January/February 2009

Making this year count

By Paul Macey, Words of Colour Creative Arts Director

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.’

So wrote Charles Dickens in, A Tale of Two Cities. Now 150 years later his words have renewed relevance as we face 2009 with a sense of trepidation and excitement. Excitement because we now have Barack Hussein Obama, America’s first black President. There is no doubt that we stand at a historic moment in the world’s history with a man of substance and vision taking the reigns of one the most powerful countries in the world.

However the downside - literally - is the economic crisis that Obama and the rest of us face for the foreseeable future. The news that greets us every day is relentlessly depressing and terrifying in equal measure. It is hard to see any positives.

However, despite the doom and gloom there is one thing we can all do which will go some way to alleviate the negativity that surrounds us at the present time. That is to challenge all the negative stereotypes that seek to blame the poorest sections of our society for the current economic crisis.

In the lead up to Christmas a rash of stories appeared in the media that sought to shift the focus of blame from the failings of our banking systems on to those who are on benefits, or those who come to the UK seeking jobs that are often menial and ones that many during the boom times wouldn’t touch.

Take the Shannon Mathews case. The vilification of her mother Karen somehow transformed into a debate about how the creation of such anti social and ‘depraved’ behaviour had its roots in a system that allows feckless souls to leech off ‘benefit Britain’.

Politicians such as the new Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell were ready to add to fuel to fire with his claim that money will not be ‘frittered away on benefit claimants who make false claims during the recession’. Tough talking Purnell asserted that virtually every benefit claimant - from lone parents to those claiming sickness benefit - would have to take steps to get back into work or face heavy sanctions.

His bullish stance was echoed by Labour MP Frank Field who claimed that out of the three million jobs created by Labour nine out of ten of them had been filled by immigrants. Of course large sections of the press lap up these assertions as they confirm every bigoted stereotype. Foreigners taking the jobs and the work-shy poor milking the system – it’s all so convenient and easy!

Purnell would gain far more respect if he was as strident about the £13 billion, yes £13 billion, wasted by the government’s big business friends who were behind the National Health Service IT scheme that has finally been recognised as an unmitigated disaster. The list of wasted resources is long and unimpressive and makes the attacks on the most vulnerable in our society even more unjust and immoral.

So what can we do? Quite simply resist all attempts to fall into this oppressive way of thinking by finding out the facts and challenging stereotypes at every turn. Such a move can change our culture for the better and ensure that those who are elected and empowered to lead us out of this recession into better times focus on causes and solutions rather than blame and diversion.

In President Obama the USA electorate has voted for a more progressive and positive society. Let us follow suit at every opportunity in our daily lives. Happy New Year!

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