Don sent me this just as I was making this post...seems appropriate.
It's heartbreaking for me to see another one of my favourite cities in the world fall victim to riots.
And who are these rioters?
It seems they are predominantly white, some from well-placed families, looters not poor newcomers. All sounds sadly familiar.
Good article from the Telegraph today which was reprinted in the Vancouver Sun.
"In Southall, west London, a crowd of turbaned Sikh men stood guard outside their temples Tuesday night. Some held swords, others hockey sticks as they defied the looters to approach. None dared.
Over in Whitechapel, rioters were held back by 1,500 Muslim men - mostly Bengali, but also Somalis - emerging from the mosque after evening prayers.
In Ealing, Monika Gnoinska, a Pole who came here 20 years ago, and her daughter Agneska, 27, decided that they couldn't stand by and 'watch these gangs wreck the country.' Armed with brooms and dustpans, they joined their eastern European neighbours in a collective cleanup operation: 'The street was full,' she said, 'And everyone was saying, 'We work hard, and we're grateful to Britain for what it's done for us.'' Turks in Dalston, Poles in Ealing, and Kurds in Haringay stood up to the thieving thugs at night, then spent the day helping repair the damage.
Across the country, ethnic communities have emerged as the heroes of the week's riots - and, in the case of the three Muslim youths who were killed as they defended their community in Birmingham, its martyrs. They have shown themselves to be not just as law-abiding as the Anglo-Saxons, but far more inspiring."
To read more...
Native Brits can learn a thing or two from immigrants:
