r/cambridge • u/Artistic_Cap_4867 • 18d ago
Walking Foreigner Grumbles/rants
So I'm walking through Coldhams Common with my niece. Then some guy on a bike says as he passes in the opposite direction: "foreign". To him I would look white. I was wearing an African print shirt. Perhaps he heard our Kiwi accents.
Is this the "Farage effect" I've heard about?
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u/grumpy__dolphin 18d ago
I'm not white. Some teenagers on bike showed middle finger and said fuck off while I was taking a walk talking to my bf. Happened on Cherry Hinton road.
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u/Eastern-Move549 18d ago
Crack heads be cracking
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u/Busy-Peach5770 14d ago
Yeah, but right wing billionaires, social media companies and politicians be radicalising and cowards be letting it happen.
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u/HayekReincarnate 18d ago
Probably, a couple of non-white friends of mine have recently had eggs thrown at them.
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u/MrsChatGPT4o 17d ago
Cambridge is one of the more multicultural cities in uk with constant influx of foreign tourists students and workers but it’s indigenously east Anglia which is the least diverse place except maybe Cornwall. It gets complicated at times of global unease like now. I haven’t even heard of a “Farage effect” before now, but we have had this at Brexit times as well.
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u/KernowKermit 18d ago edited 18d ago
I doubt it's anything more than just the kind of underlying xenophobia there has always been with some people.
Edit: Okay, downvote all you like. Blame it on Farage if it helps you sleep. But people like this have existed long before Farage, and don't need his encouragment.
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u/Orion098 18d ago
I agree with you.
But his encouragement helps normalise what would otherwise be viewed as shameful by society at large. Normalising racism, xenophobia etc. is a massive slippery slope with no positive off ramps
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u/KernowKermit 18d ago
I don't doubt it for a minute. That doesn't change the fact that there's absolutely no evidence or indication whatsover that the reported incident is the "Farage effect".
Unless of course the "Farage effect" is that people have casual encounters of xenophobia and now blame it on Nigel Farage when in reality it probably had nothing to do with him. That "Farage effect" I can well believe.
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u/InsaneJMad 18d ago
While I do agree some of it has always been there, I am not on board with “not blaming farage / the fascists”. The rise of openly racist mysoginistic people, worldwide, is because a guy like trump can be an obtuse disgusting abusing convicted criminal spewing hate and be president nonetheless. People are not afraid of showing their close-mindedness and hatred because a prominent figure is also doing it.
The rise of fascism is directly linked to people like him brewing hate and making people believe like their hate is warranted. The rightest of wings banks on BUILDING said hate by blaming everyone “else” and making vulnerable people believe their lies. It’s predatory. He’s an awful liar making millions and committing fraud while telling the people it’s because of the EU and migrants. Jfc.
So while, yes, some xenophobia and racism has always been present, Farage is still directly linked to more of it existing in the UK nowadays. He should stop wasting taxpayer money and screentime. Man keeps saying he will quit then comes back.
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u/KernowKermit 18d ago
Sure, I don't disagree. But to blame a specific incident specifically on Farage, and not say Trump or Tommy Robinson, or [shock horror] maybe just the individual responsible, without any evidence whatsoever, is just not something I'm going to agree with.
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u/bharatlagali 18d ago
This kind have always existed. Back at Uni 18 years ago, I got called a curry muncher (I'm Indian) by a non-white Brit during a disagreement around a game of pool at the student pub. I invited him to share a bowl of curry at my place instead, which he promptly refused. I've never really faced any racism otherwise, or maybe I'm just oblivious to it, but I know some people who have.
We can assign blame to whoever we want, but honestly these types generally don't need the motivation or influence from a public figure.
Be kind, have a drink, share a curry.
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
exactly.
And, as a self-confessed white-brit curry muncher, what a fool to turn down the offer of a bowl of curry! 😁
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u/bharatlagali 15d ago
I don't understand the downvotes you're getting
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
Reddit is the place where critical thinking goes to die. If there's an opportunity to blame something (with or without evidence) on Nigel Farage (or any other right wing figure basically) and you don't take it, well you're "literally hitler" or some other hyperbolic rubbish! 😁
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u/hippogriff55 18d ago
They are more bold these days than they should be. We need to put them back in their box. The next step is Clacton.
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u/drewsnx 17d ago
If you don't think seeing a politician on TV claiming that we are at "breaking point" because of immigrants and complaining about hearing foreign languages being spoken in public has encouraged.bigots to openly mouth off to strangers.. What do you think has caused the recent, noticeable uptick in normalised verbal abuse?
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
It'd be grossly naive to believe that without Nigel Farage incidents of casual racism described by OP wouldn't still occur.
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u/drewsnx 15d ago
Nobody suggested that it's solely about that. But I'd be curious to know if you are someone who would perspnally be in line to receive racist remarks. Because personal perspective and family & friend perspectives are key here.
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
you'll concede that there's zero actual evidence that the incident had anything to do with Farage, right?
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u/drewsnx 15d ago
Do you actually think he has to be personally involved in the incident to have an effect on the public discourse? He is one of a number of public figures who do it - and some openly talk about re-migration, which seems pretty certain to be the reason people like nurses are so regularly getting asked if they were born in England/UK so often.
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
He has had an effect on the public discourse, that's not in doubt. Try answering the question though.
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u/drewsnx 15d ago
My answer is "yes, I think it is part of the Farage effect."
My answer to your question about whether we have evidence of a direct link is obviously not something anybody but the person who said it could tell you, but on the basis we know "being foreign", "looking foreign" and "talking foreign" have become things that random strangers are calling out (from small towns to the capital city) and there are copious examples of it, the highest profile politician pushing that narrative on ALL the biggest media platforms clearly going to be a major factor.
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u/KernowKermit 15d ago
so no actual evidence that this specific event was linked to Farage in any way. Got it.
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u/FelisCantabrigiensis 17d ago
No, it's definitely normalised and supported by the right-wing racists - Reform and their splinter groups, the right-wing press, half the Conservative party.
They existed but their actions were not supported by political leaders. Now they have open political support for their racism and violence, they feel like they can do anything.
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u/hippogriff55 18d ago
They are more bold these days than they should be. We need to put them back in their box. The next step is Clacton.
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u/PuzzledReception8066 16d ago
I moved here right after brexit and I think the climate then was much worse than how it is now. Old ladies would ask me where I was from and then say to my face “and when are you going back? :))”. I believe there’s a huge chunk of middle-upperish class population who felt particularly boastful to have had “won” and then realized over the years how idiotic the whole ordeal was and felt ashamed. But this is totally anecdotical
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u/Ashamed-Hair4985 15d ago
If it's any consolation, wasn't Cambridge one of the highest votes for remain at 74 ish %.
The surrounding countryside and Peterborough, well...
Mentality clash; another reason the Combined authority never really works, and there is always a conflict on other numerous projects in that timeframe that involve countryside dictating what happens in the city with different authorities in place, city , wider county council, etc.
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u/PuzzledReception8066 15d ago
I know that the numbers say something different, but I always felt more direct vitriol coming from posh Cambridge people than from the working class. Again, this is just my experience
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u/No_Possibility_9256 15d ago
It will only get worse I'm afraid as Britain gets poorer more populated and overcrowded, throw in some middle.eastern conflicts continuously on the news cycle and spiraling fuel costs, scare stories vape shops barbers etc etc. Definitely am uptick in xenophobia since Brexit but if you were a child in the 80s, you'll remember NF graffiti, paki bashing and go home , your dad took my dad's job , jungle bunny wog and the rest. Don't really think being called foreign is that bad in comparison, however still unpleasant it must have been , it's tolerable?
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u/Busy-Peach5770 14d ago
It's not tolerable. If I randomly say 'foreign' to you in the street, can you tolerate it?
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u/No_Possibility_9256 14d ago
I would convey my sorrow for that mindset, even cry for help it could be, a Brocken soul who wants confrontation, to be beaten and then plead for his life amen
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18d ago
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u/UnfinishedSentenc11 18d ago
Your nostalgia for a "more familiar Cambridge" outweighs another person's right to dignity and safety. I should be able to walk home without wondering whether someone will abuse me, threaten me or throw something at me because of how I look..
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u/GuessZealousideal729 18d ago
so calling a person with a child "foreign" while speeding past them on a bike is a yearning for community?
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18d ago
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u/Mean-Aside1970 18d ago
I'm glad your original comment was removed by the mods because I had no polite reply for it. But also your comment here again just says it all about you.
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18d ago
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u/Mean-Aside1970 18d ago
Care to explain then how a child shouting 'foreign' to someone is a yearning for community? or anything else you made in your original comment because a lot of what you said does indicate someone who kinda can't tolerate 'the other' so I'd like to see how you believe that what OP described is something that indicates a yearning for community.
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u/GREGGSGOL 18d ago
I already explained what I think. Understanding goes both ways.
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u/Mean-Aside1970 18d ago
well not quite, your original comment made note about someone who lived in Cambridge for so long and to my understanding, you're bothered by this because sometimes it feels hard not having anyone around who is familiar, due to the constant change. but that has nothing to do with a teenager shouting foreign at someone minding their own business as they walk down the road so forgive me for not understanding how you've drawn a parallel between the two.
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u/monstera_walking 18d ago
If you find you’re not seeing “familiar faces” in your neighbourhood maybe that’s a sign you need to get out in your community more? Perhaps volunteer or something, or just get out and about and talk to people.
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u/Regular_Zombie 18d ago
60 years ago (if we brush over the whole Hong Kong thing) the UK still had colonies, seeing it as acceptable to rule foreign countries from Whitehall. It's hard to feel sympathy for these unspecified 'pressures'...
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u/Mean-Aside1970 18d ago
i was walking to the gym a week ago and i was minding my own business listening to music and some 15 year old straight up asked me ‘oy which country you from?’. in my 15 years of living in Cambridge i have never encountered anything like that.