Racists Are Using The Leicester Lockdown To Spread Lies About Its Asian Communities
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When Narinder Kaur was at school, she faced racist taunts on a daily basis and says dealing with prejudice became a daily part of her life.
“I was the only brown face in the whole school and I was called a P*** every single day of my life,” Narinder, who grew up in Newcastle, told HuffPost UK.
Now living with her family in the centre of Leicester, which has become the first city to be put on local lockdown following a spike of coronavirus cases, Narinder says she’s depressed but not surprised to see racism rear its head again.
Health secretary Matt Hancock revealed the national easing of lockdown would not be happening in the Midlands city of Leicester as he told how it had recorded 10% of all positive Covid-19 cases in the country over the past week.
While other areas of England will be seeing a loosening of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, Leicester has seen non-essential shops shut and schools close.
The move to address the flare up was imposed as it emerged there were 944 positive coronavirus tests in Leicester in the two weeks up to June 23.
Leicester is a diverse, multicultural city. According to the 2011 Census, 37% of people in the city were Asian or British Asian, with 28% being of Indian heritage.
But campaigners and residents say Leicester’s diversity has become a target for racists, who claim minority groups have been flouting lockdown rules, going to each other’s houses and mixing.
Social media has been rife with accusations that Leicester’s high Asian population is to blame for the high number of Covid-19 cases, with many targeting the Muslim community.
One person wrote: “Leicester is facing a local lockdown because the majority of its 50% ethnic community can’t speak English and ignored government rules to lock down.
“It’s the Asian community who are spreading the virus and it’s the reason why so many of them are...
