Immigration and racism have been a key issue for activists in London in recent years (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 09/10/16, Whitechapel High Street).
In recent years, events such as the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and Brexit have made immigration and race particularly contentious issues in Britain. As I have discussed before, London is no stranger to immigration; the city would be a very different place without it. Unfortunately, it is also no stranger to xenophobia, racism, and anti-migrant sentiments, as some of the stickers below demonstrate. However, there are groups, social movements, and activists who are willing to defend the rights of migrants and ethnic minorities in Britain, as most of the stickers below will show.
To see where the protest stickers in this post were located, check out the Turbulent London Map.
Most protest stickers represent left-wing points of view, but there are some that promote particularly nasty politics. These next few stickers are all of this type. When I went back the next day, this one had been removed, suggesting that I’m not the only one that found it unpleasant (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 02/06/16, Euston Road).
The text of this sticker has been obscured by water damage, but the first half says “When Tibet is full of Chinese it’s genocide.” I’m not sure what the second half says, but it implies that there is a similar situation in North America and Europe, but it’s called diversity (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 02/06/16, Euston Road).
I suspect that the last three stickers were all made by the same people/person, given they have the same message, similar design, and were all located in close proximity (Photo: 03/06/15, Great Portland Street).
This sticker was made by an anti-fascist group, and the slogan is quite common amongst anti-fascist stickers, although the image varies (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 09/10/16, Cable Street).
United Glasgow FC is a football team that aims to make the sport accessible and bring communities together to all by keeping costs down and combating discrimination. At some point one of them, or their supporters, came to London and put up a sticker (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 09/10/16, Cable Street).
This sticker has a very simple design, but I think it’s effective. It also doesn’t provide any clues as to who produced it, suggesting that the message was more important to whoever produced it than promoting a particular group or campaign (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 23/03/17, Charing Cross Road).
Stand Up to Racism is a fairly self-explanatory organisation. This sticker is promoting their national day of action in 2017. They also organise national conferences, and smaller protests and campaigns on specific issues. Recently, they have been campaigning against the popular neo-fascist leader, Tommy Robinson, and the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, which they accuse of being racist (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 20/03/16, New Cross Road).
This sticker on Euston Road is another example of a simple, effective message (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 23/03/17, Euston Road).
This slogan has become a common refrain amongst those campaigning against the handling of the European migrant crisis. If there were no borders, then there would be no illegal immigrants, and there would be no need for fences to keep them out (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 09/10/16, Whitechapel High Street).
The UK Border Agency has come under fire in recent years for the immigration raids it conducts across London. A movement has grown up that seeks to counter the raids in a variety of ways, including publicising the movements of the UKBA on social media, so it is harder for them to make surprise raids (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 09/10/16, St. George’s Gardens).
Sisters Uncut is an organisation that campaigns against cuts to services related to domestic violence (see London’s Protest Stickers: Gender). Here, they are expressing solidarity for another vulnerable group. Migrant women are also particularly susceptible to domestic violence (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 12/10/17, Regent’s Canal).
University Teacher in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. Interested in the cultural, historical, and political geographies of resistance.
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