Were the riots about race?Posted in Articles, Economics, Interviews, Law, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, Social Science, United Kingdom on 2012-01-01 18:57Z by Steven |
The Guardian
2011-12-08
Reading the Riots: Investigating England’s summer of disorder
In partnership with the London School of Economics
Supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Open Society Foundations
Hugh Muir, Diary Editor
Yemisi Adegoke, Freelance Journalist
Some commentators were quick to call them ‘race riots’, but the true picture was more complicated
Amid the chaos and confusion of this summer’s riots, a few commentators felt the benefit of certainty. “These riots were about race. Why ignore the fact?” chided the Telegraph columnist Katharine Birbalsingh. Abroad, there seemed no need for deeper reflection. “Over 150 arrested after London hit by huge race riots,” said one US business website. “Let’s talk about those race riots in London,” urged talkshow hosts in New Zealand. Those on the other side of the debate could appear just as certain. “This is not about race at all,” Max Wind-Cowie of the left-leaning thinktank Demos told the Huffington Post…
…Of the 270 rioters interviewed by the Guardian and the LSE, 50% were black, 27% were white, 18% of mixed race and 5% Asian…
Read the entire article here.