I was desperate to avoid getting back involved in this debate (EU ref not wider racism) as, in my view, it’s passed but Ring of Steel in particular has been making suggestions that Brexit was a racist vote or harking back to the good old days of the empire, so I had to comment (even if this is going over old ground)
Firstly, I agree on two things, there is no doubt thick racists would’ve voted to leave. Secondly, the vote has coincided with a spike in racism as racists appear to feel emboldened by the result. This needs to be stamped out asap and hopefully football/fans can help to lead the way (unfortunately it’s not doing great at the moment)
In terms of the vote though I’d like to summarise for ring of steels benefit the variety of reasons people voted to leave. I have used the words ‘believe‘ or ‘belief’ as I’m not going to justify/argue against each individuals points merits as these are reasons why, not necessarily facts (I’ll start with those that may be considered ‘racist’ but I see as genuine/valid concerns, especially for the poorest in society)
The belief that uncontrolled net migration was having a negative impact of public services and housing.
The belief that uncontrolled net migration of unskilled workers was suppressing wages
The belief that the current immigration system was unfair...why have a points based/visa systems for skilled workers and or workers that may add more value to the country/economy from non EU nations (Africa, Asia, Australia, US etc) when pretty much anyone from the EU could come over unchallenged....unless you want more white than brown/black people !!! (Tongue in cheek !)
The lack of understanding of the benefits of being in the EU in comparison with the net £10bn - £12bn annual contributions. In particular how this works when other countries are members of the Euro
The belief that the EU were pushing towards an ever closer political union and whether we have opt outs or not, we were and would’ve continued to be on the periphery of the EU. Also the belief that many feel they never had a say in the choice of closer political union in the first place
The concerns over previous negative referendum results in other countries (France, Ireland and Denmark) which were ignored/rejected by the EU, showing a lack of a appreciation and concerns over publics views across Europe
The belief that being in the EU had had a negative affect on industries their local area relied upon ie fishing.
The belief that the status quo wasn’t working for them and their families and voting leave might offer change for the better
I’m sure there are others more personal to those who voted Leave but you get the gist !
Yes, undoubtedly racists voted for brexit but to say it was a racist vote is probably as much the cause of problem/the outcome of the vote as anything. Maybe if some of the genuine concerns of people had been listened to and/or addressed we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place.
If I’d turned around and said people only voted remain because of project fear and also big business manipulating the minds of voters as they wanted continued cheap labour, I’d be equally derided, so let’s just leave it there !
ps for the record half my team at work was Asian (mainly Indian), I have a number of black/Asian friends and spoken to various non white people on the subject (before and after the result), some voted remain some voted leave !