As residents of Newham we do not recognise the picture painted of our borough by the programme makers of “The Last Whites of the East End” broadcast on Tuesday 24 May. We fear the documentary will pander to division and prejudice. It was built on the false premise that we are divided and segregated; the programme makers seem to have deliberately excluded the rich and complex realities of community life in our borough.
Throughout its history Newham has been a home to peoples and newcomers of different backgrounds and origin. It is the richer for it. Huguenot, Irish, Jewish, afro-Caribbean, Asian and east European migrants and very many others from all over the world have made their homes here and in doing so have made Newham and the east end the diverse, multicultural community it is today.
The fact that 147 languages are spoken in Newham is something to celebrate. Nor are we segregated into rigid ethnic groups. Some 34 percent of households are ethnically mixed (compared to the national average of 12 percent). Such a multicultural environment enriches our experience and that of our children and young people. Newham is as British as any other part of the country that is itself, after all, incredibly diverse.
The programme makers of “The Last Whites of the East End” have constructed a highly divisive narrative by selecting a very small number of anecdotal views. Prejudiced viewpoints of “the other” were left unchallenged and there was little if no attempt to seek positive views of the community as a whole.
There was no serious attempt to situate the complex population moves in our inner cities over time. Population moves to Essex, the Home Counties and the outer London suburbs have been a feature of London life since World War Two. That is not exclusive to east London, nor to the white population. Changing urban populations are a feature of London life.
Despite this the programme makers played a theme of a ‘native’ white minority being driven out by waves of immigrants from different cultures and backgrounds. This was a theme used to try and divide the east end in the past; it was a theme played against Jews before World War II and against black communities after the 1950s.
It was a theme that led to serious racially motivated violence in Newham in the 1970s and after. Yet it was in Newham that Asian, white and black united together to oppose this prejudice. Then as now there were divisions to challenge and overcome; but that is how a community is built.
We enjoy Newham for the vibrant, diverse and genuine community it is. We believe that our community is far more than the sum of its parts and we are very proud to live here… together.
Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz, OBE (Custom House ward),
Cllr John Whitworth (West Ham ward),
Cllr John Gray (West Ham ward),
Rob Ferguson (Newham Stand Up to Racism),
Steve Hedley (Assistant General Secretary, RMT union),
Steve Sweeney (Unite LE/7064E Branch Sec, London & Eastern Regional Committee – pc),
Iain Hale (Asst Secretary, Newham NUT),
Dr Harsimran Singh MBBS MA (Newham University Hospital BMA Committee Vice-Chair*),
Dr Ron Singer (retired GP and chair of Newham Save our NHS),
Rachel Collinson (Green Party spokesperson for Business, Innovation and Skills),
Pauline Rowe (Friends of Queens Market),
Roger Silverman, Forest Gate (West Ham Labour Party),
Tahir Talati (MEND, Newham),
Yesim Deveci (Snr Lecturer, University of East London, Former Founder & Director of Dost Centre for Young Refugees & Migrants, lifelong resident),
Gargi Bhattacharrya, East Ham (professor, University of East London),
Miriam Scharf (Officer, Newham Teachers Association),
Simon Shaw (Vice President Redbridge Teachers Association),
Ayesha Taylor (Focus E15 campaign),
Priscilla Igwe (Director, The New Black Film Collective),
Laura Glendinning (Forest Gate Women’s Institute),
Rabbil Sikdar (East Ham Labour Party, Morning Star columnist),
Paulyne Gaillard (retired teacher, NUT),
Kevin Blowe (NETPOL),
Umair Saeed (former candidate Respect), ,
Brian Richardson (Asst secretary, Unite Against Fascism),
Roddy Slorach (Equality and diversity officer, UCU branch, Imperial College),
Scott Cooke (teacher, NUT),
Frankie-Rose Taylor (Green Party),
Roberta Pla,
Dominique Pla,
Sophie Pla,
Natalie Pla,
Mohammed Ravat,
Shagufta Nasreen,
Tomáš Tengely-Evans, Forest Gate,
Jill Oxley,
Maggie Falshaw,
Tochi Boakye-Mensah (Teacher, NUT),
Carolyn McGrath (teacher, NUT),
Helen Lynch,
Alison Korzec Smith,
Vicky Grainger (retired teacher),
Kelly Ann Fitzgerald (Irish resident),
Ayyub Badat, East Ham,
Ama Agyeman, Stratford
*Dr Singh works in Newham General Hospital, serving the whole Newham community