ABSTRACT
In early July 1995, the Commissioner of the (London) Metropolitan Police announced a ‘crackdown’ on violent street crimes such as mugging. Black youths were singled out as targets for increased police attention as records suggested that the majority of muggers were black. This pronouncement drew criticism from groups concerned that black youth were being stereotyped as a lawless, disaffected stratum of urban society. The months preceding the Commissioners statement saw other events that indicated the continuing but complex nature of the ethnic divide in Britain’s cities. Communities of predominantly Asian ethnic groups which had, again stereotypically, been seen as relatively quiescent in previous periods of urban unrest, experienced riots. Popular and quality newspapers published lists of places where postal workers feared to deliver letters; the areas were uniformly characterized by large black communities. From a more liberal perspective, there was continued acknowledgement that the black and Asian communities in British cities experienced worse unemployment and poorer living conditions than their white fellow citizens.
