Teen clash in race brawl!

[Neil]

The newspaper should print what they want as long as they stay within the law. If they print things that shock or upset then good. Maybe if more people knew what was really going on we might want to do something about it.

[Neal]

It happens in Burnley also, incidents do not get reported and if they are they are generally biased towards one side. Care to guess which one?

I'm all for fair and honest reporting.

[gondola]

Originally Posted by Neal

It happens in Burnley also, incidents do not get reported and if they are they are generally biased towards one side. Care to guess which one?

I'm all for fair and honest reporting.

Yes. It is strange how the principles of one small northern town are directly transferable to another. To extend the correlation further, it is also noteworthy how in Burnley some of the Councillors were also unfit for purpose. I seem to recall that a few months ago, two Asian Councillors were sent to prison for vote rigging. Yet they still refused to resign their positions, and suggested that if they were made to resign they would stand as independent candidates.

Similarly in Blackburn, an Asian Councillor was sent to prison for the same. Ironically, he would have won had he not sought to fiddle the returning officer. Im sure they will all return as 'community leaders'.

[Lampman]

I take your point Neil but who is the we?
The only way that things are sorted out,is by the elected government and upto now no party has grasped the nettle of integration(or lack of).This is probably why the BNP are sticking their snouts into Hyndburn.

Also as Ianto says some areas of the community(that phrase again) seek to remain apart and indeed change the whole religious and political landscape.Laws were brought in to protect minorities,now some would say that it is the majority that now needs protective legislation.

There are bigots in every walk of life,I for one fear for the future,wait whilst the former eastern block start unloading their jobless,sick and neer-do-wells on us!

[Mancie]

Rubbish.. if these incidents go un-reported how do you know they even happend?.. you people seem to be pretty well clued up as to what goes on.. so where do you get your information from?
seems to me its all good old fashioned sunday morning park bench gossip!

[gondola]

Originally Posted by Mancie

Rubbish.. if these incidents go un-reported how do you know they even happend?.. you people seem to be pretty well clued up as to what goes on.. so where do you get your information from?

The community grapevine of course!!

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by gondola

The community grapevine of course!!

Yep.. the good old park bench gossip!

[Lampman]

No Mancie I hear of these things through the course of my employment,I come into contact with all these groups day after day.
It's not gossip but sad reality,depressing as it is.
But perhaps you don't want to hear this?

[Gayle]

I too, hear through my work and the groups that I deal with on a day to day basis and yes, it is depressing.

Community is a word that has been adopted by the Asian sector as a shorthand for the area that they live in. It must be said though, that for the small handful of activists who want to change the world there are a huge number of people from the community who want to live a normal, law abiding life with equal respect and equal rights as everyone else.

But isn't that the case with regards any issue - there are always a small number who want to be more equal than others whilst the rest of the population are comfortable with the equality they have. Take feminism for instance - I would call myself one but I don't believe that women, and only women, should be the rulers of the world.

[gondola]

''Community is a word that has been adopted by the Asian sector as a shorthand for the area that they live in. It must be said though, that for the small handful of activists''

Pull the other one Gayle. There are almost as many Asian 'community leaders' in Hyndburn as there are Asian people. You of all people should know, with your involvement with community groups.

Why don't you undertake a search of how many community groups there are in Hyndburn, how much funding they get under the umbrella of 'integration' and 'celebration of diverstiy' and based on what posters are indicating here there is not that much integration to speak of. I think it is high time that people realised that integration does not require setting up of groups to solicit funds. It requires a desire to become part of the society in which you live. That's all. If such a simple concept can entrench itself in the minds of the 'do gooders who promote positive discrimination' then we may get some integration after all.

Are these organisations lining their own pockets or are they really setting up community centre after community centre for the benefit of society. I know not, but it is food for thought. Sometimes quite literally.

[SPUGGIE J]

Dosnt matter how many communities there are because unless they can live and talk without wanting to knock lumps or destroy each other the status qou will prevail. All people need to get involved or we could end up with a form of Northern Ireland in Hyndburn.

[Ianto.W.]

Originally Posted by Mancie

Yep.. the good old park bench gossip!

Mancie my wife and daughter witnessed the two incidents I posted about, so it was not as you say 'gossip'.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by Mancie

Rubbish.. if these incidents go un-reported how do you know they even happend?.. you people seem to be pretty well clued up as to what goes on.. so where do you get your information from?
seems to me its all good old fashioned sunday morning park bench gossip!

Perhaps some people see this type of thing and hear about it because of where they work Mancie, like myself. I see it daily and then look forwarding to reading about it in the papers only to see it is never printed....

[Lampman]

Yes,Neal I agree.It's only human nature to find out the reasons for events we may have knowledge of, and to hear the outcome.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by gondola

''Community is a word that has been adopted by the Asian sector as a shorthand for the area that they live in. It must be said though, that for the small handful of activists''

Pull the other one Gayle. There are almost as many Asian 'community leaders' in Hyndburn as there are Asian people. You of all people should know, with your involvement with community groups.

Why don't you undertake a search of how many community groups there are in Hyndburn, how much funding they get under the umbrella of 'integration' and 'celebration of diverstiy' and based on what posters are indicating here there is not that much integration to speak of. I think it is high time that people realised that integration does not require setting up of groups to solicit funds. It requires a desire to become part of the society in which you live. That's all. If such a simple concept can entrench itself in the minds of the 'do gooders who promote positive discrimination' then we may get some integration after all.

Are these organisations lining their own pockets or are they really setting up community centre after community centre for the benefit of society. I know not, but it is food for thought. Sometimes quite literally.

This is rubbish - I'm on the board of Hyndburn Community Network and there are far more 'white' groups than there are 'asian' groups - but you don't hear about them in the context of their culture so it seems very one sided. You're doing the typical scare mongering thing 'they're not integrating, they're taking all the public funding'.

This is simply not true. Yes, there are pots of money out there that specialise in funding groups that provide events for community cohesion and I've been successful with them myself but none of the events that I've organised or been involved in have been solely for Asians they have been events that have brought people together from all different cultures.

There are also pots of money that specialise in parks (a few of the local parks are likely to get over £1m in the coming year for developing the parks), there are pots of money to refurbish community buildings (local groups are likely to benefit) and so on and so on - it would take an awful lot of BME groups dipping into these pots to even come close to the amount of money that is raised and spent by 'white' groups!

If you have evidence of any specific groups lining their own pockets let me know and I'll investigate it and be prepared to publish the results but I'm afraid that your wild generalisations are damaging to community relations altogether. Your attitude and vague accusations increases the amount of mistrust and damage between communities rather than helping.