Dear Miss Birbalsingh,

I am writing to you to prove your opinions on the riots wrong and suggest that many other factors could be linked to this event. As a reader, I strongly disagree with your opinion, which seems to imply that crime is a constant theme for black people. I believe the issue of the riots has given you an opportunity to attack the black community for making a stand against the corruption of the government and the police force.

You openly state your prejudiced assumption that Mark Duggan is of black origin prior to you finding out he was black. This indicates to me that you had already prejudged black people in a negative way. No wonder, then, that you ‘knew instinctively that black youths once again have set London alight’ because, for you, crime can only be committed by black people. In a time where racial discrimination is at an all-time high, it is incredibly unethical to stereotype one race and deem all blacks criminals.

On reading your article, I notice you highlight that some kids that you used to teach are incredibly angry. The surprising thing is you do not seem to be empathetic or sympathetic to the traumatic impact of the event itself. Instead you pose the question, “What are they angry about?” Historically for hundreds of years blacks have been subjected to horrible treatment. You must also remember that it was only sixty years ago that racism in America was at an all-time high. This similarly relates to the events that have gone on in our very own nation, which is highlighted in the Notting Hill riots and the Brixton riots of the 1980s. You ask, why are they angry? Think to yourself that if you have been treated as a second-class citizen for decades would you not be angry too? For some blacks this may remind them of this, hence there will inevitably be anger when a happening such as this occurs: given the historical background, we should realize that an event like this can cause high tensions.

Another problem that seems to cause high tension is the police. You seem to think that there is no problem with the police force at all, however, the fact that there has been three hundred thirty three black deaths in police custody since 1998 suggests that there is an issue that needs to be looked at. Above all, the fact that it seems that there are still no properly functioning systems of accountability for the police is a huge issue. There is some justification to allegations that the Met police is institutionally racist. The fact that it took many years to solve the Stephen Lawrence case has proven this. The case is one of the most important in the modern history of the British criminal justice system, having created inquiries, reforms of the police and challenges to racial attitudes in Britain as a whole. The key issue here, however, is that the Met Police have a history of ignoring cases related to racial incidents.

In the following paragraph you then start to justify your argument that black people are criminals according to Met Police statistics. For example, with Mark Duggan being in an apparent shoot-out with the police. Yet your argument contains no evidence to prove if he actually fired the shots at the police. This is highlighted by the quote, “Either Duggan was shooting at the police or the driver of the minicab was”. You then go on to suggest that the police did not kill the man in cold blood. However, a crucial detail is missing. We as the readers never actually find out the ethnicity of the cab driver. Was he also black or was he white? You have done this deliberately in order to focus the attention on Mark Duggan and the fact that he is black and an apparent criminal.

Another big contributing factor to the riots could have been the high poverty and large unemployment; this could have been yet another reason why people were taking to the streets. Haringey, the borough that includes Tottenham, has the fourth highest level of child poverty in London and an unemployment rate of 8.8% which is double the national average, with one vacancy for every 54 people seeking work in the borough. This therefore tells us that the riots were not about race but about other factors that made people from specific boroughs stand up and fight for their rights.

To conclude, your argument that the riots were caused by black people is wholly unacceptable. There is no tangible evidence to back up this claim. The majority of your article is biased and does not provide an outlook from both sides but only from one. If blacks are only to blame and are really bad then why do we not do more to prevent this? Why don’t we ask ourselves why one part of our society is growing frustrated day in day out? These points need to be addressed. It is people and articles like you that promote ethnic tensions and promote racial hatred, where we should all be doing more to stop it.

Regards,

M Petrovic