The days of rioting across parts of the UK felt like a “war”, said Rev Israel Olofinjana, director of the Evangelical Alliance’s One People Commission.
Rev Olofinjana was one in every of several Christian leaders who joined a panel discussion on Friday exploring a few of the root causes behind the riots.
He said that the Church had a very important role to play in rebuilding communities within the wake of the unrest, and that a “key query” that should be answered is, “What does it mean to be British?”
Danny Webster, the Evangelical Alliance’s advocacy lead, said the riots had been a “wake-up call that perhaps every little thing’s not okay” within the nation’s communities, and that it was vital to hearken to people’s views on what lay behind the riots.
“It does not imply that we predict those are necessarily accurate or justified but it is crucial that we hearken to what people say is motivating the actions and to grasp why people might feel discomfort of their cultural context due to changes which will have taken place in England or across the United Kingdom,” he said.
He said that a “strand of hostility” towards immigration and particularly Islam and Muslims has developed inside Britain, and that the recent violence “shatters the illusions of harmony that we might need in our communities”.
Chine McDonald, Director of the theological think tank, Theos, said that the riots had been “shocking but not actually surprising”, and had delivered to the surface “the fact that many black and brown people experience, which is that folks don’t need us here”.
“There are certain groups of people who aren’t comfortable with the concept of multiculturalism,” she said.
McDonald, who was born in Nigeria and moved to Britain when she was 4, spoke of her experience of being asked “where are you actually from?” and said that there was a “visible difference that makes people think you should not British”.
“For many individuals, to be British and particularly to be English, is to be white,” she said.
She said that social media disinformation and “dangerous” political rhetoric had fuelled hostility towards immigrants, and that it was vital to inform the opposite side of the story, that many immigrants work for the NHS and the education sector, pay their taxes, and have “helped to construct this country”.
“If we could tell those stories more, then people would have far more positive views about immigrants,” she said.
“Part of the complication with this issue is that folks lump in all immigrants with illegal immigrants or with asylum seekers, who’re a really small proportion of immigrants. We’re being told a single story about what immigration is doing to us.
“The reality for many individuals within the UK [is that] they do not feel like they’ve access to education or can get a health care provider’s appointment, they do not feel like they have enough money of their pocket. So it’s easiest in charge someone for that.”
