Hastings Stand Up To Racism's National Day Of Protest on August 10 2024 in Robertson Street. The event took place from 12.00.
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00:00And last weekend we saw the worst race riots, pogroms really, for decades. Two hotels housing
00:22people seeking asylum attacked and set on fire in Rotherham and in Tamworth and in Middlesbrough
00:29and Hull. It's not been really on the news as much as it should have been. Mobs of racists
00:35were stopping cars and checking the occupants and dragging out people who were black and
00:40brown and beating them up. We were back into a situation that I read about in the history
00:45books in the southern states of America in the 1950s of lynch mobs and lynchings and
00:49that was the atmosphere a week ago, I think. Remember, all whipped up by the far right
00:55and fascist groups on social media and so on and all of them fired up by the success
01:02of Nigel Farage and various right-wing politicians who've been pumping out a racist narrative
01:10for a very long time. So there was real fear, wasn't there? Can you remember last Wednesday
01:15when there were all these threats, including in Hastings, of an attack on immigration solicitors
01:22and refugee centres? Real fear. People going home early, people not coming out at all.
01:28But I have to say on Wednesday night, and we were part of that, on Wednesday night the
01:32fear changed sides. The fear changed sides because tens of thousands of people came out
01:37onto the streets to say we're not having it, we're not having racist thugs on our streets
01:41and we did that in Hastings, just round the corner, just up the road, when up to a thousand
01:46people, there's some dispute about the numbers, more than 500, less than a thousand, take
01:50your pick, came out and said the racists were not welcome here and if they turned up
01:56they were completely outnumbered and we were part of changing the mood in this country
02:00I think. It's a very different country now to what it was a week ago. Look, I'm chairing,
02:05I'm not supposed to be speaking. My name by the way is Simon Hester, I am the chair of
02:11Hastings and District Trade Union Council and the Secretary of Hastings stand up to
02:16racism. But I think we should try and capture some of the spirit of last Wednesday night
02:21so I hope you're going to join me in a bit of audience participation when I start saying
02:28say it loud, say it clear. Refugees are welcome here. Say it loud, say it clear. Refugees
02:35are welcome here. Say it loud, say it clear. Refugees are welcome here.
02:42So I would like to reflect on how we got here and I would trace it back to starting
02:48well over 20 years ago with the war on terror. I think starting with the Gulf War really
02:53but 20 years ago this country was involved with invading Afghanistan, 20 years of occupation,
03:00it's a country that I've personally visited 10 times over the last 20 years and then we
03:05had the war in Iraq, a million people killed and the country plunged into civil war. Across
03:10the Middle East Britain's been involved with wars, destabilising countries, taking advantage
03:16of war materials and then we blame the people who are fleeing those wars and persecution
03:20who are coming over here on boats. And instead of looking at the 14 years of austerity which
03:25our government, our Tory government inflicted on the poorest communities within this country
03:31which has been fuelling or whipping up the hatred and resentment towards immigrants and
03:35refugees coming over. I've seen first hand as the deputy leader of the council how that
03:40has really torn apart some of our poorest communities. As the councillor for Hollington,
03:45one of the most deprived areas of the country, I can see resentment around waiting lists,
03:50GP waiting lists, housing crisis. Across the country people are really angry about the
03:56state of austerity and the way people are having to live now, dependent on food banks.
04:01The cost of living crisis is equally to blame.
04:04By the organised racist and Islamic phobic acts of violence that we've seen in our towns
04:09and cities across the country over the past week. And our town was named on a far right
04:15target list, a threat designed to intimidate and cause terror within our local communities
04:21of colour, Muslims, refugees and migrants and create division among us. Fortunately
04:28that threat did not come to pass. Instead on Wednesday hundreds turned out in peaceful
04:33solidarity and I'm grateful to you all. Now I have received some criticism for calling
04:40alongside our MP and faith and community leaders for people not to come out on Wednesday for
04:45their own safety and I make no apologies for that. It was a hard decision but I wish I
04:50could have been with you on Wednesday and I'm glad it turned into such a joyous and
04:55pleasant occasion and the far right threat did not materialise. However there was credible
05:00intelligence and our police would have been incredibly stretched if that had materialised.
05:05So I think we're as a community, we're going to have to continue to keep showing up and
05:11demonstrating that this vocal minority who have been stirred up and encouraged by the
05:17language of some of our politicians do not represent this country or this town.
05:26I am proud that Hastings is a community of sanctuary and embraces people of all races
05:39and all faiths who have enriched our town with their energy and their skills and their
05:44culture and I also want to thank our police and emergency services who are working to
05:50protect our communities and all our volunteer organisations and individuals who are working
05:56to make sure that division and hatred doesn't spread. I was on a call yesterday with leaders
06:03from across the country sharing practice and best ideas about how we as council leaders
06:10can make sure we don't allow this to spread and we do spread tolerance and understanding
06:17and I think we need to do a huge amount of work. Austerity has been blamed, it's really
06:25the cause of all this and the fact that our politicians have used migrants as scapegoats
06:30and have allowed that language of blame to spread and to be considered okay. I think
06:38we need to be challenging our politicians who spread that language and also to tackle
06:44the social media outlets that are allowing this hate to spread. So thank you again.
06:56I wanted to start by saying thank you to all of the officers, the police officers, everybody
07:00who's been dealing with all of this issue since it kicked on.
07:04Thank you. And then I wanted to say Marcello to everybody that's come out today standing
07:14shoulder to shoulder, side by side, pure community spirit, pure unbreakable community spirit
07:21showing that we won't be divided and that there is strength in solidarity. When we stand
07:28together we are undefeatable. And it's so important that we continue to build on these
07:37community bonds and keep strengthening this and keep meeting and keep this dialogue open
07:42and keep engaging with one another. One thing that I really wanted to speak about is that
07:48these weren't protests. These weren't people coming out with an agenda and diplomatically
07:54trying to fight for a difference. This was a riot, or these were riots, and this was
07:59terrorism. Targeting and planning an attack on a food bank is not patriotism, it's terrorism.
08:05Targeting and planning an attack on a library is not patriotism, it's terrorism. Targeting
08:11and planning an attack on a police station is not patriotism, it's terrorism.
08:17Until we start recognising it for what it is in terrorism, we won't get the policing
08:24that is required to deal with these criminals. And these criminals need to be dealt with
08:28in a long and lasting way. This needs to be known, this is not acceptable. Politicians
08:33like Nigel Farage need to be held accountable. He broke six of the seven ministerial codes
08:40of practice when acting how he acted, and he needs to be held accountable for that.
08:44More than him, but mainly him. The Greens stand hard against fascism, anti-Semitism,
08:51Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination and hate. It's not tolerated by the party,
08:57and it's not tolerated in this country. And we need to have strong politicians that fight
09:01for that justice, not for the division that Nigel Farage fights for.
09:14I'll leave it on this last point because my hands are starting to shake a bit too much.
09:18It is long we've been told that if we can't change things with our actions, we must change
09:22things with our words. This is a time where our words matter, and we need to be changing
09:27things for the better with our words, not for the worse. By actions or words, this must
09:32be done.
09:34So my name is Lily Kim. I'm a community organizer and a musician. I've called this town my home
09:50for 15 years now. I am the daughter of a wonderful white English woman who is here, and also
10:01a Korean immigrant. So I'm speaking from that place today. I'm so proud to be standing
10:10here with people who believe in racial, economic and social equality, who choose every day
10:16to lead their lives with compassion and awareness. Showing up is a sacrifice of mind, body, soul,
10:23money, and I would really like to acknowledge the toll that that takes, and especially on
10:30people from racialized communities. So thank you to those people that have come today and
10:34risked their safety.
10:43White nationalism hurts us all. If we share the load, the burden of responsibility doesn't
10:49fall to racialized communities that it hurts the most. The personal is political. This
10:57slogan was popularized by second wave feminism in the late 1960s, used in civil rights movements,
11:03student movements, and black power movements. We've all heard and maybe even said, I'm just
11:09not into politics. It's just too complicated. Respectful conversation is key to a compassionate
11:17society, but it's important to remember that it is a privilege to be able to intellectualize
11:22and debate issues around racism. It's remembering the duality of life, that your struggle matters,
11:30and also someone else's house is burning to the ground and needs putting out. Intersectionality
11:37is key to this movement. Coming together through all of our differences is vital. So often
11:44we lose the battle through virtues, virtue signaling brawls that use our valuable energy.
11:50We can all own our discomforts and unite under one oath of nurturing and protecting
11:55an anti-racist society. We need to understand and to normalize that flawed societal and
12:02political systems directly attack racialized communities, that the personal is political,
12:09that this imbalance affects us all regardless of our background. Now I want to talk about
12:15allyship. Most of us have heard the term and are hopefully working towards understanding
12:21how to be an ally. However, what I would like to see is more accomplices. While an ally
12:30is willing to stand in support of a marginalized voice, risk is rarely involved. An accomplice
12:36uses the power and privilege they have to challenge the status quo, often risking their
12:41physical and social well-being in the process. It's one thing to say you stand with us, and
12:47another thing to ask no questions when we say we need you, to simply say I'll be there.
12:54It's even better if we don't have to ask you. This means believing us when we say we're
13:00being attacked, to hold not only our emotions and needs but your own, sitting with us when
13:07we feel the sting of injustice. Ask yourself what your place in your community is. Do you
13:14have a skill? Can you think creatively and use that skill to fight racism and fascism?
13:20Don't be afraid to disrupt, to make mistakes. We're all learning. We're in uncharted waters.
13:28The world is burning and we need more firefighters.