ONE of the people behind York's first anti-racism taskforce has spoken out in the aftermath of violent riots across the UK.

York's Anti-Racism Task Force which convened here in June and the chair of York-based Inclusive Equal Rights UK (IERUK), Haddy Njie, has said that it's time to address the root causes underlying the violence.

Recommended reading:

"The main underlying issue for me is that people of colour are not really being seen as British - even if they have been born and brought up here," said Haddy.

"I think the Government and leaders of this city and the country really need to take a stance on fixing that issue and to do that we need to go back to the idea of what belonging looks like. We have seen so many people who are born in this country saying, 'I don't feel safe', and 'I can get out'.

"Another issue is islamophobia. For a long time, Islam has been viewed as a terrorist religion and that needs to change.

"Thirdly when we listen to our politicians they don't talk about the solutions, they talk about the issues and don't see it through.

"When he won the election Sir Keir Starmer said 'actions speak louder than words', so let's see it.

"One of the solutions is to teach our young people the true history of colonization and slavery. When I was at school it was as though enslaved people were not worthy. It needs to be taught in an heroic way. Everyone loves a hero and if we want to educate our young people it should be about how enslaved people with their allies fought to be free."

Haddy used the example of a woman in her 50s who was taught by her parents when she was growing up that black people were not human and that you should run away from them.

"She said that had she been taught the opposite at school she would have gone home and challenged her mum and dad," said Haddy.

"Yes, slavery happened a long time ago, but what we are dealing with on the streets of the UK in 2024 is the consequences of slavery and colonisation not being dealt with properly and we need to fix that."