Reflections | When thousands of foreigners were murdered in ancient China following the Ispah rebellion
- The slaughter of the ‘Semu’ highlights the ‘us versus them’ mentality evident in recent UK riots linked to the Southport killings
In the days following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the English town of Southport in late July, riots broke out in cities including London, Manchester and in Southport itself.
Fired up by rumours and deliberate misinformation that suggested an Islamic link to the killings, the rioters, many of whom were associated with the Islamophobic, far-right English Defence League, turned violent.
It turned out that the then 17-year-old boy charged with the murders is not Muslim and has no Islamic links. Axel Rudakubana, the son of Rwandan immigrants, was born in Wales and lives near Southport.
Still, the British far right will no doubt exploit his African heritage to give validation to the repulsive racism and xenophobia among its members.
The “us versus them” impulse is hard-wired into humanity. Violence against “them” is often fuelled by mistrust and rumours, which some political leaders use to tap into the baser human instincts of wanting to banish, maim or even kill those who are different from “us”.
