Escape from the White City
The limits and possibilities of white towns and ghettos are
explored byBlack Britons every day. The physically and politically
restrictive effectsof racism are particularly apparent for the
non-white residents of all whiteareas. From Dover to Dundee, Asian,
Chinese and African Britons find themselveson the front line of the
on-going struggle for the liberation of urban spacefrom tedium and
fear.
"The streets look different if you're black", explained one
WestEssex Asian youth to the LPA, "in a white town at any moment,
anytime,you could get attacked, get abused, for no other reason
than the fact thatyou look a bit different. White people have no
idea how easy it is for them.They don't have to think. But I always
have to be so aware, so alert."
Such testimonies provide invaluable psychogeographical information
on thecontemporary experience of social oppression. Such data could
be used tomap the zones of racial hostility, as well as those of
integration and anti-racistresistance, within our towns and cities.
They could also be used to sensitisethe established
psychogeographical techniques of urban 'drifting' and 'diversion'to
the pervasive effects of racism on people's mobility and
environmentalperceptions.
The most insightful researchers in this are would necessarily be
Black Britons.However, no-one should be excluded from such
explorations. Indeed, eventhe dismal testimonies of white racists
could provide useful material onthe racial myths and boundaries
that thread their way through every street.
Further suggestions, and personal experiences, on this topic are
encouragedfrom readers.
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