A meeting with Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, centers on a remark that Muslims are the problem while implying acceptance for those who speak English. A political movement associated with him, Pegida, failed quickly, but the underlying idea persisted that rightwing men judge whether black and brown people are acceptable in Britain. That notion has intensified over the following decade, culminating in a gathering that called for re-migration of British Muslims, described as ethnic cleansing. A more respectable rightwing media approach is then presented as launching a similar assault, targeting Misan Harriman, a prominent black cultural figure whose work includes widely shared images from Black Lives Matter protests and Holocaust-related photography.
"“It’s the Muslims that are a problem,” he said to me. “But you’re all right. You speak English. You’re like us.” Never has something intended as a compliment been so utterly offensive. Pegida died quickly. But the sentiment stayed with me — the idea that rightwing men are the arbiters of whether black and brown British people are an acceptable presence in our own country."
"“Meanwhile, a more rarefied, superficially respectable group is launching a gentrified version of a similar sort of assault. Unlikely to be found fraternising with union-jack clad Robinson fans, their weapon of choice is the rightwing media and their current target is Misan Harriman.”"
"“Robinson and his followers gathered to launch an attack of unprecedented viciousness against British Muslims, calling for re-migration — an idea otherwise known as ethnic cleansing.”"
"“Harriman is a popular figure on social media and in British cultural life. Oscar-nominated for his film The After, he became the first black man to shoot the cover of British Vogue, and his images of the Black Lives Matter protests went viral and then global, becoming the starting point for a documentary film Shoot the People.”"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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