Living under the ‘white gaze’

Speaking to university researchers, he called them "the white gaze". He was Chinese.

Scotland's black and minority ethnic young people, Muslim or not, are living with the consequences of terror plots, real or suspected, and what many of them see as media Islamophobia.

That was one of the main findings of researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University who spent months recording the views of men and women aged 16 to 25 from Pakistani, Indian, Somali and mixed backgrounds. The young people, the experts concluded, felt "under siege".

And not just from the newspapers. The researchers were recruited by Scotland's two biggest police forces, Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders, to help officers see themselves through the eyes of black and other minority youngsters.

The vision which they have come up with seems, at first, pretty grim.

"There are strong perceptions among most participants that some actions of the police amounted to racism and reflected cultural insensitivity," the researchers said. "Many lacked confidence in the judgment of the police."

One participant said: "Sometimes you feel as though you're getting watched by the FBI and all that, they'll take you away for no reason, they'll stick you behind bars and throw away the key, that's how it feels."

Another added: "You could never stand and have a friendly chat with a police officer because they won't be coming over to have a friendly chat with any of us."

A third, another Chinese, said: "People hate the police more and more because all that they are doing is pulling people up."

Young people from an ethnic minority background are convinced they are more likely to be "pulled up" than white youngsters and less likely to be heard if they complain. They feel their events and festivals are more heavily policed than those of the white majority.

One young Muslim involved in the study told researchers: "When you are celebrating Eid and things like that, they put you in a lockdown. Every corner you turn, there's police everywhere."

Young people described racism as an everyday reality but said they felt less likely to tolerate it than their parents and grandparents. They were also, however, reluctant to report it, distrusting the police response. Some would prefer to deal with issues themselves.

There was some comfort for the police. Some young men and women reported "positive encounters" with community police, describing how officers reacted quickly and effectively to racist problems.

The researchers, however, said: "Most youth had only experienced police directly or indirectly in a very negative way and even those who had engaged with individual police officers in a positive way did not necessarily generalise this experience: the good' police officer was regarded as the exception to the rule. Negative experiences with the police tended to be understood and explained, by young participants, within the context of racism."

So how did the police react to the findings? "We're optimistic," said Chief Superintendent John Pollock of Strathclyde Police yesterday. "It shows that our youth strategy is going down the right road."

The two forces have decided to reach out to third generation young people from immigrant backgrounds who nevertheless see themselves as Scottish, especially if they are of a Muslim origin.

For too long, senior officers admit, their only contact with, say, Glasgow's Pakistanis, was with community elders who could barely claim to speak for youth and who had developed a greater tolerance to racism and religious bigotry than their children and grandchildren.

Mr Pollock and other officers believe the very fact the police have asked for the research to be done shows just how interested they are in how they are seen by young people from ethnic minorities, even if they strongly disagree with the perceptions. The Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders' forces might be overwhelmingly white - far whiter than the communities they police. But a recent focus on "diversity awareness" means they are far from as insensitive as young people interviewed believe.

Young people from an ethnic minority are actually less likely to suffer stop and searches than average, (something that, ironically, has provoked a perception of bias from some young whites).

But what of cultural insensitivity? A police officer, however well-trained, could easily stumble into a situation that could cause offence to those of other faiths or beliefs. How does an officer avoid it? "He or she can ask," Mr Pollock said.

That principle has already paid dividends. After last month's attack on Glasgow Airport, officers had to make safe a car parked at a mosque. They waited until prayers were over, and with the full backing of mosque authorities, did their job.

Officials at the Home Office in London, The Herald understands, were bracing themselves for a reaction. There was none. Officers asked how to avoid trouble. That was what they were doing when they commissioned today's report.