Perspectives on Community Cohesion in Bradford: A comparative analysis of two neighbourhoods

8/7/2019 Perspectives on Community Cohesion in Bradford: A comparative analysis of two neighbourhoods

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PERSPECTIVES ONCOMMUNITY COHESION IN

BRADFORD:

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISOF TWONEIGHBOURHOODS

A REPORT PRODUCED BY JUST WEST

YORKSHIRE

Authors: Ratna Lachman and Alyas Karmani

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 6

Structure of the Report 6

The Environmental Context 7

West Bowling Focus Group Responses 16

Holme Wood Focus Group Responses 20

Stakeholder Focus Group Responses 28

Conclusion 35

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Acknowledgements

JUST West Yorkshire would like to thank those who

participated in the focus groups. Their frankness andcandour around the issue of Community Cohesion have

been critical in presenting the thorny issues that

accompany the practical application of this policy.

We are also grateful to our interviewers Bonnie Berkowitz,

Kamran Mohammed and Huw Illingworth for facilitating the

focus group sessions and working with participants to elicitthe range of responses that have been crucial in framing

this research.

Last but not least, we are indebted to Alyas Karmani for

leading the stakeholder interviews, and making a critical

contribution to the framework and structure of the final

report.

This report is published by Just West Yorkshire with

financial support from Oxfam GB. Opinions expressed do

not necessarily reflect Oxfams views. For more information

about Oxfams work to end poverty in the UK, go to

www.oxfam.org.uk/uk.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ukhttp://www.oxfam.org.uk/uk


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of cohesive communities could be better achieved by addressing thestructural and systemic failures which have contributed to generationalpoverty, poor life-chances, discrimination and racial violenceexperienced by BME people.

Unemployment, segregation and poor achievement in schools, access tohousing in mixed developments, and tackling perceptions of perceivedBME advantage should be a government policy priority locally andnationally. Messages about cohesion should apply as much to whiteworking class communities as Black and Ethnic Minorities. Thebenchmark for measuring good community relations should be equalityof outcomes for all, in employment, education and service provision.It is not Community Cohesion that can provide the answers but aframework of inter-community relations which is rooted in notions ofequality, social justice, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice.


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INTRODUCTION

This research aims to unpack and challenge the terminology ofCommunity Cohesion through exploring its impact in the context of the

life experiences of Bradfords communities. JUST West Yorkshireschoice of Bradford as a research area was informed by the fact that it isone of the five areas in which its work is located. As an organisationpromoting racial justice, civil liberties and human rights, the Oxfamfunded project provided an opportunity to assess the efficacy ofcommunity cohesion as a public policy tool in achieving thegovernments vision of a cohesive society in the context of Bradford

The choice of Bradford was also particularly pertinent in view of thecentral role, which the district played in the Northern Riots. The genesisof the term Community Cohesion as articulated in the Cantle Report

has clear antecedents in the uprisings, which broke out in 2001. Thedistrict also has the largest Muslim population in the Yorkshire andHumber region and the Muslim community is the third largest in theUK after London and West Midlands. The clear links between theterminology of Community Cohesion and the notion of BMEcommunities (mainly Muslims) living parallel and segregated lives hasparticular relevance to Bradford in public policy terms.

The structural factors of poverty, disadvantage and poor life chanceswhich is widely acknowledged as contributing to the youth disaffection

which sparked the riots, remain a facet of the districts life. Muslimcommunities are disproportionately represented in Bradfords deprivedinner-city wards and suffer poverty, discrimination and poor lifechances even today.

The presence of the far right that lit the tinderbox that led to theBradford uprisings remains a live dynamic informing communityrelations in the district.

STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH REPORT

This research aims to assess government responses to CommunityCohesion through assessing its efficacy as a public policy tool forpromoting good race relations and integration. While evaluating itthrough the prism of the lived experiences of Muslim and Asiancommunities in West Bowling in Bradford, the research also covered apredominantly White community in one of Bradfords poorest inner-cityestates called Holme Wood.

Through focusing on two inner city wards in Bradford targeting bothBlack and White communities, who fulfil the Cantle definition of living

geographically segregated and parallel lives the research seeks to:


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Explore the meaning of community cohesion in terms of Blackand White communities lived experiences;

Uncover the causes and influences that determine views withinboth communities of the Other;

Uncover factors that contribute to poor community cohesion and

assess if there are common causal factors in relation to White andminority ethnic communities or whether there are distinctlydifferent dimensions;

Uncover barriers that communities perceive as being obstacles tocohesion;

Explore solutions towards achieving positive inter-communityrelations from the perspective of the target communities.

In the next section we establish the environmental context for theresearch and in the sections which follow, draw on primary evidence

gathered through three separate focus groups and face to faceinterviews in West Bowling, Holme Wood, and with stakeholderpractitioners, to highlight the key research themes for the Report.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT

Just two years before the Northern Uprisings broke out, the racerelations landscape in the Bradford district bore little resemblance tothe ideology, which was to subsequently define the policy formulation inrelation to BME communities. Ethnic minority groups were celebratingthe advent of a post-Macpherson paradise, which followed thepublication of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. The Reportsrequirement that public authorities meet their duties under the RaceRelations Amendment Act and accept the definition of institutionalracism was a milestone because it spoke to the historic BMEexperiences of discrimination, racism, social exclusion andmarginalisation.

The Northern Riots however resulted in a complete volte-face in thegovernments conduct in the race relations arena. The Cantle Report

which proved to be seminal in re-defining this, ironically echoed theLawrence Report in making a link between youth disaffection andstructural failures. However the prescriptions it offered for redressinginequalities were qualitatively different.

From anti-racism to cohesion, citizenship and integrationIn positing the notion of parallel and segregated lives, and calling forpolicies which desegregated geographically separated and dividedcommunities, Ted Cantle effectively gave Labour the language on whichit could construct the edifice of its new paradigm on race. By de-coupling cohesion from the issues of poverty and deprivation that

Cantle identified as the causal factors leading to the uprisings, Labour


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shifted the responsibilities incumbent on public bodies for good racerelations onto BME communities.

Consequently the old discourses that celebrated ethnic diversity in theUnited Kingdom (UK), such as multi-culturalism, anti-racism and

institutional racism were incrementally replaced by policies which fore-grounded cohesion, citizenship and integration.

David Blunketts response (then the Home Secretary) to the Northernuprisings, gave an early indication that the rules of the race game hadchanged.

We have norms of acceptability (and) those who come into ourhome for that is what it is should accept those norms just aswe would have to do if we went elsewhere. (9 December, 2001,

Independent on Sunday)

Implicit in his commentary was the view that visible minorities,regardless of whether they were born and bred in the UK wereoutsiders. In the Northern cities this sent out a message that societywas clearly bifurcated along the lines of the White us and a visiblyminority (BME) them.

This was a watershed as it signalled the fact that from henceforth theburden for good community relations would rest on the shoulders ofBME people. According to Pilkington:

3.3 David Blunkett saw the riots as reflecting the failure ofsuccessive governments effectively to manage immigration andintegration. He focused on the need to forge greater loyalty to thenation and announced measures to promote shared citizenship 3.4 What such an analysis fails to acknowledge is not only thematerial roots of the disorders but also the degree of culturalassimilation by second-generation Muslim young men into aconsumer culture that has raised aspirations and into a masculineculture that valorises violence. Racist exclusion in such a contextcan generate a strong sense of relative deprivation andconsequently an assertive commitment to defending Asiancommunities against the malicious threat of white racists. (AndrewPilkington, From Institutional Racism to Community Cohesion:the Changing Nature of Racial Discourse In Britain, SociologicalResearch Online, Volume 13, Issue 3, 31 May 2008:5)

The presentation of BME and especially Muslim communities, throughthe prism of us and them had a profound impact. As the cohesionagenda has been rolled-out locally and regionally the Statutory,Voluntary and Community Sectors have been radically reconfigured.The speed with which Local Authorities have divested themselves of

their Race Equality Departments and Officers and replaced them withCommunity Cohesion Directorates, suggests that statutory agencies had


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never entirely been comfortable with the spotlight that the MacphersonReport put them under. The resistance by numerous public bodies tothe term institutional racism and its prescriptions for a radical reformof public services, (benign as it was in its proclamation that it wasunwitting), attests to statutory discomfort at being held to account by

BME communities through the duties and obligations contained in theRace Relations Amendment Act (2000), which accompanied theMacpherson Report.

The lexicon of community cohesion, as constructed and interpreted bythe Labour Government, has proven to be extremely malleable becauseits presentation of race relations predominantly through the prism ofethnicity an us and them - has provided a versatile framework onwhich it has been able to tag the other isms, which inform its policyformulations towards its ethnic minority communities. This was most

evident following the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in North Americaand the London bombings in 2005, when the Government declared anall out war on extremism and terrorism. The extent to which theterminologies of cohesion, terrorism and extremism had becomeinterchangeable is evident in the strategic objectives outlined in theGovernments pathfinder, Preventing Violent Extremism Fund (PVEF),which directly implicated the general population of our Muslimcommunities. The strategic objectives of the programme were defined inthese terms:

To develop a community in which Muslims in our communities:

identify themselves as a welcome part of a wider Britishsociety and are accepted as such by the wider community;

To deliver these objectives requires concerted action in partnershipacross central government, local government, the police and thesecurity services, the Third Sector and, vitally, local communitiesthemselves. That action needs to be focused at a number of levels:

at the general population of our Muslim communities, helpingthem to build their resilience to violent extremist messages andto voice their condemnation of violent extremism;

at those who are most at risk of being groomed into violent

extremist ideologies, developing specific interventions to helpindividuals counter such messages; and,

at those justifying and/or glorifying violent extremist ideologiesand terrorism, and thereby create an ambiance andatmosphere of toleration of extremist ideologies and terrorism,where we will work vigorously to prevent their efforts toindoctrinate vulnerable members of society. (The PreventStrategy: 2008: p.7 & Executive Summary)

No community in the history of race relations in the United Kingdom,has been targeted thus and the development of public policy based on

the presumption that an entire community is implicated for the actions


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of a few, has created a breach in the relationship between the Muslimcommunity and the instruments of government.

The Yorkshire effectAs 3 of the 4 bombers were from West Yorkshire and the region has one

of the largest Muslim communities in England, it is not surprising thatmuch of the activity undertaken as part of the Prevent agenda istargeted in this region. It is clear from the extract quoted below thatgovernment ministers are in the driving seat and have a firmexpectation that public bodies are in the frontline of Labours efforts inwinning the war on terror.

As the Communities Secretary made clear in her letter to localauthorities of 11 March, the step change in funding for localpartnerships building resilience to violent extremism necessitates

a step change in activity at a local level. Preventing violentextremism is firmly embedded in performance managementframeworks, including National Indicator 35 (NI 35) andAssessments of Policing and Community Safety Indicator 63(APACS 63). The Comprehensive Area Assessment process willalso embrace Prevent work, but local partners themselves shouldensure that arrangements are in place to evaluate theeffectiveness of their response and the way risk is managed. (ThePrevent Strategy, 2008: 7)

Consequently in policing and intelligence terms, the region has

experienced unprecedented activity; 400 counter-terrorist officers havebeen lodged at a secret location in Leeds which is next door to Bradford;neighbourhood policing strategies now routinely include localintelligence gathering and tension monitoring. Terror hotlines have beenestablished that encourage the public to become terror sleuths; andperformance management frameworks that traditionally measure theeffectiveness of public services now measure the robustness with whichstatutory bodies are able to combat violent extremism and terrorism

In the aftermath of the London bombings a 5 million fund wasallocated in 2007/08 and West Yorkshire was designated one of 8pathfinder areas. The 5 Local Authorities in the region, which includedBradford, were allocated 500,000 to work together to develop effectivecounter-extremism/terror strategies. Despite deep disquiet from thedistricts BME communities about the strategic objectives of the fund, ithas been mainstreamed with a further investment of 45 millionnationally between 2008-2011. Given the size of this funding, manyBME and particularly Muslim groups have reluctantly re-calibratedtheir activities to ensure their long-term sustainability.

The redirection of funding on community development, capacity

building and youth work from the BME Third Sector to meet theGovernments core priorities of Cohesion, Prevent and Terror agendas


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has undoubtedly put the BME Sector at a gross disadvantage in termsof constraining its ability to deliver precisely those bottom-up servicesdesigned to ameliorate the poverty and structural disadvantages theyconfront.

Arrival of sanctions for single identity groupsThe Cohesion agenda became embedded as a part of mainstreamgovernment policy following the publication of the Shared FuturesReport. The findings of the government appointed Commission onIntegration and Cohesion led by Ealing Councils, Chief Executive DarraSingh, recommended that: the presumption should be against SingleGroup Funding despite a clear acknowledgement that the issue ofcohesion in the North and Midlands where longstanding White andAsian communities are living parallel livesis intimately bound up withdeprivation that has its historical antecedents in manufacturing

decline ... where manufacturing was textiles (Our Shared FutureReport, Commission on Integration and Cohesion, Darra Singh, 2007:58). The Shared Futuresreport as Pilkington rightly points out avoidedmentioningpolicy areas relating to social housing, faith schools, themarketisation of education or the Iraq war, all of which arguably have asignificant role to play in inhibiting community cohesion (Pilkington:2008).

Instead the Report and its Recommendations were cast in the samepolemics of us and them that had come to characterise fundingregimes formulated after the publication of the Cantle Report (2001). In

threatening sanctions to single identity groups the Commission wasnot speaking to organisations delivering services exclusively to theWhite Sector; neither was it speaking to other communities of interest,delivering specialist services to their marginalised constituencies. It wasclear that the Commission had BME groups in its sights.

Our first key recommendation therefore is that if Single GroupFunding is awarded, the reasons behind that award should beclearly publicised to all communities in the local area.

Secondly, we recommend that it is made clear to the organisationreceiving the grant that any application for renewal of funding oradditional resources will be expected to clearly demonstrate theprogress the organisation has made in becoming more outward-facing

Finally, we recommend that guidance for grant-making bodiesand Communities and Local Government, working in partnershipwith the Office for the Third Sector, the LGA and other relevantvoluntary bodies, to assist them in making decisions about theappropriateness of Single Group Funding, should develop Local

Authorities. (Singh, 2007: 163)


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The Recommendations effectively exposed groups supporting BMEcommunities to unprecedented scrutiny, without requiringorganisations supporting the White communities to open themselvesup to similar examination. The Guidance has since been withdrawnfollowing deep disquiet from the BME sector and a successful judicial

review in the High Court by the Southall Black Sisters.

On balance the evolution of government policy on race during the last 8years has been deeply unpopular with BME communities, leading BMEpeople interviewed for this Report to declare:

The governments relationship with BME people is an abusiverelationship where we have been repeatedly beaten until we havehad the stuffing taken out of us.

We are open game asanyone can take pot shots at us and what isthe reason[pointing to his skin], this.

Community Cohesion: a definitionThe accepted definition of Community Cohesion agreed by theImprovement and Development Agency (IDeA), the LGA (LocalGovernment Association) and the Home Office was first published in theLGAs 2002 'Guidance on Community Cohesion', describes a cohesivecommunity as one where:

there is a common vision and a sense of belonging for allcommunities

the diversity of peoples different backgrounds andcircumstances is appreciated and positively valued

those from different backgrounds have similar lifeopportunities

strong and positive relationships are being developedbetween people from different backgrounds andcircumstances in the workplace, in schools and withinneighbourhoods.

Although the governments rhetoric locates the responsibility forcommunity cohesion on the whole community, in reality thegovernment has contributed to the conflation of cohesion with race, asits guidance document calls on local councils to develop their cohesionstrategy in the context of the Race Relations legislation, therecommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and more recentlythe Equalities framework (Local Government Association (2004):Guidance on Community Cohesion, London, LGA). Consequently theapproach to cohesion has tended to place a disproportionate burden forgood race relations on visible minorities while leaving Whitecommunities off the hook, despite clear evidence of a far-right

resurgence in Bradford and across Yorkshire since the 2001disturbances.


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The governments failure to formulate an appropriate policy response tothe threat to community cohesion from White communities 78,702 ofwhom have voted for the British National Partys overtly racist electoralmessages in the 2008 local elections in the Yorkshire region and a

significant number who are likely to vote in the forthcoming Europeanelections - implies a racial bias in Labours approach to communitycohesion.

The recent layering of the preventing violent extremism agenda as anintegral part of the cohesion strategy has created an insidious dynamicthat has effectively, if unintentionally criminalised the Muslimcommunity, and rolled back civil liberties and civil rights in its practicaleffects

In fact the electoral victory of the BNP in wards that adjoin largelyinner-city districts with significant Muslim populations, highlights theextent to which the rhetoric of community cohesion and the war onterror have played into the hands of the BNP, whose electoral strategyplay to the threat of the other. Labours failure to develop a policyframework which makes responsibility for good community relationsequally contingent on White communities, has unsurprisingly led BMEcommunities to regard cohesion as racist in its design andimplementation. Those BME communities in Bradford, who havewatched their neighbourhoods turning into Asian ghettos as a result ofwhite-flight, rightly perceive a lack of equity in the debates around

cohesion.

Cohesion is a two-way street, yet when it comes to segregation ofWhite communities they say it is poverty, but for Muslims it ismade out that we choose to be segregated. I do not know anyperson who will not move out to a nicer area if they could afford it.I dont want to live in a deprived area just to be close to mycommunity. If Asians were all staying put then there would be noWhite-flight. Somehow we are the problem not those who want tokeep White areas and White schools White. (research participant)

The perceived inequity felt by BME groups in relation to both theGovernment and local authoritys approach to cohesion, also has aresonance in relation to the Governments approaches in its war onextremism.

In the post 7/7 environment BME groups in Bradford and across WestYorkshire have expressed grave concerns to Just West Yorkshire (aboutthe extent to which statutory energies are being harnessed into thedelivery of the Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) and more recentlythe CONTEST agenda.


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They regard the Governments exhortation to local authorities tomonitor Muslim groups subscribing to the Preventing ViolentExtremism fund, as being driven by the terror agenda, rather than theneed for support to these predominantly poor communities. This can begauged by the more recent Guidance issued to local authorities by the

Home Office.

The more comprehensively an organisation meets the criteriabelow, the more closely we engage with them. Factors toconsider as part of this criterion include whether the organisation: publicly rejects and condemns violent extremism and terroristacts, clearly and consistently; can show evidence of steps taken to tackle violent extremismand support for violent extremism; can point to preventing violent extremism events it has

supported, spoken at or attended; can show that its actions are consistent with its publicstatements; and can show that its affiliated members or groups to which it isaffiliated meet these criteria. (The Prevent Strategy: A guide forlocal partners in England. Stopping people becoming orsupporting terrorists and violent extremists, HM Government,June 2008: 60)

In policy terms, the Guidance is significant because it re-modulatesrelationships between the public and statutory organisations that have

been traditionally defined in service delivery and service consumptionterms. Furthermore, it legitimates an unprecedented level of statutoryscrutiny on Muslim groups and communities, which has no parallel inthe context of the White and broader BME Third Sector. Finally, it sets athreshold that raises the funding bar so high that any Muslim groupwho fails to meet the exacting standards is threatened with withdrawalof funds

Local partners will wish to ensure that they are clear with theirdelivery partners about the standards they expect and the need towork to uphold shared values and prevent violent extremism.Active monitoring of spending will be important to ensure thatthese values are being upheld. Where these standards are notmet, local partners will wish to ensure that they can take action towithdraw funding or terminate funding agreements. (The PreventStrategy, 2008: 61)

The re-definition of relationships between statutory bodies and BMEgroups is highly relevant for Bradford; as an area deemed to be at high-risk of extremist activities, it was one of the first pathfinder districtsnationally and is currently eligible for a portion of the 45 million

designated to support the PVE agenda between 2008/09 2010/11.


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Clearly the level of investment in cohesion and its associated policyframeworks tabulated above both by the government and public bodieshave been pursued on the assumption that the policies will yield apositive inter-community dividend. The extent to which they have in factyielded the intended outcomes constitutes a central focus for this piece

of research in the next few sections.

The following sections summarise the responses of three focus groupsand a range of individual interviews in West Bowling, Holme Wood andwith stakeholder practitioners in Bradford and West Yorkshire.

The interview questions included:

What do you understand by the term community cohesion?

How does the policy affect communities in Bradford, in practice?

Give your reaction to the following statement about ethnicminorities

What are the main obstacles to community cohesion, and howcan they be addressed in the current policy framework?


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WEST BOWLING FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES

West Bowling is one of four Bradford districts in the ward of LittleHorton which is one square mile and lies to the south of Bradford City

Centre. It incorporates parts of 3 neighbourhoods West Bowling,Marshfields and Park Lane. The population of Little Horton is 17,368, ofwhich nearly 1/3 of the population is under 15 years of age and nearly under the age of 24. In Little Horton, only of all people between theage of 16 and 74 are either working or seeking work (economicallyactive). 32.6% of those who are unemployed are aged 16-24 years of age.Only 10% if of the population have professional or degree levelqualification. 52.7% of the population are from a BME background withPakistanis constituting 37.8 % of the wards population; the total forBradford is14.5%.

(www.bradfordinfo.com/census/WardProfiles/LITTLE%20HORTON.doc)

A focus group was held in November 2008 with nine males from BMEbackgrounds (mainly South Asians) between the ages of 21-65. Thefocus group was asked for their views on community cohesion and theresponses highlighted considerable scepticism and cynicism of theagenda. Respondents were aware that the terminology had its roots inthe Northern uprisings and the 9/11 attacks in America. Someacknowledged that the rhetoric was replete with aspirations aimed atreducing negative stereotypes, tensions and conflicts betweencommunities and promoting better understanding and good relations.

While there was an acceptance that the terminology of communitycohesion was here to stay respondents agreed with the view thatcommunity relations and community unity are better terms to describecommunity cohesion.

The majority of the respondents however were cynical of the conceptand considered community cohesion to be a money spinner, a buzzword, a new jargon, a euphemism for BME people having tointegrate more, it is contrived and imposed it has no real substance,a tick-box, and more like community confusion.

When participants were asked to reflect on the term and what theterminology meant in terms of its application as a public policy tool. Theresponses were unanimous:

Bringing people together to share activities and communityspace

To address race issues indirectly

Challenging prejudice borne of ignorance

Engaging at the community level with all communities

Creating an environment where we are open on social

issues that affect us all like drug misuse, domestic violence,race hate crime
http://www.bradfordinfo.com/census/WardProfiles/LITTLE%20HORTON.dochttp://www.bradfordinfo.com/census/WardProfiles/LITTLE%20HORTON.doc


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Notwithstanding the intent of the policy, respondents felt that theapplication of the policy presented inherent challenges that centred onthe following articulated concerns:

Community Cohesion should not just be about race it as muchabout class but this dimension is not incorporated

Community Cohesion should be about recognising we all havemultiple layers, common interests, similar objectives andaspirations, we share interests, loyalties, we support the sameteams etc; this is cohesive

It is contrived and imposed from the top and it has drawnattention away from other issues, we have unwittingly acceptedthis agenda although it has no real substance

There used to be recognition that minority communities faced

discrimination and racism in society and that this had to bechallenged and redressed. However with Community Cohesion thefocus has shifted and communities are being blamed for theirdisadvantage and discrimination

The Community Cohesion agenda as it is currently configured wasconsidered to be skewed as it was seen to focus too much on BMEintegration without paying sufficient attention to the racism inherentwithin wider society and the discrimination experienced by minorities,new arrivals and migrants.

For the respondents, community Cohesion had become a euphemismfor race and by constructing the policy in a way which problematisedBME communities, the government had unwittingly created a contextfor race relations, which was pandering to far right sentiments. Againstthe backdrop of the cohesion policy, the rhetoric of the press and media,was exacerbating ethnic divides by reinforcing their own labels oncommunities and being anti-Muslim.

Respondents expressed the view that implementation of the policy wasalso limiting as it avoided core issues of inequality and race

discrimination. While there was agreement that Community Cohesionshould be a cross-cutting theme of work of all public officials and hencemainstreamed through the operations of the local public bodies, thecentrality of rights and responsibilities was considered to be even morecritical in the implementation of the policy.

Participants were then presented the following statement and invited torespond: The problem is that these f*****g people are rubbish in theirown country and they come over here; they bring nothing exceptproblems; they have no interest in us and our ways; they just live amongtheir own.


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Respondents acknowledged that this is a view that is being increasinglyused not only between communities and within communities but alsoby young people and regrettably is being unchallenged and accepted.These sentiments were being particularly expressed by more settledcommunities towards new arrivals, however it was not uncommon to

hear Caribbean people say it about Pakistanis and visa versa. While itwas acknowledged that it is a view based on ignorance and narrowmindedness, one respondent felt strongly that the prevalence of theseattitude stemmed from the fact that

We have lost the values of welcoming those less fortunate insteadwe exploit them; but this is also due to leadership; politicians donot seem to express their welcome for migrants and new arrivalsand recognition of their contribution to the local community.

Focus group members believed these views were a reaction to the rapidpace of societal change that was breeding a sense of insecurity.

It was also acknowledged that notwithstanding current challenges,there were historic factors in Bradford, which have been instrumental infostering community divides. These included the failure of public bodiesto manage community relations and tackle racism and discriminationappropriately. Although Islam and Muslims are an integral element ofthe citys fabric, they continue to be misunderstood and perceived asoutsiders. This separation and difference has been re-enforced becausenot enough effort has gone to creating spaces in which communities can

interact, exchange and challenge perceptions of each other.

Respondents acknowledged that while place and ethnic identity had animportant role in defining the dynamic of inter-community relations inthe city, ironically, these differences were less significant during travelabroad because in Turkey and Greece we recognise commonality withother Brits; abroad we have these alliances. This suggests that thenotion of cultural and ethnic identities is a shifting concept and thehistorical memories of a place can contribute to perpetuatingoppositional relationships that have a historical basis.

The focus group was next asked to consider the main obstacles toCommunity Cohesion and how this could be addressed using thepresent policy framework. The dominance of race as a central strandwithin the Community Cohesion paradigm was considered to beunhelpful as it privileged difference rather than commonalities:

there are many layers and levels to yourself and your identity, weare lots of things but when we define our self in one way and denythe other parts of our self we create problems fitting in and alsowhen society denies and fails to recognise the other parts of your

identity then they create barriers for your inclusion; this forcesyou into a pigeon hole and label.


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Participants believed that the narrow definitions prescribed by thecommunity cohesion framework could not offer solutions; instead theanswers were rooted in notions of equality, social justice and anti-racistand anti-discriminatory practice.

The role of education was regarded as crucial in exploring difference,racism and social justice and develop(ing) values of tolerance andmutual respect. Unfortunately these issues were being brushed underthe carpet out of fear in relation to how issues and debates will bemanaged in the classroom. If educational approaches were to succeed ithad to confront these issues head-on and involve not only young peoplein mainstream schools but also faith schools and the largercommunity.

Respondents considered the other key successful markers of communitycohesion to be the extent to which women were being engaged andrepresented and the existence of economic opportunities in which thereare no barriers to employment of BME people.

In attitudinal terms, Cohesion could be measured in terms of theconfidence with which communities felt able to challenge stereotypesand discrimination and abusive comments about other communitiesWhen BME people no longer felt like outsiders but feel real belonging toBradford and the UK, then the vision of community cohesion wouldhave been achieved.

Respondents in the West Bowling focus group were also aware ofanother critical dimension to community cohesion that acknowledgedthe intra-ethnic diversity under the umbrella heading of BME. In thisrespect, unity between Bangladeshi, Kashmiri, Pathan and Gujeratiwas considered to be as critical as the welcome afforded to newcommunities settling into Asian neighbourhoods in achieving the goalsof community cohesion.

While there was an admission that these issues posed thornychallenges, which had yet to be resolved, there were strategicinterventions which could me made to overcome some of these barriers.It was felt that Imams could play a significant role in resolving the intra-community tensions between the citys diverse Muslim communities, anumber of respondents agreed that the Friday prayer in Mosques is aprime opportunity to communicate a social message but it does nothappen because Imams are not competent and lack awareness of theagenda.

However, in relation to bridging inter-racial divides, strong andenlightened leadership was considered to be critical in facilitating

constructive pathways. While in America, the Obama factor had beencritical in beginning to bridge historical divisions between Black and


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white communities, in the context of the UK, those in power had shownpoor and weak leadership. In the absence of a national leader with abroad appeal, Obama had ironically become an inspirational figure forthe Black community throughout the UK due to the absence of positiverole models at home.

The leadership qualities which respondents considered to be critical inpromoting cohesive communities was one in which they were positiveabout diversity. The assessment of current political interventions wasdecidedly negative; politicians were regarded as contributing to anti-migrant rhetoric and perpetuating views of Muslims as extremists andterrorists resulting in BNP messages being legitimised because no oneis prepared to come out and say they welcome migrants and that wehave to address the needs of ethnic minorities in Bradford.

Respondents felt that over the last 50 years the Asian community hadmade a huge social and economic contribution and cultural investmentin the city which had been unacknowledged. The restaurant chainMumtaz, was cited as an example of a local business which had madean enormous contribution to the local community and economy buthad failed to receive due recognition for its efforts. Only a broader andmore representative leadership that promoted messages of unity ratherthan division could engender a radical shift from the current status quo.

It was clear from the focus group interviews in West Bowling that forBME communities (particularly Asian communities) the community

cohesion agenda has been a retrogressive step in terms of promotinggood race relations. Ironically the conception of the policy as aconstructive response to the Northern riots had backfired because thefailure to adopt a twin-community approach to community cohesionmeant that the policy was viewed as racist in its design andimplementation. Its failure to elicit the critical buy-in from BMEcommunities meant that it was doomed to failure.

HOLME WOOD FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES

Holme Wood has a population of approximately 10,000, and the estatehas been in existence for almost 50 years. In the mid-nineties it wassingled out as an area suffering high deprivation and crime levels andreceived a large amount of investment mainly centring on renovatinghousing and improving the architectural look and quality of the area.Holme Wood has always had a large traveller population who havesettled on the estate since it was established. It also has small numbersof settled African-Caribbean residents. There are almost no Asianfamilies living in the area and virtually no long-term residents from anAsian background. It sits in Bradford South adjacent to another estate

known as Bierly, which is smaller but of a similar ethnic make-up, andclearly separated by Tong Street, a busy road leading to Leeds and


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Wakefield. Ethnic minority groups form approximately 5 percent of thearea.

One focus group of 8-10 people and six single interviews wereundertaken in Holme Wood. The core issues and themes to emerge are

presented below.

The responses from the Holme Wood focus group highlighted clearlythat the levels of awareness around the terminology of CommunityCohesion and awareness of the policy framework was markedly lowerthan those elicited from the focus group in West Bowling. It was clearthat a significant proportion of those present had never heard of it, notheard it at all, not a great deal, dont know what it means, and werenot aware of any activities concerning cohesion.

Where respondents had come across the term Community Cohesionthey demonstrated a superficial understanding of the term:automatically think of white and black, means integrating, its aboutmixing, building a multi-cultural society and blacks and whitesbringing them together as a group.

The responses elicited from this group led the interviewer to commentthat that the focus group did not appear to be aware of anythingrelating to this policy or programmes. What did emerge during theinterviews was a constant referencing to a divisive dynamic of inter-community relations between black and white communities. The

government was implicated for letting in more and more people into thecountry and comments about asylum seekers, refugees and Muslimswho were deemed to be outsiders were decidedly hostile and in somecases racist.

Refugees they are here six months then they are taking moneyout of the country.

They come over and take over everything. It affects the way we(White) people view ourselves as so much has been taken over.

We are giving them everything that they want. Why cant they

abide by our rules? We live in a small island so I dont know why they are always

putting more people here.

A few years ago if someone wanted to go and pray and take abreak at work they wouldnt be allowed but now they can go andpray whenever they want and its all cocked up.

How many mosques have we got now in Bradford it makes it feellike they are taking over

Lets not forget we are a Christian country.

A stakeholder professional working within the youth service believes

that the hostility to outsiders inherent in such views is because youngpeople are not used to going out of Holme Wood they dont want to


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meet anyone else. This observation was supported by statements madeby a number of members of the focus group.

A lot dont like going beyond Sticker Lane. For example a youthcentre moved across to Sticker Lane and no kids went there as alot of people dont like leaving the area

I dont even socialise with travellers within Holme Wood Its years since Ive been out in town or into the town centre

People dont really want to come out of their houses its veryhard to get anybody to turn up to anything. Even when things arefree or there is food they still dont want to know.

The dilution of British identity and the emerging dominance of non-British values was perceived as a grave threat and emerged as apersistent theme throughout the interviews. In this context theallegiance of Asians (and non-white citizens) to their ethnic, cultural

and religious identities were regarded as decidedly un-British.

Some Asian people still value their Bangladeshi or Pakistaniidentity above Britishness.

I dont think Asians feel British

Asians dont really want to join in unless its to do with theirculture.

They take their kids to the Mosque; they arent bringing them upin English culture.

I think we are losing our identity and the human rights act hasgone crazy.

While one of the respondents acknowledged that culture had a positivevalue as Asians have a sense of family and community that we havelost, there was general unease at the pace in which the social fabric ofthe city was changing. Multi-culturalism was implicated in the dilutionof the British identity, leading to two of the white interviewees to rejectthe notion of Britishness.

Britishness does not mean much to me anymore.

Britishness means nothing to me.

Respondents in the Holme Wood focus group clearly perceivedBritishness as appertaining to white communities who had a sharedhistory, it was seen as an entitlement of those from more traditionalEnglish backgrounds and those who are born and bred as English.

Participants often used the term coloured to refer to BME people,suggesting that the debates around race, ethnicity and language hadnot impinged on them in any meaningful way.

The hostility towards people deemed to be outsiders is all the moresurprising as Bradfords economy has been built on the contribution of


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immigrant labour from Germany and Ireland in the mid-19th centuryand in the 1950s from the West Indies, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The roots of the unease felt towards BME people, especially Asians wereattributed to a range of factors. Political correctness was used by the

group to express their unhappiness over the perceived double standardsoperating within British society where Asians can say things to us andaccuse us of racism but we cant say anything to them.

This perceived inequitable treatment in the way public services weredelivered permeated their responses. The police, judiciary and the NHSwere regarded as giving special privileges to BME communities over thecitys indigenous population. The notion of BME people not playing byBritish rules was a strong dominant theme in the focus groups.

There are no rules for driving for coloured people, they do whatthey like. The police see it and they dont do anything about it.

The police turn a blind eye when it comes to coloureds then wordgoes out that they can get away with more because they can turnround and say its a racist thing.

They park everywhere even on the verges. Well I know a few yearsago we got a ticket for parking on grass verge

I think they bend the rules to accommodate others. For examplethe rules in hospital are that you can only have two to a bed butyou see eight of them to a bed at times. How is that fair that theyhave special privileges because of their cultural differences.

We have to see (at the hospital) whoever, but THEY can insist onseeing a lady doctor.

I was in the hospital and a woman and her child were speakingHindustani and the interpreter was asked why the child hadntlearnt English to which the woman replied that she didnt need tothey could just use interpreters.

Asians receive favourable treatment by the judicial system i.e.lesser sentences and often the punishments did not fit the crimes.In Pakistan one could get your hands or fingers chopped off forthe same crime.

The big thing with coloured people is that they dont think to obeythe rules.

Respondents responses mirrored the messages exploited by the tabloidpress and the far right, which are redolent of images of foreignerssponging off the state and people not working or ever intending to.England was considered a soft touch whose beneficence was beingexploited by people coming here, and wanting to get very rich veryquickly.

They come over and take over everything. It affects the way we(white) people view ourselves as so much has been taken over


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So when you see that they come over here with (x) number of kidsand they are living off the state and they are getting so manyhand outs it does make your blood boil

It comes down to the tension over Asians and blacks when theycame over in the 70s taking jobs from the white man because they

would work for less, its the same issue now with Polish comingover

A couple of the respondents challenged this view, and felt that theproblem of economic inactivity applied both to immigrants and to whiteyoung people. Asian young men were however held responsible forcompounding the disadvantage experienced by white young people onthe estate.

Asian young men are supplying our young men and women with

the nasties (drugs). There are so many young Asian males with big flash cars.

If I saw a few Asians driving in a car through the estate I wouldsuspect that they were drug dealers

Asian young men, particularly of Pakistani descent were viewed withsuspicion and there were real concerns of terrorist attacks and streetdisturbances reminiscent of the riots in the 1990s and 2001.

I think you will be back to the 90s and have riots on your handsagain.

There will be problems. I can see riots happening again. I dontthink it will improve.

I can see another Bradford riot and I can see a Muslim uprisingas well.

People in Holme Wood do feel a fear about the terrorism thing Im not saying they are all like that but it all seems to becoming from Pakistan at the moment

Interview responses layered the threats of riots and acts of terrorism ontop of the old politics of envy based on the perception of BME

communities receiving preferential treatment over white disadvantagedcommunities all the big refurbishment of 2, 3, 5 million pounds havebeen spent in Asian areasand round here gets much less - hascreated an insidious dynamic which has perpetuated andinstitutionalised historical inter-community divides in Bradford.

The evidence from the research clearly points to the fact that ethnic andracial divides continue to create a corrosive inter-community dynamicwhich the governments policies on Cohesion and Preventing ViolentExtremism and Terrorism have only served to exacerbate through theirfocus on Muslim communities. The millions of pounds of investment,which have been poured into Bradford to bolster these policyframeworks through Cohesion monies and the Preventing Violent


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Extremism fund, appear to have failed to yield the positive communityrelations dividend, which the government is seeking.

The evidence of the failure of current cohesion approaches which locateresponsibility for good community relations primarily on BME

communities deemed to be living parallel and segregated lives wasapparent from residents response to the question: What would happenif a person or group of people of Pakistanibackground would come intotheir estate?

A number of residents candidly admitted that Holme Wood is a racistplace and it was likely that they may be harassed or battered up hereby white lads going around in packs. Likewise, they admitted that theytoo would feel wary about going into predominantly Asian areas.

I didnt feel safe going into Asian areas. I wouldnt gladly walk inan area that was predominantly Asian.

I wont walk through Manningham Park now and I used to walkthrough there as a kid. They will say this is our park.

A couple of respondents felt that the problems in Holme Wood had beenoverstated and that Asians didnt need to worry because they hadnever heard of any trouble. It was however acknowledged thatperceptions of Holme Wood being a no-go-area for Asians was likely tokeep them away.

While focus group members were vocal in attributing blame for the citysethnic segregation on Asians, their attitudes towards the prospect ofcreating a mixed neighbourhood in Holme Wood was instructive.

Holme Wood is majority white people, and the feeling from friendsthat I get is that anything other than that would not be welcome

I think that for Holme Wood is predominantly a white area. Ireally dont think youre going to see it on Holme Wood in terms ofAsians moving here its not just Holme Wood but also any bigmainly white estate.

I think the council is trying to put foreign nationals into HolmeWood. It doesnt really work because the culture is so different soone side has to compromise. So couldnt see that mixing groupswould make things better.

Areas are not mixed, but the groups in those areas like it thatway, dont they? It does need to change but I dont think it will.There will be problems.

What clearly emerged during the interviews was that the ethnic fault-lines between geographical neighbourhoods were also manifest in theuse of public spaces that mirrored the same ethnic divides.


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Some community events were organised where they get theopportunity to mix but only a few people went.

An event was held at a Bradford church which involved bothAsian and white groups. Here the Asian women in attendancewere all put along a table separate to everyone else

The local high school, Tong School is ethnically split and whereeveryone hangs around in cliques.

There are a lot of all Asian football teams and Ive seen one clubbe treated quite badly by league associations. They thought it wasracism but I feel they (the league) just felt it would cause toomuch trouble because there often is with teams from differentracial backgrounds.

The focus group however did yield some surprising responses when itcame to establishing the extent to which they viewed having relatives or

friends from a different background problematic. Although there werereservations to the idea of mixed-race marriages with Muslims - theydont treat their women very well and she would have to stay at home by and large the responses were positive.

No not really it wouldnt be a problem for me.

My niece had just married a Muslim

Well no problem for me as my granddaughter is half Asian.

My sister is married to an Asian guy. I have Asian nephews andnieces

It wouldnt bother me that much.

These responses acknowledge the shifting societal dynamics as youngAsians, many of them now third generation descendents, have becomeincreasingly integrated into the districts political, economic, culturaland social life. Furthermore, 1 in 5 of Bradfords population is of Asiandescent and in relative terms they are growing at a faster rate than thecitys white population. The identity of the city is integrally tied up withthe physical symbols of its Asian and Muslim heritage the domes ofmosques, Asian restaurants, shop-windows showcasing latest Asianfashions, mainstream cinemas screening Bollywood films, established

local businesses set up by BME entrepreneurs all attesting toBradfords multi-cultural and cosmopolitan heritage.

Despite the citys deeply rooted multi-cultural heritage focus groupmembers continually referenced Muslims and Asians as outsiders. Thevision of a cohesive society that the White focus group offered clearlyplaced the responsibility for improved community relations at the doorof non-white communities. This was evident from the call byrespondents for a change in attitude of ethnic groups, betterinter(action) with the English, bringing them (children) up in Englishculture, abid(ing) by our rules.


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There was however a recognition that inter-community relations in itscurrent state did not bode well for the future and in this respect bothnational and local government were regarded as having a critical role toplay in bridging community divides.

They need to bring people together into one area and giveeveryone the chance to speak and be listened to. For too long theyhave segregated nationalities and only listened to one group at atime rather than everyone together as individuals. Thats down tolocal government.

Definitely, because whites in one area and Asians in another. Wellits not right we all live in Bradford so why cant we all get along?

The only way to get to know somebody is to sit down and discussthings. I dont think there is the space to mix now though.

I think its going to get worse with our young people. We are quite

tolerant but our young people are more violent so you dont know Integration could start with younger children, especially with

primary school children and parents need to bring up theirchildren to mix well.

They should try and mix the schools.

If education and understanding is right I dont think you need tochange too much else.

These responses clearly indicate a desire to create a future in which theinvisible boundaries that divide communities are eliminated. This wasa consistent message emerging out of the West Bowling focus group tooand should offer hope that despite the current ethnic divisions thatthere is a unity of vision in terms of the kind of society and city bothBME and white communities wish to inhabit. Despite the racisminherent in the views expressed by the Holme Wood residents, what liesat the root of their xenophobic rhetoric is the failure of government tomake a robust case for immigration, diversity and BME contribution tothe city.


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STAKEHOLDER FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES

The stakeholder interviews sought to explore constructive prescriptionsthat could help Bradford achieve the vision of united communities.There were 10 participants representing a range of people engaged in

policy formulation and service provision drawn from local authority,local government, education, criminal justice agencies and thecommunity and voluntary sector. As this section of the researchattempted to elicit candid views around the limitations of currentapproaches the identity of the agencies and respondents has beenanonymised.

As a policy framework it was felt that the effectiveness of CommunityCohesion as a stand-alone tool was limited because it could not beseparated from valuing diversity and issues of equality. The ability of

communities to get on with each other could not be achieved as long asone community (Muslims) feels they are discriminated and treatedunfairly by another in actual or perceived terms. Respondents felt thatthe agenda in its current form talks about race more than everything;its about racial tension, racial relations and particularly the racialrelationship between the Muslim population and the rest of the Britain.The fact that in its current conception it isnt defined as a two-wayprocess and places a disproportionate onus on BME communities,especially Muslim communities to assimilate to a mainstream culturemeans that its ability to achieve its vision of a cohesive society isseverely constrained.

Respondents also regarded the concept of Community Cohesion asbeing closely aligned with notions of fairness where every citizenperceives that society is fair to them and their family, their community.Unfortunately this sense of fairness has been skewed over the years onthe back of the governments responses towards extremism and othermisguided approaches. A number of contributors considered theterminology of Community Cohesion to be very confusing, notcoherent and top down in its implementation and therefore unable tosecure the community buy-in which is so crucial to the policys success.The Community Cohesion vision was also criticised because the levelsof integration that the government has set is really a utopian ideal. Thereality is that one will never get communities to integrate to the extentthat they want them to as we will always have people living in an Asianbubble or white bubble. The critical issue was for both national andlocal government to show strong leadership and take on challengingdebates which do not pander to the far-right rhetoric of (in)equitableallocation of resources as the reality is BME communities have alwaysreceived less than white communities. To illustrate the point, one of therespondents highlighted that with the SRB (Single RegenerationBudget) the first three major pots of funds went to white working class

communities - Holme Wood, Royds and Newlands when it was theturn of the South Asian communities to receive money there was little


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funds left. The failure to make a clear statement based on factualevidence was attributed to a real reluctance in Bradford to be seenaddressing BME issues as this is regarded as pandering to the Muslimcommunity so little is done.

Respondents said that the failure to tackle perceptions of beneficialtreatment towards Asians head on has provided fertile ground for thefar right and the BNP whose support is increasing in the district.Consequently rather than redress the poverty, disadvantage andexclusion experienced disproportionately by BME communities, thelocal authority and its partners are being drawn into shifting its focus toempowering white working class communities thereby exacerbatingBME inequality even further.

The inference from responses is clear; that the formulation of public

policy in such terms has served to obscure the political and systemicfailures at the heart of national and local government approaches whichhave been instrumental in dividing BME and white communities.

There needs to be recognition that it was not BME communitiesthat created parallel lives this is consequence of 30 years ofhousing and education policy which resulted in a socially andeconomically deprived BME community in the city which did nothave social mobility and it was white people who left the city andnot BME people who pushed them out; survey after survey hasshown BME people want to live in culturally and racially mixed

areas whereas white people want to live in white areas; we need tobe honest and not blame the BME communities for segregationand ghettoisation.

Economic factors contribute to people living parallel lives and thisis not given as much recognition than the riots and extremism;the fact that we have so many BME graduates who areunemployed and there is racism in employment

The vision of Community Cohesion respondents felt might be betterserved if there was a recognition of the BME contribution to the city

(Bradford) which after 50 years is still not recognised and the fact thatin predominantly Asian neighbourhoods like West Bowling people of allbackgrounds are getting on and working with each other. Thegovernments culpability in play(ing) on the fears of the middle classesby painting the working classes or inner city areas as neighbourhoodsproliferated by guns and gangs obscured the positive aspects of life inthese neighbourhoods of people caring, helping each other and eatingin each others homes.

Respondents felt that the Community Cohesion policy carried real risksof typecasting and alienating a whole generation of Muslim youth

because it sought to perpetuate myths that stereotyped Asiancommunities and presented them as the big bad wolf.


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A number of stakeholder group members did not regard contemporarychallenges around cohesion to be any worse than prior to the 1990Bradford riots. There was significant consensus that the CommunityCohesion policy was given added significance only after the 2001 riots

and the terrorist attacks in New York and London. In their view therewere the same problems between communities but after 9/11 and thesecond riots it was presented that all the problems were because thePakistan Muslim community who could not integrate and were to blamefor all the social problems of the city. This association is so embeddedin many peoples thinking in agencies and local authority that it haslegitimised the demonisation of Muslim communities, leading to whatfocus members referred to a siege mentality.

If a community feels that they have been attacked, they will put

up the barriers for you. A siege mentality has occurred. TheMuslim community feels that they are under attack and they haveput up walls around themselves.

While large sections of the Muslim community remain highly suspiciousof the monies distributed for targeting violent extremists, the allocationhas had had the effect of fuelling old suspicions from the Whitecommunity that Muslims are being singled out for special treatment.

It is an irony as white communities have asked why all themonies have gone to Muslim communities and why the focus

has been on those communities, the problem is that Muslimcommunities dont want all the attention, its just that thewhite communities have not engaged in this process and havenot been asked to become engaged.

There was considerable cynicism among focus group members aboutthe real intention of the government in making Prevent such a dominantpolicy and funding strand. A number of participants considered thepolicy to be opportunistic which sought to play to the gallery of popularpublic opinion.

The agenda has all been about appeasing the far right andBNP elements in Bradford district to show Whitecommunities that they were not soft with BME communitiesand appease the BNP rhetoric at election time

The need for the government to take a more modulated stand in thepresent economic climate was considered critical as there was a realrisk that its rhetoric could play into the hands of the BNP; a patternthat was thought to be reminiscent of the 1920s rise of fascism whenthe depression got worse.


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In the light of the highly critical assessment of the impact of thegovernments Community Cohesion policy in Bradford by thestakeholder group, participants were then given the opportunity toarticulate the key community relations challenges facing the city andfrom there posit alternative solutions to the one currently being pursued

by the Labour government.

The prescriptions that the stakeholder group identified were wide-ranging. There was a general consensus that Bradford is a dividedcommunity and communications between communities living inghettos and separate areas was critical to fostering better relations. Tothis end communication strategies had to be pursued wherebyindividuals with their own agendas and gatekeepers were by-passedand opportunities were created which allowed interaction, exchangeand understanding not only between different communities but

especially with young people as most of the tension points emanatedfrom youth interactions.

Housing was a key issue which presented huge challenges becauseBradford will always have a BME population in the city and whitepopulation in the outer ring; it is down to the last 30 years and cant bechanged overnight, especially when BME people experience hate crimewhen they move into white areas and are forced to leave and go backinto the city.

The proliferation of mono-cultural schools was having a detrimental

impact as it was leading middle class people from all communitieseducating their children out of the district. Education was therefore acore issue that needed urgent attention because of the systematicunderachievement of particular communities such as Pakistani,Bangladeshi and white working class boys that translated intoconstrained life opportunities.

The lack of BME access to employment opportunities meant that theyhad to either become self-employed or to seek jobs out of the city. Thesame barriers applied to young people of African and Caribbean descentas their ability to get a job was considered to be highly unlikely.Respondents however acknowledged that the problem of educationalunderachievement and access to the job market applied equally towhite working class communities.

The failure to target resources and significant funding to address theseissues was considered a major failing, leading to a call for the localauthority to be held to account for its failure to communities inBradford. The failures that were catalogued by the stakeholder groupincluded the following:

Agencies have not been good at managing the communitycohesion agenda in Bradford.


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I feel that local authority has perpetuated myths by remainingquiet on the allocation of regeneration funding; they haveperpetrated the idea that disproportionate funds are allocated toBME in the city compared to white areas this is just not true

Many people are living in poverty, in low paid jobs. They need to

address jobs and education rather than telling them that they areterrorists.

The government is too hung up with religion and identity; theyshould be looking at issues of education and poverty.

It needs to be presented that despite challenges the district overallhas many examples of positive community interaction andproblems are no more greater than elsewhere and overall peopledo get on; it is only those on the extremes and margins who fuelprejudice and hate

Community Cohesion in the context of the problems enumerated abovewas considered to be inadequate in addressing the above failures.Respondents felt that the policy was unlikely to have a long-lastingimpact as it was framed negatively rather than positively and theinvestment had not gone where it is needed. It was also considered tobe reactive rather than responsive and its ability to address coreissues holistically was questioned.

The template which respondents considered more appropriate totackling the discrimination experienced by both white and BMEcommunities included those which fore-grounded equality of

opportunity and racial justice. In this respect the indicators that thestakeholder group considered to be the benchmark for measuring goodcommunity relations included equality of outcomes in relation toemployment and service provision. In this context narrowing the gap ineducational outcomes, improved employability and attraction byinvestors into Bradford were considered to be positive indicators whichwould not only reduce the differential outcomes between minorities andthe mainstream communities but would be of direct benefit to allcommunities.

Many of the indicators highlighted above are already present asoutcome and output measures within Local Area Agreements. Thesemeasures have also been integral to regeneration and neighbourhoodrenewal initiatives, which have resulted in millions of pounds beinginvested in Bradford over the years. Clearly if poverty, racial violence,segregation and inequitable life chances continue to be the definingexperience of Bradfords BME and white communities, they point tomassive failures at the heart of national and local governmentapproaches.

Focus group members were clear that many of the disparities in BME

outcomes could be tackled through the Race Relations Act and theamended legislation. It provided a tried and tested framework for


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determining priority areas for action through impact assessmentsthrough which agencies could be held to account in relation to equalityin particular in relation to employment and education. Rather thanwork in concert with the legislation both government and publicauthorities were criticised for undermining it.

We have an excellent Race Equalities Act but it is not acted on orused to promote community relations; the objective of promotingcommunity relations has always been there but the CommunityCohesion agenda has undermined the Race Equality Act.

The fact that neither the Equality and Human Rights Commission or thegovernment are monitoring or prosecuting public bodies for non-compliance suggests that Race is no longer part of the central or localgovernment agenda. As evidence, focus group members pointed to the

absence of effective procedures for dealing with hate crime andracially motivated crimes and the resurgence of anti-immigrantrhetoric, discrimination and racial violence towards asylum seekers,refugees and migrants, which elected members, MPs and communityleaders have not sought to challenge in accordance with the duties topromote good race relations prescribed in the Act.

Despite the over-arching issues facing the city, the stakeholder groupacknowledged that Bradford has pockets of best practice that deserve tobe highlighted. These included the nationally acclaimed Schools LinkingProgramme, the council magazine entitled Community Pride which

celebrates positive achievement, the Bradford and Keighley YouthParliament and sporting initiatives such as midnight football for 13-16year olds which the Youth service had used to successfully engageyoung people standing on street corners.

Notwithstanding the good work that is occurring, there was generalagreement that there were overwhelming challenges, which had to beovercome as the changes had to be transformational and built into themainstream business of all sectors. Hitherto, efforts made to bridgecommunity divides as part of the Community Cohesion programme hadbeen superficial and did not deeply touch peoples lives because itsapproach is too much top-down and is not met by bottom-upcommunity activity and development.

Similarly the policys efficacy in address(ing) equality, employment,housing and education barriers was limited because it had not beendesigned to work in concert with other policies aimed at addressingstructural failures. In fact the policy had been retrogressive because theCommunity Cohesion agenda has undermined the Race Equality Actwhich could have effectively addressed institutional failures.

The stakeholder group felt that one of the biggest failings of CommunityCohesion had been its failure to include white working class


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communities on the Bradford estates especially where there has beenBNP influence within its framework.

On balance, the consensus was that the Cohesion framework had failedto address the key challenges which they considered to be vital in the

context of Bradford: unemployment, segregation and poor achievementin schools, access to housing in mixed developments and tacklingperceptions of perceived BME advantage which have created andmaintained divisions in the city.

Despite the severe limitations of the policy, respondents believe thatCommunity Cohesion will continue to be on the political agenda ofmain political parties and will continue to be a priority in the future. Itwas their view that as long as there there is nothing new to replace itand as long as the government wants to marginalise race equality then

Community Cohesion would continue to be the dominant ideologydefining race relations in the country.


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CONCLUSION

It is clear that from the responses of the three focus groups, thatcommunity cohesion is a depleted ideology which has not produced thegovernments vision of cohesive communities.

The close alignment of the Asylum, Preventing Violent Extremism andAnti-terror agendas with the Community Cohesion policy has onlyserved to strain inter-community relations through problematisingBME communities. The rhetoric emanating from such approaches hasplayed into the hands of the far right, thereby undermining those veryvalues which the government seeks to uphold. Worse it has alienated anentire generation of young BME people and especially Muslims forwhom the policy has had profoundly negative impact in terms of theirdaily lived experiences.

The governments failure to address the systems which have contributedto the generational poverty, racism, discrimination and poor life chancesof BME people suggests that 10 years on from the Stephen LawrenceInquiry, institutional racism continues to define the conduct ofgovernment vis a vis its BME citizens.

There is a clear need for the government to articulate a vision for Britainwhich accords BME people an inalienable and equal status in Britishsociety. Community Cohesion as a policy construct will always locateminority communities in oppositional terms to the White Us. If

governments of whatever political hue are serious about positivecommunity relations, then the basic building blocks on which thisvision must be constructed is one which is based on the principles ofequality, social justice, anti-racism, anti-discriminatory and anti-institutionally racist practices.

In this respect, the failure of government to take the mantle ofleadership on race issues means that OXFAM and other like-mindedcharities and trusts have to be more pro-active in creating alternativespaces and discourses which challenge current approaches to BME

communities. JUST West Yorkshires hope is that this researchcontributes to the momentum which is building which seeks to dislodgecommunity cohesion as a policy construct and replace them withapproaches which re-locate Race back into notions of Equality andJustice.

Recommendations

The government should articulate a vision for Britain whichaccords BME people an inalienable and equal status in Britishsociety.

Unemployment, segregation and poor achievement in schools,access to housing in mixed developments, and tackling


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perceptions of perceived BME advantage should be a priority inBradford and nationally.

Disparities in outcomes for Black and Minority Ethnic groups canand should be tackled through the Race Relations Act. Thisprovides a tried and tested framework for priority areas for action

through impact assessments in which agencies can be held toaccount. The Race Relations Act also has community relations inits remit.

The benchmark for measuring good community relations shouldbe equality of outcomes for all, in employment, education andservice provision.

As a policy construct community cohesion should apply as muchto white working class communities as Black and EthnicMinorities. It should be replaced with approaches relocating Raceback into notions of Equality and Justice.

If governments are serious about positive community relations,then the basic building blocks should be based on the principlesof equality, social justice, anti-racist, and anti-discriminatorypractice.

Documents

Perspectives on Community Cohesion in Bradford: A comparative analysis of two neighbourhoods