When Kevin and I went to Leeds in 1998 armed with secret cameras and a small production team, racism in the UK seemed for many to be in retreat. Certainly compared to some of the overt racism of 1970s football hooliganism and the riots in Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol during the 1980s, the situation seemed to have calmed down, at least as viewed by white citizens.
But now overt racism is back at the heart of UK politics, in the guise of thinly disguised white Ethno-Nationalism. Austerity politics has turned the screw on those already struggling economically, raising the political temperature and opened the door for new divisive political actors to exploit age-old prejudices.
New political parties have achieved political success in UK and around the world based on white supremicist ideology, not least the return of Trump in the USA.

Islamophobia specifically has been weaponised by these new ethno-nationalistic movements, whipping up rioters in the UK calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be burned down, mosques attacked and individuals beaten in the street. Non-white citizens are under attack once again. After a period of progress, we seem to be making the same mistakes again.

And yet many white British citizens still find it difficult to acknowledge the implicit, structural racism in our society.

It's time to speak out.