The slums come to the suburbs

Much of the anguish about the killing of Rhys Jones has focused on the tragedy of his life being cut short so young. But what makes his death stand out from the recent spate of slayings of teenage boys is that Rhys didn't hail from the mean streets. Croxteth Park, by all accounts, is an "aspirational" suburb. Despite grim headlines about rising levels of violent crime, most of the disorder stays in the ghettos. This has allowed the middle-classes a luxurious degree of complacency about the dangers of Britain's flourishing underclass. Well, not any more.

Theodore Dalrymple, responding to a gunning down of two girls in Birmingham back in 2003, wrote this article which deserves re-reading.

These are just everyday scenes from underclass life in Britain, a life to which our middle classes, intellectuals and politicians have remained impenetrably indifferent for many years. Never mind: before long, they will soon get a few lessons in underclass culture whether they like it or not. They won't have to go to the slums: the slums will come to them.

Grimly prophetic.

Robbie Millen

Comments

[michael joseph heavey]

the reason britain has underclass is education,to apend tax payers money on education would result ina workforce too qualified for low pay jobs, its cheaper to import fully grown labour,and pay benifits to those who have been who fallen victim to the system.Goverment policy over the last 25 years has cut sports music> the arts,ect to enforce its policy of education not fit for purpose.Access to education and training for life is a right not a cost.The underclass is no accident its government policy.

[Vincenzo Rampulla]

Michael is only partially right - any 'underclass' is not purely a matter of wealth. It is a complex mix of aspiration, education, identity, etc. All are issues where Government can and should play a part but they cannot do it all. We all have a part to play in changing the societal view of what's acceptable.

If communities want places where kids can go and play, be entertained and have fun, safely, then they should make sure it happens. If parents want their children to do better in exams then they should push their children and work with teachers to ensure better results.

We can't push it all on Government and then moan about the 'nanny state'.

[TheOPINIONATOR]

Gang culture is rampant worldwide - UK,USA, Jamaica, Mexico,
Eastern Europe etc. etc are all have serious issues with gangs - in fact one of the worst gangs, in the USA, is MS-13 that originated in Guatemala and "immigrated" to the USA.

Thus there needs to be a global focus and effort to stem the killing and violence & eventually minimize if not eliminate these criminal gangs.

On a local level the parents are the key to stemming gang membership. An advertising campaign showing that gangs are NOT cool with ex gang member giving their testimonials might also be helpful. Also an ongoing photo rollcall of those killed by gang violence would be sobering. Violence and gun embellishing Rap and Hip Hop "music" should be banned. Activities, sports, programmes, etc are also helpful but often unattended by those kids who need them most.

I wish I had "all the answers".

[Michael Standard]

Excuse me, but there has always been an underclass. The question is not as complex as it seems. The complexity comes from Liberals trying to find new ways to justify failed policy.

In the Sixties and the Seventies, the US faced a tidal wave of violent crime that coincidended with control judiciary, congress, and for most of that time- the White House.

The Surpreme Court and Federal Courts were dominated by social liberals and the death penalty was eliminated and prison constructio halted. Focus was on rehabilitating and, just as in the UK, ridulously lenient sentences were given to murderers and rapist who were later paroled only to kill and maime again.

Violent crime shot up ponentially, and no place worse than New York City. It was only the recapture of governorships, congressional seats and the presidency that turned the tide. The death penalty was reinstated and more prisons built. Guiliani in NYC cleaned up the city not by trying to understand the social causes and rehabiliate but by throwing people in jail for long periods. Unsurprisingly, the crime rate fell and now NYC is one of hte safest cities in the world. Do you think gangs don't know where it is?

The British people need to get tough on crime and demand that their lawmakers and judiary do the same.

[c. perry]

Great Britain is joining the United States in the rush toward peonage for the working class. Better education will not help very much because well educated, talented people in all fields can be hired cheaper in India and China. Work that must be done at home can be done by imported labor, everything else can be shipped out. A well educated underclass could be dangerous. This underclass is not a concern in the US. We gave away the world's largest market on a first come,first served basis. Someday we will pay.

[Snets]

I agree with Michael and to a certain extent with the other posters. I think most parents would love to be more involved in the education of their children.

However, with school starting ages being pushed ever lower, and parents being forced to work ever longer hours (due to implicitly expected overtime, ever higher taxes, poor transport, the need to take on debt just for normal living), the control and influence parents have over their children is being slowly but surely hoisted out of the parents' hands.

Unfortunately, only those few who happen to have bought a property before the current extortionate rise in house pricing and who are fortunate enough for one parent to be able to command a salary to cover all living expenses, are in a position to do so.

The others find themselves slaves to schools, nurseries, breakfast & after schools clubs and holiday camps, where their children's education is essentially handled more and more exclusively by others. In this climate of an increasing nanny and big brother type state I do find these ever new offers (and the clear expectation by the government that both parents should be out working and earning taxes for the government) severely worrying.

[Fred]

Maintaining a permanent underclass is not just government policy. It's also corporate policy.

[Pedant]

TheOpinionator is wrong about MS-13. It was founded in Los Angeles by young Salvadoran immigrants, who then took the gang back to their homeland with them as they were deported from the US. From El Salvador, it (along with 18th Street, the other major Central American-founded LA gang) spread to Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc.

[carol, france]

I wholeheartedly agree with Vincenzo Rampulla. We all have a responsibility for the society we live in, but it's so much easier to blame someone/thing else (often the government, which of course, has its share of responsibility). If each person strives to better themselves and their immediate environment, it will have a knock-on effect and eventually improve society.

[Richard]

There are no 'slums' in the UK. There are no 'ghettos' either.The 'underclass' is a political construction. If you think it exists, then it exists.

Dalrymple is wrong:hundreds of TV programmes, dramas etc, have been made about the 'inner-city'.

A new political vocabulary has been created that does not describe the UK but functions a shorthand for lazy journalists.

[Ellen K]

Most leading nations have offered educational opportunities to lower income students. Those who take advantage manage to move themselves beyond their neighborhoods and ethnicities to seize a better life. Unfortunately, we in the US are under assault from far too many people who come here illegally with the main intent being to commit crime. They populate the new gangs forming in the American Southwest and make the previous gangs look like Cub Scouts in comparison. Some of the most violent, grisly crimes are gang related. And then we have a Mexican Consulate that actively seeks to help perpetrators elude prosecution. If you look at the tragedy in Newark, where four up and coming young people of color-college students with bright futures-and see that an illegal immigrant who was already indicted for child rape was bonded out and allowed to commit this crime, then you see what we are up against. Felons MUST be made to serve their time-especially those involved in violent, gang related crimes. Just recently our Dallas news told of how officers were being trained to discover sex slave rings that are active in our area. They come from Asia and Central America primarily.They settle in suburban settings, rotting the neighborhood. Ditto meth labs, or even sublet houses filled with unidentified men, who filter in and out. We do criminal background checks on every mom who brings cookies to school-but we could have pedophiles working on custodial or kitchen staffs in those same schools because people are more fearful of being labeled as racist than they are of having their children harmed. How sick is that?

[Whining Pom]

Richard is right. The perpetrators and gang members are not 'excluded' by anything except their bad attitude.

There won't be a probem with teenage gangs if society does away with a distinctive teenage culture of rebellion. I don't see that happening while there's so much money in it.

[JA]

I wonder what would happen if those in authority were to publicly demean the gang LEADERS (not the followers) rather than glamorise them as they do now? I never thought I would find myself saying bring back the stocks, but something that makes bullies look publicly inferior might help destroy their mystique, and glamour and get them less "respect" from their erstwhile followers. I wonder if demeaning hoodlums has been tried anywhere else and if so whether it worked. Does anyone know?

[Jean Smith]

Theodore was quite right, you see when you dont have a job, money and live in abject poverty and you see images all the day long about the good life. If your human you will aspire to have the car the home all the things that supposedly make people respected in their communities. So selling drugs and guns makes you good money there is no denying. Then you can move out of your slum ridden ghetto and move into a big surburban home with all your wicked children and you laugh as you mingle with the educated and wealthy fools cos soon their neighbourhood will be a battle ground as well. So if you thought for one minute that the drug barons were going to remain in the slums they were intent on getting out of, you have got to be sadly mistaken, because they are probably living next door to the police commissioner!

This is why when the gun crimes all started it should have been culled. Heres a few more predictions; Knife crime will fall and gun crime will rise. Whats the point of using a knife when you can use a gun! Kids will start shooting at police and then well have a real turf war on our hands.

The lack of immigration control in the U.K saw a drastic rise in crime, have we managed to catch all the dangerous criminals on the loose? Because I suspect what came in with them were more violent crime in the form of drugs, sex trafficking and the importation of guns especially from the Eastern block countries. Dont forget these are poor people and they are intent on making Britain work for them and they will do anything. You have to give people the chance to make a decent living or people will resort to breaking the law. Kids need to see the value of education and go onto University and contribute to the economy, how can they, if there are no role models. Every minute of everyday people are oppressed when they are trying. Is is a wonder when kids see you with a degree and masters and unemployed they make a conscious decision that they wont be disrespected but will take what they want by force. Is it a bloody wonder!

[Cerronevado]

This debate is confused by conflating two ideas: an economic underclass and an sociological criminal class.

People may belong to the underclass through misfortune and lack of support, without being anti-social. Of course, a lot of underclass people do become anti-social.

Criminal class people may or may not be underclass. Obviously plenty of criminals are well off and others aren´t.

People talk about involving parents and they are right. But what if the parents are themselves criminals and glory in guns, drugs and violence? There are quite a few of those, now!

Therefore some gang aspects are entrenched and not easily amenable to any policy. Other aspects can be ameliorated by government policy which has favoured economic liberalism and letting society just go ahead and sort itself out. The nanny state charges teachers and social workers to do a job they can´t do and makes them scapegoats for failures of perception and policy.

[jonathan bean]

I've just moved from London to New York as with a 10 month old baby it is too dangerous in London. I did not live in a slum but in a very rich area Hampstead - but crime is out of control in Hampstead too. Despite living opposite a police station my neighbour was killed in one incident, i was held hostage in my own home by a knife wileding robber 2 months later, our car was smashed up 5 times in a year. The police did nothing - crime is out of control in Hampstead and spreading fast to all areas of London. Sell your over priced house now and move to a safe place like New York before your family falls victim to lawless UK. In New York I can walk safely with my wife and baby any time of the day or night and it's totally safe. Don't blame TV because they have that here too! The issue is that government and the police have given in to crime in the UK. Get out now whilst you can - in 10 years people will be leaving lawless UK by the millions - cash out now before the UK property prices collapse due to the increasing crime wave.

[Carolyn]

The culture of envy and cruel bullying criticisms encouraged by the mass media is to be blamed too eg "must have the latest whatevers or you are a nobody" advertisements and manipulative reality shows. Poverty alone does not make people kill each other. There are good poor people of the world who try to live with quiet dignity.
Moreover, political correctness plays a big part of the problem because political correctness loves victims. Ever notice that politically correct people would make excuses for their "victims" but never seemed to offer practical solutions except it is someone else's fault.

[K. Tyson]

Dont even try to pin this murder on the haves and the have nots. Most likely the killer of this young innocent person is a punk with many privileges & opportunities in life.

Stop making excuses for punks.

[DevilsAdvocate]

It is very easy to pass the buck which I think is being done in this instance.
As much as the UK govt has not provided for the 'underclass' what have the parents being doing? There has been a lot of talk of the breakdown of the family - for which again the govt has been blamed. Perhaps one should ask the question - who forced people to have children they couldn't raise or control? I suggest a system is instituted where parents of hooligans are prosecuted at the same time as the unruly youth they've let loose on society.
Second I suggest corporal punishment be re-introduced.
Tough, archiac, undemocratic....yes but little boys like Rhys will be able to go play safely. Thats what counts.

The govt can contribute to a better society by reducing taxes on couples; by building more parks, better educational facilities etc. Longer and harsher prison sentences. No leniency for repeat offenders. Its no longer a political game; this is the life or death of your country as you know it if nothing is done.

[Cool Breeze]

Want to stop gang violence?

Give them free marijuana. Then they'll be too laid back to do anything.