"I have. I just wanted to make the point that it was a genuine issue and not at all racist to refer to it as you suggested."
The way it was handled by the press in making it a traveller issue rather than a criminal one was racist
It was a crime committed by criminals who happened to be Travellers, nothing more than that
You have been given examples in which similar types of activity are ignored by by Britain and not made "British" crimes, yet you and your ilk have raised them as examples of Traveller behaviour, and expanded on it - that is what makes it racist.
"Your claim that The Independent prints "racist hype" was laughable!"
The press in general goes in for such hype, the Independent being one of the better ones who, on this occasion, put the term 'slavery' in inverted commas, to their credit - most of the rest of the press didn't bother.
It has no place in an argument about prejudice against Travellers and it was racist for Teribus to have raised it here.
The description "slave" was a misnoma anyway, unless you include Dell Computers under the same heading
Still no comment on the far worse conditions we British benefit from - I don'rt wonder why, strangely enough!!
"I have never in my life ever seen any of these signs that your pal Jom "
Still the insecure "Jom" - always a sign that you are floundering and blustering.
The fact that you have not seen the signs in immaterial to this argument - neither had we until we started to be involved with Travellers.
Tou have been given masses of information on their existence, including references to how common they were - you choose to nit-pick about one case
"It doesn't bar or ban "Travellers" at all - which is probably why the CPS took no action in that particular case."
It does just that - if you had read what has been put up, signs worded like this wrere put up and had the same effect of barring Travellers. and, we have been told by Travellers, still do.
I very much doubt if the incidents got as far as the CPS - the police are noted for not bothering with such incidents.
In the mid eighties the Travellers mounted a campaign to get more sites and the vast majority were forced to camp illegally.
A small number of them moved onto prominent public land, contacted the local press and waited for something to happen - one of those demonstrations took place on Streatham Commom
A workmate who knew of my interest, told me (somewhat gleefully) that his brother-in-law and some of his friends from Streatham were intending to attack and burn one of the caravans to scare the Travellers off.
I thought about going to the police, but having had a number of experiences with them, instead I contacted Traveller activist, Roy Wells, who was camped a mile away from our home.
Roy contacted the police, but as an extra precaution, he went to the camp and put them on alert
As a further precaution, I told my workmate I had passed on the information.
The police did nothing - they never followed the report up, they never contacted Wells, they never contacted the Travellers on the site - nothing - no, not entirely true.
About a month later we got a visit from two boys in blue who asked us what contact we had with Travellers and would we report any criminal activity we came across ---- end of story.
I could spend days relating such stories, but I'm pretty sure you would pass it off as Carroll lies and bullshit.
THe police's attitude to Travellers was very much part of the "institutional racism" they found themselves guilty of after the Stephen Lawrence fiasco.
I have no doubt whatever that you have never been involved in a firebombing - your type never have the balls to get your hands dirty in following up your prejudices.
You racist stereotyping adds fuel to the hatred that already exists towards Travellers and, as far as I am concernd, you are as resonsible as the one who throws the firebomb and pours the petrol - "they also serve who only stand and wait", as the saying goes.
Jim Carroll
Jim Carroll