Source: Xinhua Net
Nabil Shukkel stood under an apartment building in London, England, and several attempts to rush into the building failed. Just like that, I watched as the fire engulfed the entire building, as well as my mother, sister, brother-in-law and 3 nieces.
This scene in the early morning of June 14, 2017, is the eternal pain of The British middle-aged man Shukaire. The world-shaking fire in London's Grenfell apartment building claimed the lives of more than 70 people and swallowed up Shukaire's hopes for social fairness and justice.
Racial discrimination drowns out cries for help, and "all men are created equal" become "true lies"
One day in London in October, the weather was overcast. Shukell and Xinhua news agency reporters met in a small park, and the charred Grenfell apartment building was not far away, which was visible from the top.
Nabil Schukel stands on crutches in front of the Grenfell apartment building in London, England, on Dec. 10. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
More than 4 years later, Shukaire said he would habitually pick up the phone and call his mother and brother-in-law.
"Every day, I can still see it in my mind." Shukel took the mobile phone and showed the reporter a picture of his deceased relatives, his eyes soaked with tears.
That fire made many people like Shukaire become the families of the victims. The more than 200 surviving families are also in a desperate situation of displacement.
That fire could have been avoided.
After reading a large number of reports and materials about the fire, the reporter found that the cause of the fire was a short circuit in the wire of a refrigerator on the 4th floor, but due to the flammable materials used in the outer layer of the building, the fire spread rapidly, burning the entire 24-story building and causing the most serious fire in the United Kingdom since the Second World War.
Numerous investigative materials show that before the fire, the building underwent a major renovation, and in order to make the decades-old low-rent apartment building "look better", the "deadly façade" was deliberately pasted outside the building.
Shukel said that the renovation of the building is endless, the circuit is chaotic, and the residents of the building have repeatedly complained to the authorities about safety hazards, and all they get is minor repairs and perfunctory things.
"No one listens to them seriously." Shukel pointed his finger in the direction of the building, "If their complaints could be dealt with in a timely manner, the fire might not have happened." ”
Why are residents' voices ignored? Survey records show that many of the hundreds of residents in the building are immigrants and African, Arab and other minorities. "They're outsiders, they're a minority, so they've never been treated equally." Shukaire raised his voice at this point.
Racial discrimination drowned out the cries of Grenfell residents for help.
In 2018, the British government was blamed for its mistreatment of "Blaster Generation" migrants. Between 1948 and 1971, migrants from the Caribbean arrived in Britain on the ship "Imperial Wind", filling the post-World War II British labor gap, but now they are "crossing the river and tearing down bridges": not only do they face ill-attention in health care, rental housing and employment, but some even receive threats of "deportation".
Statistics from the nonprofit End Racism show that hate crimes against East and South-East Asians in the UK have increased by 300% since the outbreak of COVID-19. According to official figures, in London, blacks are 4 times more likely to be violently enforced by the police than whites.
Discrimination and violence against minorities is rooted in Anglo-Saxon culture, and the "white supremacy doctrine" has been transformed into a comprehensive, persistent and systemic social problem that divides Britain and the United States on the other side of the ocean.
Some scholars believe that the "black life is also life" movement after Freud was "kneeling" was only a flashpoint in the "systemic national tragedy" in the United States, and "I can't breathe" is spreading to more minorities such as Asians and Hispanics.
After the Grenfell fire, the problem of resettlement of residents in the building was delayed and not properly resolved, which caused strong dissatisfaction in the Black Community in Britain. In Shukel's view, "all men are created equal" has long been a "true lie."
According to reports, at the time of the fire, there were still about 4,000 high-rise buildings in the UK that had safety hazards similar to Grenfell's. What will be the fate of the inhabitants of these buildings?
The "Two British Stories" intensified, with the divide between the rich and the poor intertwined with racial discrimination, tearing societies apart and eroding justice
Completed in 1974, the Grenfell apartment building is located in Kensington, west London. In Shukel's view, this is a "wrong place".
In London, "Kensington" is synonymous with the wealthy quarter, but it's not the whole story of Kensington. Over the years, the region has shown a clear "rich from the south and poor from the north": in the north there are many hastily built tall towers and "welfare houses" like Grenfell, and the surrounding environment is old and dilapidated; in the south, there are spacious and comfortable single-family villas surrounded by neat gardens and luxury shops.
Across the wall from Grenfell is an expensive private school. Just a 10-minute walk south of the building, it is home to billionaires and celebrities from all over the world. The distance between the north and the south is only half a mile, but the wealth gap can never be crossed.
In 2019, real estate company Point2Homes released a set of data showing that the average annual income of a household in South Kensington was as high as about 170,000 pounds (1 pound about 8.4 yuan). British digital newspaper Inews said the Notting Valley constituency, where Grenfell House is located, is one of the poorest constituencies in the UK. Shukaire's mother worked 3 jobs a day before she died, but her income was well below the average income line in Kensington.
On December 10, in front of a memorial wall under the Grenfell apartment in London, England, Nabil Schukel laid flowers for loved ones who had died in the fire. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
Oxfam, an international relief organisation, released a report in 2014 titled "Two British Stories". At the time, data showed that the wealth of the five wealthiest families in the UK totalled £28.2 billion, £100 million more than the total income of the bottom 20% of the population in the UK. The report also points out that the top 0.1% of britons in the population have income growth rates nearly four times faster than the bottom 90% of the population.
The division between the rich and the poor is intertwined with racial discrimination, mocking the fairness and justice flaunted by politicians in britain, the United States and other countries.
This year's Thanksgiving, the United States also staged "Two British Stories": on the one hand, the Rich Americans were posting photos of leisure trips in luxury resorts, and on the other hand, many Americans could not take a vacation due to falling incomes and rising debt.
A late 2020 report by the U.S. Economic Policy Institute showed that the income gap between the very few and the majority in the United States has widened over the past 40 years. In the 40 years from 1979 to 2019, 1% of people's wages increased by 160%, and 90% of people's wages increased by only 26%.
"A cracked house can't stand." In the book "American Truth", Nobel laureate in economics Stiglitz quoted former US President Abraham Lincoln as a true sketch of the social rift truth of "one land, two Americas".
The democratic mechanism is out of balance, the people's voice is "inaudible" to the government, and the people have difficulties and often cannot find where the government is
After the Grenfell fire, Shukell was off the track of life and was bent on seeking fairness and justice for his deceased loved ones and other victims.
On December 10, in front of a memorial wall under the Grenfell apartment in London, England, a citizen touched the name tag of a deceased relative of Nabil schukel. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
For more than 4 years, the UK investigation into the fire has progressed slowly, and the results of the second phase of the fire investigation report have not been published. What is even more disappointing is the lack of results in the delay in accountability and punishment. So far, no one has been arrested for the fire, and no business has been held accountable.
British police, after an early preliminary investigation, had declared "well founded" to suspect that the building's governing bodies, including Kensington District Council and tenant management organisations in the district, were suspected of "corporate manslaughter". But British prosecutors said no enforcement action would be taken until the second phase of findings was made public.
In September, Shukaire launched a public petition on the uk parliament website to solicit signatures in support, asking the UK government to focus on the social injustices and discrimination involved in the investigation into the fires. He hoped to draw public and authority attention to racial discrimination and to promote the introduction of new laws.
His petition has now received more than 500 signatures, but it is a far cry from the 10,000 signatures that could be submitted for parliamentary debate. Shukel understands that despite the daily rush, the pursuit of fairness and justice is long and "there is little hope."
This fire reflects a reality of British democracy: the voice of the people, the government "can't hear", the people have difficulties, often do not know where the government is.
In the context of the division between the rich and the poor and the antagonism of classes, strong social dissatisfaction is constantly brewing. This has become very evident in the Occupy Wall Street movement and the wave of "I Can't Breathe" protests.
A survey represent.us by the American Civil Rights Organization found that in the United States, a major policy, regardless of whether the general public's approval rating is 100% or 0, is 30% likely that the policy will eventually become law. But when wealthy Americans have a high level of support for a policy, the chances of the policy eventually becoming law are more than 80 percent.
In American-style democracies, "one person, one vote" has long been replaced by "one dollar and one vote", and the so-called "democratic government" is not the defender of the interests of the majority of voters, but the spokesman of money, and capital is the master of society.
"Every day is not happy for me, it is a sad working day." Shukel choked, trying to keep calm. He wanted to fight for justice, he wanted to work to bring about legal change, he wanted to avoid another Grenfell tragedy, but the reality was harsh and happiness was farther away from him.
According to a recent overseas human rights governance questionnaire survey conducted by Xinhua News Agency, nearly 70% of the respondents have a general consensus that the sense of gain, security and happiness of ordinary people is an important indicator of the human rights situation in a country.
The happy life of the people is the greatest human right. Happiness is food and clothing, freedom from fear, equality of rights, and justice. Satisfying the people's yearning for a better life and enabling the people to live a happy life is an important proof of the development and progress of a country's human rights cause.
From 0 to 10, pick a number that represents how happy you are in life, how many do you choose? This question, born and raised in London, Shukel gave his own answer: "If you must choose a number, it is a negative number." ”
(Reporters Zhang Dailei and Liang Xizhi Participating Reporters: Larry Nilder, Chen Yao, Yang Wei, Li Liangyong, Qiao Jihong, Liu Yang, Zheng Kaijun)
(Source: XinhuaNet)