OK, racism in Britain. That's what I came to this thread for, this time.
I posted about the case of Zahid Mubarek yesterday. I've been digging in a bit more. I'll share an email I wrote about it at work:
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In the weekend, I was reading the Telegraph in Muvesz (because it's the only English-language paper they have), and came across the story of Zihad Mubarak, the Pakistani-British boy who was imprisoned for stealing razors and "interfering" with a car, and murdered by a racist, psychopath cellmate the day he was due to be released. A public inquiry report about the case was presented last week.
<snipped>
So I went to look for alternative [stories], and got a bit caught up in the story. It's a heartbreaking story - so heartbreaking that even
The Sun, in a story called "Shared Cells, Racist Hell", railed about racism, being the only paper I saw that
wrote that "the judge said there was "a real possibility" that prison officers entertained themselves with "gladiator games" - in which unsuited inmates were deliberately put together to provoke violence."
But it's also fascinating, mostly because it spurred such a variety of reactions. Everyone is outraged, but approaches the issue from a completely different perspective. That's unusual among the "set pieces" that tend to dominate politically-controversial news reporting.
Compare this overview:
- The Telegraph's editorial
Editorial: A racist murder waiting to happen
2006/06/30 · The Daily Telegraph
The litany of failure preceeding the murder of Zahid Mubarek in the Feltham Young Offender Institution disgraces the Prison Service. To put Mubarek, a petty thief, in a cell with Robert Stewart, a psychopath who wrote about "niggers" and "Paki bastards", was an act of idiocy. 19 of the staff - from the then governor down - were named in Justice Keith's report on the killing as having been derelict in their duties. The report also records a culture of racism among warders.
The missed danger signals that led to a brutal murder
2006/06/30 · The Guardian
In his report on the murder of Zahid Mubarek by his cellmate Robert Stewart, on the day he was to be released, Justice Keith concluded that many chances to spot the danger were missed. The inquiry identified 186 failings that were either institutional or by 19 named individuals. The report chided "a pernicious and dangerous cocktail of poor communications and shoddy work practices", and said that the prison was blighted by institutional racism and a casual disregard toward racism.
- The focus on (institutional) racism and Islamophobia
Zahid Mubarak
2006/06/29 · Black Information Link - The focus on the out-of-control imprisonment of juvenile delinquents
We shamefully fail our children by locking them up
2006/07/02 · The Observer
In Justice Keith's public inquiry into Zahid Mubarek's death, names were named, recommendations tabled, and future risks spelled out. One question, though, was neither asked nor answered. Why was he ever sent to prison? He had stolen £6-worth of razor blades and 'interfered' with a car, for which he got 90 days in custody. The first lesson of the Mubarek report, that we lock up too many children, was ignored, despite the news that prison numbers are at an all-time high of 77,865. Prison robs inmates of their jobs, girlfriends or homes and spits them out, infantilised, excluded, mentally frail, and full of anger. Seven out of 10 of the 19,000 18- to 20-year-olds given short sentences in 2004 were back in prison within two years.
- The focus on the breakdown of mental health care as the real problem
The blame game around Zahed Mubarek's death
2006/06/30 · Asians In Media Magazine
The report on the killing of Zahid Mubarek is a devastating indictment of the prison service. As it is dissected, the emphasis will be on the role of racism. But the fact that Mubarek was Muslim was incidental. This vile incidence could have been prevented if prison officers were better trained; there was provision for mental health assessment; and there was not such over crowding in the prisons. The closing of mental hospitals has left people with psychotic symptoms to fend for themselves. When they commit crimes, like Mubarek's killer, they are locked up in prison where staff is not trained to look after them. About 90% of the 11,000 young men in prisons and institutions have some mental disorder and about 10% are seriously psychotic. Suicides and killings in prison are an almost regular occurence.
Mubarek inquiry report: reaction in quotes
2006/06/29 · The Guardian
£175k payoff for officer in Mubarek report
2006/07/01 · The Guardian
The independent inquiry into the death of of an Asian inmate at the hands of his racist cellmate identified a "bewildering catalogue of shortcomings, both individual and systemic" in Feltham prison. But Niall Clifford, its governor at the time, retired this year and received his pension and a £175,000 lump sum. The Prison Service also confirmed that it would not take disciplinary action against any of those criticised in the report, arguing that "an undertaking was made that information honestly given by staff to the inquiry would not be used in subsequent disciplinary proceedings". An uncle of Mubarek said: "It's a joke that our family can be treated in such a way. It's a continuation of the Prison Service's attitude they have shown my family. They've just been arrogant and continue to be so even after this report."
I think it might be ok. The missiles are being withdrawn from Cuba. However, still worth stocking up on tinned food and bottled water. (Personally I put it down to the heat)
