Its cool the #Desi uncle is celebrating 5 decades of running a successful #BritishAsian owned business in #Dudley - but I'm a bit cynical about "formerly" racist customers being 100% apologetic.

Maybe they are to some extent, but would they still be the same if instead he'd become Lord Mayor of Dudley, or a policeman, a magistrate/judge or someone else in a position of authority who would have the power to make life more difficult for the gammons rather than just serve them?

I think "attitudes have changed" as much because of sheer force of numbers - there are more brown/black people about in Britain these days, so folk in #multicultural areas *have* to accept that, or get up and leave (and even then that doesn't always work!)

#race #racism #England

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czjw2kz7jjmo

Seeing much more use of #spyGlasses by middle aged YouTuber men "auditing" #petrol stations in the #UK (either to check fuel quality or whether the pumps are accurate), some are now starting to covertly film staff as well (who are often brown people) which they weren't doing as much before..

We all know #fuel is bloody expensive and tax high - but #TradingStandards do a good job of checking up on #forecourts and have proper calibrated kit for this purpose.

British motorists have always moaned about price of petrol before I was born (let alone started driving), but it seems to have got worse in recent years (even before Trump's escalations) and seems to coincides with more #BritishAsian folk working in this industry (including becoming CEOs of fuel station chains)

#Retail / #purchasing dilemma (may be a UK-specific thing?) - folk on here say "support small independent businesses", but particularly for #motoring related items/services, not only do they have higher prices and lower stock / customer service capabilities , you search for info on the owners and many turn out to be Reform activists.

OTOH pick middle sized chains (in #automotive there's pretty much a duopoly between #LKQ / #EuroCarParts and #GSF ) and they have a diverse staff - many women in frontline roles driving vans for deliveries, and lots of #BritishAsian and other ethnic minority workers in positions of senior management....

not sure if looking with rose tinted specs, as teen / young adult in late 80s until early 2000s, I remember my town in SE England and many Outer London suburbs had quirky indie shops selling things like #records, art and art supplies, #fashion items - staffed by people your age, with a local business owner (often #BritishAsian )

Pay may not have been as much as an office/admin job for one of the big corporates in your town, but they were often fun places (jobs in them were highly sought after) and staff didn't mind if you went there as much to browse or hang out or as actually buying anything, and these places did provide paid employment for many.

Did everywhere have these places? It seems now that #Amazon and other #OnlineShopping places have eaten this whole business sector.

Mustapha Matura (17 December 1939 – 29 October 2019)

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#blackmen #blackpeople #blackcaribbean #blackbritish #blackplaywrights #asian #britishasian #blackhistory #blackcreatives #blackmastodon

The Rise of Desi Pubs: A Story of Resistance, Community, and Integration

A new documentary, 'The Rise of Mixy', delves into the history of desi pubs, establishments that began as a response to racial segregation and evolved into cultural landmarks for the British Asian community. In the 1960s and 70s, South Asian workers in the UK, often subjected to racism and denied en... [More info]