The Rural Racism Project (South West) was the first project in the country to tackle rural racism in this country. When we started the project in 2002, there was very little acknowledgment of either rural racism or BME communities living in rural areas, this is no longer the case. However, rural communities still view tackling racism through policies and procedures developed in urban areas. Our main task over the coming years will be to develop this work, as well as tackle the growing threat of far right activity in the rural South West.

History of the Rural Racism Project

1992

The first report into rural racism was published in 1992 by Eric Jay on behalf of the then Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). The report titled ‘Keep them in Birmingham’ was seminal research report setting the context for tackling racism in rural areas by exposing the true nature of racial hostility and discrimination experienced by black and minority ethnic people in the South West.

2002

Yet, despite this publication and a series of other similar research reports being published, the issue remained largely unrecognized for the preceding 10 years. In 1992 the Monitoring Group worked with the National Association of Citizen Advice Bureaus to mark the 10^th Anniversary of Eric Jays report at an important conference in Exeter entitled ‘The Reality of Rural Racism’. (see link here) This conference was an important event bringing together many people from across the UK who had been working to tackle rural racism.  After the meeting local activists from the South West and TMG developed the idea of the Rural Racism Project.

2003

By 2003 we had a strong membership of volunteers and clients, and at the end of 2003 we opened the Rural Racism Project at the Fredrick Douglas Centre in Plymouth.

2004

The work of the Monitoring Group in the South West quickly grew. Our most important role was providing a local resource for victims of racist incidents, and casework services to help local people facing racial harassment problems. (see link here)  To bring people and ideas together we held a major conference. The conference bought together over 500 local people together to discuss the issue of tackling rural racism. (see link here)  At the same we also continued with our campaigning role and launched a campaign to tackle racist election literature during the elections.  (see link here).

As a result of our Casework activity, the Helpine services, and the campaigns the issue of rural racism in the South West gained prominance. Within a year of the launch of the project, reported racist incidents across the Devon and Cornwall rocketted. (see link here).

2005

In 2005, TMG launched the Racial Harassment And Violence Action Network (RHAVAN) project to coordinate reporting and recording of race hate crime across Devon and Cornwall. We also launched a campaign to acknowledge the English chapter in the history of African slavery, which began in Plymouth. (see link here )

2006

By 2006 the project had really helped raise the issue of rural racism nationally, and more and national newspapers and publications began to now openly examine the issue. (see link here) In 2006 we also won a tender from the Devon and Cornwall Criminal Justice Board to deliver training to community members about tackling hate crime and the role of the criminal justice agencies.

By the end of the year the project moved to the Torbay region, and we opened the Torbay Community Empowerment Project. The aim of this project was to empower local community members to tackle racism across the Torbay region, and influence the local statutory agencies.

2007

During 2007 we started to raise the awareness on the issue of rural racism through arts projects.  The RRP project in Devon and Cornwall worked in conjunction with our project in the East Midlands on one of the largest ever-participatory arts projects to examine rural racism. The project was called ‘Pastures New’. In the East Midlands we worked with Afro-Caribbean elders, the Portuguese community in Boston, and Romany Gypsy women from Gainsborough. In the South West we worked mainly with BME women from across the region and with help from Falmouth University Arts Department, we explored the issue of racism in Devon.  (see links here).

The summer of 2007 also saw collaboration with sound art collective, Ultra Red to reflect on the question of ‘what is the sound of anti racism in the South West?’.  The work culminated in an audio visual installation at Plymouth Arts Centre in September 2007.

2008

During 2008 we continued to develop the Community Empowerment Project in Torbay and created the Torbay MultiCultural Group and Kino as safe spaces from women, children and families to discuss their experiences of racism. During the we also developed a young people’s anti-racist sound project called ‘On the Record’. This project produced information packs, a website and tools to assist young people to tackle racism. (see link here).

2009

Over the past year the project has been supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation to develop our with the Portuguese community in Devon and Somerset, this work is due to finish early nest year. The project moved to Plymouth in September 2009. Over the next 2 years TMG will be working across Devon and Cornwall to support all the BME victims of race hate crime across the region. Specifically we will

1. Providing a casework service to victims of race hate crime across Devon and Cornwall
2. Working with agencies across the region to develop a hate crime forum
3. Providing hate crime casework training for the statutory and voluntary agencies in the region
4. Participating and making contributes to the work of local multi-agency forums concerned with racial violence and harassment
5. Developing our Freephone Helpline, recruiting and training the volunteers from the local region
6. Organising cultural event and promoting a wider understanding of the diversity in the region.