Javid: I was attacked by racist bullies too

"I saw the video like anyone else," Sajid JavidA UK Conservative Party politician who has been both Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. said in an interview on BBC Radio 4 yesterday. "I was clearly absolutely outraged and, to be frank, it reminded me of an incident I had myself when I was 11 at school."  "Because I was Asian I was punched to the ground," he recalls. "That's the immediate memories that came back for me. Obviously, I hated it, and I thought how that young boy must feel." The young boy he is referring to is 15-year-old Jamal, a Syrian refugeePeople who are forced from their countries because war or persecution. who fled to Britain. Last week, a shocking video emerged of him being attacked by a playground bully. The footage shows him being pushed to the ground, choked and having water poured on his face. Viewed millions of times, the video caused outrage. Prime Minister Theresa MayThe prime minister of the UK between 2016 and 2019. Her attempts to secure a Brexit deal ultimately failed, resulting in her resignation. stated that "people were sickened and angered" by the scenes. The attacker, a 16-year-old boy from HuddersfieldA town in West Yorkshire, England, with a population of more than 150,000. , was arrested and charged by police. Meanwhile, an online fundraiser to help Jamal and his family was set up by the public. So far it has raised over 100,000. While some haven praised the public's generosity following the attack, others worry about what the incident reveals about modern Britain. As Javid himself asked: "How can this kind of thing still be going on in our country?" According to government figures, there were 71,251 racial hate crimes in Britain in 2017-18 — a 14% increase on the previous year. Furthermore, subtler forms of racism persist which do not show up in police figures. On Sunday, The Guardian published an investigation into the "everyday racial bias" experienced by Black, Asian and minority ethnic citizens in modern Britain. According to the study, 43% of ethnic minority people had unfairly missed out a work promotion in the last five years, compared to 18% of White people. Ethnic minorities are also more likely to be wrongly suspected of shopliftingTaking goods from shops without paying. , suffer abuse from strangers, and be asked to leave a restaurant, bar or club for no good reason. Is Britain a racist country? Yes, some people argue. The data speaks for itself. If the spike in hate crimes did not make it clear enough, this new evidence of everyday racial bias puts the question beyond doubt. Politicians must do more to listen to ethnic minorities, and start taking their concerns and experiences seriously. Not so fast, others respond. As Kenan Malik argues, incidents like that in Huddersfield are "not characteristic of British society today in the way they would have been a generation ago". The attack was abhorrent, but we have made great strides in fighting racist abuse that was once much more commonplace. Q & A What do we know? A 16-year-old boy has been charged with assault in connection with the incident. The boy cannot be named for legal reasons. He will appear in youth court in due course. He has also written a letter in which he "fully accept[s] responsibility" for what happened, and claims that the incident was not racially motivated. What do we not know? The wider impact the bullying incident will have. Jamal's father has said the attack has left his son "very tired psychologically". Meanwhile, Jamal himself has urged people not to take revenge on the bully: "I am very concerned about the violent comments going out on social media about the bully," he said. "I don't want anything terrible to happen to him at all. I just don't want anything bad to happen to anyone."KeywordsSajid Javid - A UK Conservative Party politician who has been both Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.