Quote:
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.
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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.