I think this warrants a separate thread to the EU Referendum debate, not least because the vast majority of both Leave and Remain voters are perfectly decent people with no prejudices against those of immigrant origin. This is a discrete phenomenon which has been given legitimacy by the Leave victory but has now taken terrifying shape.
For those that are not aware, 5 days into Brexit Britain, the UK has been experiencing a monumental explosion of xenophobia, directed not only at Muslims and other non-whites (as has unfortunately been the case for some time), but now also against Poles, Italians, Germans, Spanish, and in one particularly bizarre report, Scots living in England. There barely seems to be anywhere in Britain without multiple reports of immigrants being told to 'pack their bags' or asked 'when are you going home?' by a stranger, and in schools across the country immigrant children have been subjected to jeers, heckles, graffiti and physical attacks by other students who have previously been their friends. And that's at the lowest level. Above that, there have been too many protests to count in town centres and beside motorways with banners saying 'P***s go home', 'begin repatriation', 'make Britain white again', with groups of Neo-Nazis marching through central London and other cities chanting about sending home Poles, and threatening gay people to boot (it being Gay Pride week at the moment). Immigrants of all ages, and indeed native Brits of immigrant origin are being shouted at, threatened, and totally ostracised by neighbours with whom they never had any problems before this week: again I stress, not just Muslims but also Germans, French, Spanish and North Americans. Many thousands of people are scared to go out in the streets. And there have now been several instances of actual violence beyond the schoolyard, most recently a firebomb attack.
To give you an idea of what I am talking about:
http://usuncut.com/world/muslim-butc...e-petrol-bomb/
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entr...b08d2c56396075
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...tain?CMP=fb_gu
https://www.facebook.com/Post-Ref-Ra...5471743181923/
The incidents are not just confined to majority Leave areas of England but have been reported all over the country, including some of the most pro-Remain areas. My cousin, an Oxford postgrad from the USA, was himself verbally abused by a man who he confronted telling an Indian immigrant to 'go back to his country'. We've already had Jo Cox shot in the broad daylight in the street and I would not be surprised if there were more deaths to follow before the end of the Summer. I am a little worried since I was confused for a Muslim on the grounds of appearance not long ago (in an entirely non-xenophobic context I should say) so I won't be too surprised if I have my own incident to report. Putting the referendum to one side, walking down the street right now in Britain is not a pleasant experience for anyone of non-white appearance, and God help you if you are heard speaking a foreign language: this is not any kind of United Kingdom that I recognise, it's like the Britain that my immigrant grandparents arrived in during the 1950s. If they were alive to see this right now they would be truly heartbroken. I will finish up with this video of what life is like right now for even some white, middle class, Western European immigrants:
http://www.lbc.co.uk/im-so-scared-no...n-tears-132971