London Riots – A youthful underclass

Published: August 11, 2011

CHALK Farm became one more of some unlikely places to be targeted by violent street protesters in the last few days.

It was also the scene of yet one more of those senseless killings of young people by their peers in recent months. What is it that connects these events?

The serious violent unrest we witnessed in London since Saturday has involved principally the urban poor, unemployed and restive. The majority of the protesters will have had the experience of being stopped and searched repeatedly by the police and would be aware of the number of deaths of black people in the custody of the police or while engaging with the police, typically with no action taken against those responsible for those killings.

It was always only a matter of time before the police use of “stop & search”, however justifiably, resulted in an incendiary incident such as we saw in Tottenham on August 6. 

The conditions for what followed have always been there.

They were there in 1981 and have been there since, however much underlying factors may have altered.

A failure of the political classes to acknowledge and own some responsibility for those systemic failings, coupled with their mindless depiction of the protesters as feral thugs, criminals, opportunistic thieves, and as not quite belonging among us has been one of the most tragic elements of this whole affair.

The focus on “criminals” and “thugs” and “ferocious beasts” might convey to the country the sense of outrage of those in government, it might even be used to usher in more draconian sentencing in order to teach those responsible a lesson and further to militarise the police (plastic bullets, water cannon and the rest). 

It will not displace or address the fact that we have created a growing underclass of young Brits who are imploding upon themselves and do not feel they owe any allegiance to a system that has steadily disenfranchised them and rendered them voiceless and without legitimate opportunities to exert power and influence. The consequences for them will no doubt be huge and life constraining, but they have demonstrated they are not powerless.

Rather than focusing on “criminality”, politicians should demonstrate not how tough they are prepared to be but how committed they are to social inclusion and promoting social justice, and finding ways of enabling the youthful future leaders to use their evident organisational skills and build a movement for social justice among the youths.
Professor Gus John
Institute of Education, Bloomsbury