.
Now, tragically, the violence has spread to other parts of the capital and even to other UK cities such as Birmingham. The poor youth of all races have taken the signal provided by Duggan's death to engage in the worst rioting Britain has seen for years.
Already there is discussion about the possible root causes of this rioting. The actions of racist police who are known to harrass young, poor black youths, sometimes unfairly through, for example, abusing their stop and search powers is said to be one possible cause. Another is the ongoing poverty and chronic unemployment experienced by young people, particularly in boroughs such as Tottenham. This situation has been exacerbated by the economic crisis that has engulfed the world since 2008. Ironically, this rioting occurs against the background of the renewed crisis for world capitalism in the form of the US debt downgrade. A renewed slide into recession for Britaincould well see youth unemployment become further entrenched in the areas which the rioting has touched.
Moreover, it is the poor of all races who are also suffering through the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition Government's budget cuts. Health, education and social service budgets have been severely trimmed back, especially in the poorest areas of Britain. The economic and social policies of the current government (combined with that of the former Labour Government) have served to worsen the situation of many poor Britons as employment opportunities diminish further.
Therefore, areas such as Tottenham were a powder keg waiting to go off with all the key ingredients - increasing police brutality, growing social inequality and government cuts - there.
Of course, I have heard the usual banging on already of the right-wing Tory law and order types who have seen these disturbances as the work of criminal hooligans. Of course, nobody should excuse the actions of the rioters but people should still seek to understand the causes of social disturbance. History tells us this. In fact, it is 30 years since the Brixton and Northern England riots of the Summer of 1981. Back then, the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher had instituted a similar regime of fiscal and economic austerity as part of moves to destroy the Keynesian Social Democratic consensus that had provided jobs for even the poorest Britons. Once unemployment began to escalate, however, social disturbance followed. I note that even some riot affected Britons today have made the link between government cuts and the disorder as I saw a BBC clip of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg being questioned by a man who essentially asked him "do we have to lock up our homes and fear more riots due to budget cuts?" Clegg answered no, but I beg to differ!
And Britons should only look across the Atlantic at how police brutality sparked off similar violence in the United States. Remember the Los Angeles riots of April 1992? These followed the acquittal of four LA police officers for assaulting a black man, Rodney King. As in London, much of the ethnic black and Latino populations of those cities lived in poverty and experienced police harrassment.
I hope, though, that the riots are quelled and the key antagonists arrested. However, this should be accompanied by the Tory-Lib Dem Government's reappraisal of their government cuts campaign and a commitment to ensuring that police inspired racism is firmly stamped out. Measures to assist the poor, such as benefit and wage increases, should also be instituted to reduce social inequality. Otherwise, the violence we have seen over the last few days will simply repeat itself if not in London, then in another part of the UK.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/london-wakes-up-to-weekend-s-riot-damage-in-totterham-26219630.html
Sehen Sie sich dieses großartige MSN-Video an: Krawalle in London: Mob randaliert in Tottenham
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