If you're just writing them off as natural racists and not bothering to even attempt to address or explain their economic woes, then don't be surprised that the far right gets an ear when they are providing a scapegoat and an explanation and proposing a solution.
I'd also add that the red wall narrative was massively overblown. Most of the North still comfortably voted Labour in 2019 and the Tories made in-roads into only a handful of seats, many of which (like Darlington, Bishop Auckland) have always had relatively strong Tory presence.
No, don't misrepresent what I'm saying because now you are. I agree with you about the systems relationship to the racism. What I disagree with is that the system has somehow created the racism in the first place. The system has given legitimacy to the racist views and ignited the anger, the system has facilitated an affective racial call to action. It has not created the racist views in the first place.
If I were to come at it backwards, if we had a socialist system where things were equal and just then the problem would be improved but the racist views would remain under the surface. They'd be calmed down rather than erradicated.
Why do you keep mentioning white british ? Two of the main streets leading into the town centre are almost completely different......in the range of things, no it doesn't matter but it's happened quickly and for some people it's hard to deal with. You seem to be trying to get me to say it's all about racism but it's not you know.....people have been let down by successive goverments, fast changes in the demographic of this place causes people to feel uneasy....i work in a smallish supermarket that services a very tight knit working class community so i hear a lot of chat about this issue and i have to say only a very small minority have a racist angle (have called people out if they do)
It wasn't a trick question, it was a legitimate one. I'm not trying to get you to say something that reveals you as an evil racist, I'm trying to figure out what the thing is that you are referring to.
Like this:
Two of the main streets leading into the town centre are almost completely different......in the range of things.
So you're referring to a load of ethnic supermarkets, eateries and people who are not "local" if you dont like the term white british? Thats a good thing no? You just want a British roast down the pub and fish and chips? You want a community where obtaining a plantain is like searching for gold? You want anglified Indian cooking sauces from Morrisons but nothing too exciting? Lincolnshire and Cumberland sausages please, none of these smoked Eastern European ones? Fake Mexican themed enchiladas in an Old El Paso box?
One of the things I've noticed about "communities rapidly changing" is that there is a lot of turning up of noses at "the foreign muck" rather than trying to appreciate the differences it brings. In fact, if you're a little bit hard up, the ethnic supermarket is a good place for you to go and if you embrace culture you'll often find that people from poorer countries often eat well in a financially efficient way.
My point is, embrace it, its a bloody good thing. Your community changing is not a bad thing.
You seem to be trying to get me to say it's all about racism but it's not you know
It gets very difficult to square this peg into the hole because this doesn't agree to many peoples experiences of racism. Racism often isn't seen in some extreme form, its usually more pervasive and that type of racism is very common. I come from an area very similar to you, so I know what you're talking about quite intimately and there is a lot of underlying prejudice and its been there my whole life. The last 14 years, especially since Brexit, has not created the problem, its merely brought it to the surface.
people have been let down by successive goverments,
Yes they have.
fast changes in the demographic of this place causes people to feel uneasy
Uneasy?
i work in a smallish supermarket that services a very tight knit working class community so i hear a lot of chat about this issue and i have to say only a very small minority have a racist angle (have called people out if they do)
Just because you don't overhear something overtly racist, or even potentially recognise the subtext, in a public space doesn't really mean much.
Why does that even matter to who? I'll tell you something, the amount of effort that goes into managing change at work, not 1% of that effort goes into managing the sort of change outside work even tho as we've seen people can be riled about it. How would you like it if one day your boss said there'd be a new software package next week and you'd better get with the programme? Yet you're saying that changes to where someone lives are of no concern to you and should be of no concern to them even when no explanations given, when businesses change to service new residents and familiar landmarks change. Frankly I'm thinking of the changes gentrification wreaks but precisely the same things happen with immigration.
I don't think your example is anywhere near equivelant, and a lot of places aren't exactly being gentrified and even if they were thats often not a result of immigration. If anything, if you're poor then immigration and the changes to the local landscape can serve your best interests as I pointed out above.