00:30Hello and welcome to this Kent Tonight special programme.
00:37I'm Connie Balker and in this episode, Are We Safe in Medway?
00:41We're going to be investigating safety and security in some of the Medway towns.
00:46We're talking to members of the public to get their views on antisocial behaviour on the high street,
00:52as well as hearing from faith leaders in the community about the rise in nationalism.
00:56We'll also be chatting to Medway council leader Vince Maple to find out how he's bringing about change in the towns.
01:04So first, we hit the high streets of Gillingham, Chatham and Strood to find out why people might feel vulnerable in the area.
01:11When you're on the A streets, you'll meet these gangs.
01:17It's either fighting locally or there's windows smashed.
01:22It's mostly teenagers on their bikes.
01:26A lot of people drinking on the streets.
01:29It's a bit, you know, but no, I've not really experienced it, no.
01:34Swelling, doing all those things.
01:37Because of the stabbing, the rudeness, bad behaviour.
01:41There's a lot of people that are drunk, walking along the roads with cans.
01:45Do you get it on your bus as well?
01:47Yes, I do.
01:48But I'm frightened to go to that touch point as a senior sitting.
01:51I'm looking around to make sure there's no one behind me.
01:54People get on and they're very aggressive.
01:57We've put panic alarms in the shops for our staff.
02:00A screen in my bus is a safety screen and they've punched it where they were unhappy.
02:04Yes, there's anti-social behaviour, but there is in London, there is in Glasgow, there is in Cardiff, you know.
02:11Sometimes no, because if stuff does happen outside and you call the police, it doesn't really come.
02:18You don't feel so safe. You never feel safe.
02:23That's how bad it is.
02:24So this started off as a documentary about anti-social behaviour on the high street and we were expecting to focus on young people and the closure of youth spaces.
02:34But it took a bit of a turn because of something that happened to our reporters while out getting those voxies.
02:40Shakira Abdi is joining me now on the sofa to tell us more.
02:43Hi, Shakira.
02:44Hi.
02:45So, Shakira, can you tell me exactly what happened when you were out on Gillingham High Street?
02:51Yeah.
02:52So I went to Gillingham High Street just to ask the locals about how they felt about the rise in anti-social behaviour.
02:59And also just to see if they felt comfortable enough to go on the high street by themselves.
03:03There was two people that I'd interviewed with my colleagues and two of the white men, they had referred to me and my colleague as coloured.
03:14They were kind of pointing to us and just kind of making this link between race and anti-social behaviour.
03:20They had made a few comments and I had gotten a bit upset.
03:24So I went to the toilet and while I was away in the toilet, my colleague had said that he had been called the N-word.
03:28That's really awful.
03:31And with those first two incidents, can you explain a bit more about why they are offensive?
03:37I think the word coloured is an offensive word, like it is a slur.
03:41But I think it was more that they had made that link between race and anti-social behaviour, which is what made it offensive.
03:51Yeah, I just I think that that's the word coloured by itself.
03:55I understand that people from the older generation might use that just to describe people of colour.
03:59But I think when you give when you put it with the context, I think that's what makes it offensive.
04:04And how did it make you feel?
04:07It made me quite uncomfortable.
04:08I think I was really sad.
04:10I think the first incident, it just made me a bit upset and I was angry, but I was ready to just put it to the side.
04:16I think the second time I had got really disheartened and the third time it didn't even happen to me, but it really broke my spirit.
04:22Like, I felt really upset. I think what made me more upset was more that my colleague had just said that this was a normal experience for him.
04:29He said he had grown up in Canterbury. So casual racism wasn't a big deal to him.
04:33And he was surprised that I was surprised.
04:36And as a journalist, were you surprised to encounter those incidents?
04:40Yeah.
04:41Yes and no. I think I'm from London, which is a very multicultural and diverse area.
04:46So I think casual racism isn't something that I experience often, especially so blatantly to my face.
04:52I think that I was only on the high street for an hour and three instances of racism happened.
04:59So I think I wasn't prepared to talk about the topic of race or deal with that that day.
05:04And you met the Medway council leader, Vince Maple, after that happened. Why was that significant?
05:12I think it was important to get the perspective of the local council and just to see what they were trying to do to kind of tackle this racist rhetoric.
05:19I think that when I had met him, I had asked him, I'd started by asking him what he thought of the fact that some people feel that they might not be as comfortable to go to the high street by themselves.
05:31Let's have a look.
05:32Well, look, I think I want everywhere in Kent and Medway to be a safer place.
05:38Over the years of the Conservative government, we've sort of cut some policing, particularly community policing.
05:43And that's meant in some cases the community stepped in.
05:46So here in Chatham, we have the Chatham Ambassador Scheme that's funded in part by the Pentagon Centre, in part by some of the traders and one of the local developers.
05:54And for me, that's about making people feel safe and confident to come to the town centre, but also supporting those who need support.
06:02Me and my colleague experienced three accounts of racism in one hour of being on Gilligan High Street. What do you think of that? Are you surprised?
06:08I'm disgusted, first and foremost. That should never happen. No one should tolerate that. I'm sorry that happened to you and your colleagues.
06:15I think what we've seen in recent times, particularly with things like raising the colours, with people raising flags in a way which is organised by far-right activists.
06:27That's led to people who haven't. It's almost feeling more confident in being unacceptable. In my view, racism is never acceptable.
06:35Many years ago, I used to organise, maybe I love music, hate racism. I still love music and I still hate racism.
06:41So from that perspective, absolutely, people probably feel at this point in time that they've got more powers to be able to make horrible comments, both in person but particularly online as well.
06:55One of my friends who's a female Asian MP, everybody in politics says grief online, but what she receives is unbelievably disgusting.
07:11So, yeah, we've got more to do on that. I'm volunteering, I'm helping my community, I'm standing up as council leader to say everybody is welcome in Medway.
07:19Not being divisive, not being divisive, which we see far too often.
07:22So what is your council doing to tackle this kind of racist rhetoric?
07:27Oh, look, so we've been really, really clear. We've taken down the flags. And look, I've got a bit of abuse online about that.
07:33But actually, when I've come down the high street here in Chatham and elsewhere, you know, we put out a big video on a Friday.
07:40Over that weekend, more than 20 people stopped me and said, you've done the right thing. And I'm proud of that.
07:44Next, one issue Councillor Maple discussed as being a problem in Medway was racism.
07:51We decided to dig a bit deeper and speak to communities who had first-hand experience cases of racism in the towns.
08:00Our reporter, Evie McGowan, spoke with Gillingham Imam Saphir Khan to get his thoughts.
08:06I'm here at the Nasir Mosque in Gillingham, where hundreds of people come to pray every day.
08:12In an area where the council recently spent nearly £12,000 taking down Union Jack flags,
08:18we wanted to find out how the rise in nationalism is affecting the Islamic community here.
08:23Islam is a religion that is based on peace. The very name Islam means peace.
08:28So, if people have ideas about Islam, that Islam is a religion that encourages violence,
08:35that is completely opposite to the Islamic teachings.
08:38A lot of people who don't have a deeper understanding, they can easily be manipulated.
08:43To think that a certain community is a threat to them, I don't blame the people here, you know.
08:52Their only crime is that they are not educated enough.
08:56This summer, anti-immigration protests took place all over the country, including in Medway.
09:02Saphir told me about the impact these had on the community here,
09:05as well as about previous Islamophobic attacks on the mosque.
09:09It was just sad, you know, that we live in a country where we have so much diversity,
09:15where we have people from all over the world.
09:18And there has not, like, I haven't witnessed anything like it in my maybe 20 years that I've been in this country.
09:26We had some vandalism done to our mosque, you know, smeared bacon on our doors.
09:31Over the years, obviously, these are not events that have happened very often,
09:37but I would say once or twice a year it does.
09:41We had also some people trying to break in to the mosque.
09:46We had some graffiti done.
09:47We actually also had Britain first coming here.
09:51I don't know if you know, but they have gone to some mosques,
09:54kind of just broken into the mosque with their shoes on,
09:56and just really disrespected the whole sacred area,
09:59and made videos and just hurled abuse and things like that.
10:02They came here, and luckily our mosque was locked and safe.
10:06And I came around the garden to speak to them, and, yeah, there was not much I could say
10:11because they were just abusing, you know, Islam and the Prophet and this and that.
10:16I was like, OK.
10:17I just feel pity for such people because I think, like, you know,
10:20if you had just done a little bit of research about a mosque or Islam,
10:25you would generally come to the conclusion that it's not something that you need to fear.
10:30You need to just talk to somebody.
10:31Whilst tensions remain high in the country,
10:34Sophia holds out hope that communication amongst communities can bring positive change.
10:39Evie McGowan for KMTV.
10:42That's it from us on this Kent Tonight special.
10:46If you or someone you know have been a target of hate crime,
10:50please make sure to contact the police on 101
10:52or visit the True Vision website to get more support.
10:56Don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest news across your county
11:02by logging on to kmtv.co.uk.
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11:13And if you have a story you think we should be covering, then get in touch.
11:18That's all from us tonight, but thank you so much and have a lovely evening.
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