“Kischan you Asian!” is the phrase most likely to be heard during a sixth form “Asians against Caucasians” football match at my fairly innocuous school located just outside of London. Far from being a racist attack on Kischan, a good friend of mine, the word “Asian” merely replaces the need for a swear word which would in all likelihood cause more offence.
“Out of the way white boy!” is the second phrase most likely heard. Likewise the use of skin colour in any Asian’s verbal abuse is of no consequence.
How this tolerance came to be is not complicated. No government program or PSHE lessons on loving your fellow man can help, but instead the simple friendship that occurs between students does. The “us against them” attitude that exists towards teachers, policemen, and other authority figures allows for students of all different kinds to become bound in comradeship against the ever present evil of education.
Or at least, that’s how it seems.
On reflection, its more likely that after getting to know someone well enough, calling someone Asian, Jew, or White Boy became a commonplace observation rather than a verbal attack, much in the same way being called a lank or a short ass isn’t an attack on someone’s stature.
If you called someone an Asian, they couldn’t turn round and deny the fact, more likely they’d say “well….yeah” It became so normal that these words became greetings. Many of my classmates conversation’s began with “Cohen you big Jew,” or some similar introduction.
And all through these 4 years of total racial tolerance, my classmates have watched the world become increasingly less tolerant. Politically correct words and phrases are employed to mask a sub-racist feeling growing throughout the country. As immigration continues to rise, many schools in the south east are turning to an Asian majority and many parents are afraid, though they have nothing to fear.
The vast majority of students currently aged 15-18 view their racial counter parts with the same eye that one would view anyone else. The small suspicion that exists between teenagers today is applied to every individual, regardless of skin colour or nationality. As far as we’re concerned you are equally as likely to be beaten up by an Indian, Pakistani or Bengali teen as by a British, French or German teen.
It seems as we grow up, we find we are more tolerant than our fathers and grandfathers, and this can only be a good thing. People of different races and cultures may still have issues, but for now, my friends and I view our counterparts maybe not as brothers, but as equals.
And that is an encouraging thought.
Struan M Tyrrell is 18.
Thank you for posting this. I couldn’t agree more with you by the way. Well written article that isn’t full of foolishness but very good facts. It’s nice to see that there are people out there who are not biased. Keep up the good work.