MP Jo Cox was murdered last week, and I am deeply disturbed. Her death raises a lot of questions around the Brexit’s anti-migrant rhetoric. Earlier in June, I challenged Nigel Farage on the ITV EU Debate. I needed to know how he was going to safeguard ethnic minorities in Britain from the damage his anti-immigration rhetoric is doing. I received pure hatred from white men for airing the concerns of my community. Only in my worst nightmares could I imagine that death would be a consequence for speaking up. At the time, I never anticipated that a British white woman could also be a victim of the hate-filled anti-immigration rhetoric.
These far-right extremist groups resurface and with them comes increased violence, hate crimes and acts of terror towards non-white British communities. EDL members have been responsible for attacking and burning mosques. The BNP have been linked to several racially motivated attacks. Jo Cox isn't the first person to die in a climate of racism and xenophobia.
Her murderer Tommy Mair told the court "my name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain". Britain First is the spawn of the now defunct English Defence League, the BNP and now UKIP. These far-right parties are born out of fear and hatred for anything or anyone non-British (read non-white). Nigel Farage has photoshopped the white faces out of his Nazi-style poster depicting a line of migrants trying to cross a border with 'Breaking Point' emblazoned across it. If you tell people that their way of life is under attack and provide them with someone to blame, then it's no surprise that radicalised extremists like Tommy Mair take matters into their own hands.
Jo Cox was a white woman that spoke up about the value of immigration especially within her constituency, and she died. What does this say to black women and other minorities who feel the need to challenge widely held ignorant opinions? Or those of us campaigning for better treatment? Unsurprisingly, a Harvard Business Review study found that only white men benefit from pushing a diversity agenda. For women and minorities, it has a negative impact. I think we all knew this on some level.
"We... have far more in common than that which divides us."