Racism and an Attack in Stroud

A violent incident took place in Stroud last Thursday, May 29 when a local Black street artist was verbally abused and set upon in Bank Gardens by five white youths at approximately 5:30 pm. The attack was witnessed by teens (who had just finished a theatre production at Landsdowne Hall)and were deeply distressed that they felt unprepared and unable to stop the attack.

It seems the police were alerted, but as far as we are aware there has been no further action by them. One of the teens’ mothers (herself a young woman racialised as ‘other’ in our majority ‘white’ town), visited Stroud police station to follow-up wishing to empower her daughter in making a witness statement. There was no official police report recorded, and the mother was later told on the phone that the police had no duty to tell her more, itself inexplicable and causing further upset.

Other incidents of racial violence and abuse have also come to our attention; a woman wearing a hijab was verbally assaulted on a public footpath; a local family have been subjected to consistent racial abuse, including excrement through the letterbox. Equally worth highlighting, folks perceived as ‘other’ are subject to a constant flow of subtler harmful behaviours; such as ‘microagressions’.

Racial violence in Stroud District appears to be on the rise against a backdrop of increasingly inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric by the UK government and local gains for the anti-immigration and far-right Reform Party of Nigel Farage. Expectations and trust in the police to pursue rate hate crimes is low.

SAR (Stroud Against Racism)is working with Co-Liberation to support the person abused along with other anti-racist local groups. We are hoping to expand the conversation to discuss ways forward as a community. Our aim is to ensure that people of colour, immigrants and refugees in Stroud feel protected and safe. And for the community as a whole to find a way to act in solidarity, as racism affects us all. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.

We would appreciate your feedback and suggestions as we plan action to address this issue in the weeks ahead. We will keep you updated as this develops.