Tuesday 24 May 2016

Behind The Red Door

If 2016 was summed up in one all encompassing, dividing political and social issue it would be this: Immigration. Due to the seriousness of the Syrian refugee crisis this has become the make-or-break issue in many political campaigns throughout the year, spanning from the UK’s European Referendum to the United States’ Presidential Election to name but a few. It is a heated topic that sparks almost-furious debate from both sides of the political spectrum. Everyone has an opinion on the subject but few really know the consequences from personal first-hand experience what it is like to actually be a refugee.

Writing on the Wall have organised an event in reaction to this: Behind the Red Door. It is a panel consisting of Syrian Poet Maram Al-Masri, academic Linda McDowell CBE and Gambian exiled journalist Pa Modou Bojang. They will lead talks in exploring western societies response to the current refugee crisis use their own personal experiences to contextualise it. In turn they will ponder the question: What can history teach us?


In Middlesbrough asylum seekers have had their doors painted red. As a result of this a number of immigrants have been attacked, some repeatedly. Whether or not this action was intentional to single out asylum seekers from the rest of the community can be hotly debated, yet, intentional or not, the action begs the question: how has this affected the community at large? This type of ‘mark’ seems similar to the Jewish yellow star in the heyday of the Nazi party. A way to create an apartheid within the community.

When the Guardian is reporting that Britain is becoming more segregated than fifteen years ago we have to stand up and take notice. If segregation rises in line with immigration then surely this will breed mistrust and alienation between communities, if we cannot live with each other then how can we begin to understand one another? There seems to be an increasingly apparent objective by some to create a scapegoat for the problems within communities. Labour MP Chuka Umunna said it best: people respond to the challenges of the 21st century not by asking “how can we solve this problem together?” but by asking “who can we blame?”

Join us on 24th May at Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre
Tickets only £4/2 Available on the Door

By Tom Chivers

No comments:

Post a Comment