What follows was not written by a member of the British National Party or other "white supremacist" group. The author is Terry Tan, a Singaporean Chinese who has lived and worked in Britain for many years. In 1992 he wrote Culture Shock: Britain, part of the Culture Shock series.
Mr. Tan's book takes a fair, balanced and usually accurate look at life in contemporary Britain. He presents a thoughtful consideration of the racial conflicts found in Britain then, which are still evident now. Included is an assessment of the problems of the black community, which comprises, for the most part, people of Caribbean origin. The comments would apply equally to the black Caribbean ghettos of Toronto and New York. Parenthetical additions are mine.
One in three Caribbean families in Britain has a single parent. As incomplete nuclear families, misdemeanours occur frequently among the restless young who have little parental guidance. At a gathering of hundreds of thousands [e.g. London's Notting Hill Carnival or Toronto's Caribana] where beer flows and the spirit is high, restless youth can boil over easily.
When the family breaks down, troubles snowball and drugs take vicious hold of many black communities. Council [public or social] housing estates with a preponderance of single [i.e. single parent] families are particularly susceptible.
Most addicts are young, black and are not particular who they steal from and mug. The daily "fix" is their raison d'être and no one is spared. Family, friends, neighbours, white or black.
Black community leaders remain tight-lipped about the problem and any drug raids are seen as harassment by white policement....
Unfortunately, unlike in the Caribbean where extended families embrace single parents without reprobation, it is not the same case in Britain. A youngster growing up in a disruptive environment is likely to view society with scepticism and some anger.
In his book Behind the Front Lines -- Journey into Afro Britain, Ferdinand Dennis...concluded one thing. Black leaders must demand that their communities take greater responsibility for their own development. Only then will the crisis of all black famililes in Britain be recognized. Only then will cries of white harassment and other imagined putdowns be seen in their true light of racism-fanning.
Senator Daniel Moynihan said something similar about the Afro-American family way back in 1965. Almost half a century has passed, and the situation of blacks in the USA, Britain and Canada remains largely unchanged.
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