Priti Patel doesn't believe there's any racism in Britain

UN Photo / Ilyas Ahmed

Yesterday, Conservative MP Priti Patel was asked about the racism Meghan Markle has faced, on the BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show. Her response: “I’m not in that category at all where I believe there’s racism at all. I think we live in a great country, a great society, full of opportunity, where people of any background can get on in life.”

She continues: “As someone brought up in Britain, as someone from an immigrant background I think Britain is a country of tremendous opportunity. Everyone has a perception of what they read in the press, but I certainly don’t see that.”

Fascinating, as this statement is socially, economically, politically and environmentally incorrect.

We need to remember that Priti Patel was ‘accelerated’ into the cabinet because she’s British Asian - Crispin Blunt a Conservative MP confessed in an interview in 2017, solely because she would appeal to British Asian voters. She is used as a poster girl, when she isn't needed anymore, she will be dropped heavily back down on her knees to beg them for another chance. Like what happened, when she was made to resign for lying to Theresa May about secret meetings she had in Israel, she will again be easily removed from her position of power.

A few things I want to break down here. One - a Black woman’s experience will not be the same as an Asian woman, so she can’t speak for everyone’s experience from simply being a woman of colour.

What Patel can do is assume she’s had some privilege when it comes to racial politics.

The media have been in both their lives, albeit considerably differently - Markle had the Hollywood obsessed American media and Patel barely had UK political media discuss her infractions as an MP. Markle then moved from that to the UK where previously, the media’s obsession of the Royals led to the untimely death of her mother-in-law. Add race into this mix and we can’t even begin to imagine the experiences Markle has had.

Patel’s presumption that she can make a comparison of her life to that of a Black celebrity and member of Royalty is dumbfounding and yet, somehow believable from her past actions. Patel has never presented as a person with compassion or empathy.

Another note from her comment is when she claims people can “get on with life”. Her party actively stops people of colour - those with disabilities and low income - from surviving. This statement comes not only from the privilege she lives with, as a middle class Asian woman who has been hired as a lackey for the Conservative party, but as someone who has been allowed to make mistakes publicly, and be given a pass.

An article published for Buzzfeed shows the blatant racism Markle has faced, in comparison to Kate Middleton and the headlines speak for themselves.

And we still have people say “that’s not racism, maybe it’s because she’s American, maybe it’s because she doesn’t come from Royalty, maybe it’s because she’s an actor” and you watch them list off all aspects of her except for her Blackness - avoiding it as much as possible. Some feel that’s where the problem lies - the people who refuse to acknowledge her race, are the same people who vilify her for eating avocados. When her Blackness isn’t considered an aspect of her existence, it’s removing it as if it’s an embarrassment.

It’s easy for Patel to suggest there’s no racism, as she lives in the pockets of Conservatives, who are feeding her with the money and coverage she needs to survive.

And importantly, to look good. No one is muttering “log kya kahenge” about Patel, cos she’s making money, she’s a politician, she owns property and has a family. She’s a Conservative Asian, let’s not pretend some of us don’t have one of them in our families. She is the baddie in the Indian soap opera.

Patel’s sweeping statement rules out the Muslim people around the whole of England who have experienced a rise of hate crimes, months after an attack - even when it’s the result of a different country. Racist hate crime is again raised when Boris Johnson, our sorry excuse of a Prime Minister, decides to make another Islamophobic comment.

Even when we look at our immigration system, it enforces racism before anyone even enters the country - the system is unlawfully built to be near impossible, financially and bureaucratically, hence the need for illegal alternatives. Those who wish to come in need to be financially stable to pay for the whole elongated and confusing process, hire legal aid, be proficient with British law, have a job (it’s hard for me to even get a part time job in admin, and I was born in this mess of a country) and so on.

And those who attempt to come in illegally, in order to bypass this ridiculous system, get put into detention centres indefinitely. It’s in these detention centres where people die. Some people have been in these detention centres for years, on top the time spent of their criminal sentence (the crime is usually for being undocumented) and are given no definite date of release.

How is this racist? Immigration laws apply to everyone who wants to come into the country - including Europeans and they have faced a lot of discrimination in Britain. Polish people were beaten and killed after Brexit and, the villain of the piece Priti Patel, has made it harder for Romanian travellers to settle here by allowing police forces to immediately seize their homes.

And while these are the effects on Europeans, the history of this lies with people of colour. From immigration through slavery and colonisation, laws have been put into place to restrict people of colour. The British are only comfortable when they can go on others land, not when people come to theirs.

There's absolutely no scope to suggest that racism doesn't exist in Britain.

Racism isn't just p*ki yelled across the street, followed by “go back to your country” - it's being told that you are different. It's being made uncomfortable when someone finds out where you're from. It's walking into a pub and feeling all eyes on you. It's walking quickly around remote areas of England 'just in case'.

Britain has a history of validating racial politics for power and land ownership. You can’t deny that. Britain has a racist past and racism still flows in its rivers.