Southmead Panorama Easton

bristol | community | opinion/analysis Saturday October 24, 2009 22:59 by John Serpico

A week ago the BBC showed a Panorama programme about Southmead estate which drew comments from all kinds of people on blogs and websites. Here on Bristol Indymedia the announcement of the programme came with the title ‘Panorama tonight about Bristol’s racist housing estate.’ This in itself drew a variety of comments.

I’m actually from Southmead, born and bred there, so I’m a ‘Meader’. I went to school there. My family live there and there is no avoiding the fact that Southmead has formed and informed me. I understand Southmead. I understand what Southmead is, where it stands in the scheme of things and how it affects everyone living there or coming from there. I understand how coming from Southmead has had an effect upon my whole path through life, be it in a good way and be it in a bad way.
But how ever much people think it might be, Southmead is not just one-sided and it is not made up of just one type of person. How ever people try to depict Southmead and other similar estates as being populated by an underclass, or chavs, racists or even ‘scum’, Southmead is actually myriad and diverse. Obviously, Meaders share a commonality but that is essentially the fact that we are all from Southmead. It’s as simple as that. Although not a tight-knit community, it’s hard to go unrecognised there because it has only two main shopping areas – Southmead Road and Arnside – and most residents pass through these areas regularly. We’re not all totally class conscious but a large number of us know that we have been born into disadvantage – socially, educationally and economically. There are certain traits that we share too, some good, some bad and some funny. A lot of us are suspicious and resentful of authority, be it the police, social workers, council or government - and in that respect we are natural born anarchists. A lot of us talk gurt dead funny. A lot of us are easy with our fists. Yes, we can be violent but one trait we absolutely do not share is racism. There are issues of race to be dealt with in Southmead, particularly around education and housing but these are relatively new problems that have been laid upon Southmead that people are still struggling to deal with. Of course there are some racists in Southmead as there are in every community but not on any significant scale at all.
I admit, I’ve witnessed all kinds of violence in Southmead, from battered children and women, to hedgehogs being burnt alive to really violent fighting in pubs. But – as I wrote in the comments of the original ‘article’ – I’ve seen worse in Easton.
When I originally moved to Easton, friends and family wondered why, seeing it as a step down from Southmead. Being a natural born anarchist I naturally got involved with the community, from helping my neighbours, through to Kebele, to Easton Community Centre and all points between. I reckon I got to know Easton pretty well and I really like the place. But I’ve also seen the corruption; I’ve seen how the middle class and University educated try to manage the area. I’ve seen the institutionalised racism and the negative impact of positive discrimination. I’ve seen racism on the streets and really, to pretend it isn’t there serves nobody any good at all. And I’ve seen the violence, at times being quite taken aback by it. Vicious, unflinching, cold violence. From adults, to teenagers, right down to school children. To those who have not witnessed it, I can only say that they have been lucky. Personally, I have known people who have been mugged for being easy prey, others who have been mugged and then stabbed for no reason, others who have just been stabbed and yet not mugged. I have seen people violently terrorised by school children. I have known people be shot, stabbed and punched to death in Easton and to be honest, the violence in Southmead just doesn’t compare. How ever much people might think that Easton is mainly Asian, it is actually myriad and diverse but in a different way to how Southmead is. There is no main shared commonality in the fact that people are living in the same area. Most Easton residents are strangers to each other. Any shared traits are mainly held in social and religious groupings.
The two Panorama reporters could have entered into any community and found similar problems to what they found in Southmead – and much worse. That’s not to defend what was shown but it’s obvious that they actively sought it out and lo and behold, they found it. Batook Pandya of SARI could have sent them anywhere in Bristol to get what they wanted. I used to know Batook and I suspect he is aware of this too. I suspect that he is also aware that much worse could have been found in Easton, although he would never have suggested this to Panorama as it would have been way too controversial. When the issue is clear cut such as white working class people being racist and violent against people of colour it ticks all the boxes and is easily digested. It suggests a clear problem, defining perpetrators and victims. If Easton was to be looked at, the same problems would in all probability be easily found (particularly if the reporters deliberately walked past gangs of kids and then hung around whilst those kids made sport of them) although it would not be so clear cut, as the insults and violence would be coming from Asian, Somali, Afro-Caribbean – as well as white youth.
I’m tired and bored of the demonization of such places as Southmead. I’m tired and bored of such free use of terms such as ‘sink estate’ when describing places like Southmead. I’m tired and bored of such free use of terms such as ‘chav’ or ‘underclass’ when describing residents of places like Southmead.
Something very weird is going on in British society where the favoured, so-called progressive societal model is presumed to be the middle class one. People are clambering to get on board or clinging to stay on board. Those who are not educated or socially sophisticated enough to climb up and get on board are being abandoned and cast as a self-imposed problem. Labelled, demonised, stigmatised. Chavved.
One of the problems that I personally have with Southmead is why people there continue to take this rubbish? It’s all well and good people saying that Southmead residents should sort out the anti-social elements in their community but I say it’s about time Southmead residents started to sort out those who maintain the whole status quo. I say it’s about time they began demanding instead of asking. I say it’s about time they began assisting in the destruction of the systems that perpetuate and maintain inequality and unfairness.
Society may well be fractured and people atomised but hope lies in just one person at a time simply standing up and saying ‘No’.