|
“Racist” campaign being waged against African pub
By Cass Gilroy
|
|
A long and fierce campaign is being waged against one of the few remaining pubs in East London that caters for black people. The campaign began in 2005 when the Lincolns public house first lost its late licence, and has been ongoing ever since. The local authority responsible for Leytonstone, the police and the local newspaper have all been campaigning to get the pub shut down on the grounds that it creates noise, vandalism, drug taking, illegal parking and violence, and nothing can be further from the truth.
Yet, no more than 400 metres away is another pub called Zulus which is rife with noise and regular violence, yet nothing is ever printed in the local papers about it. Could it be because despite its name, Zulus only caters for white South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders, and Lincolns caters for blacks? Recently the pub's managers, Jerry Nyoni and Marshall Maposa, attempted to convince a council licensing sub-committee to give them an extension on their present opening hours, and said that since they took over in July of 2005, great improvements have been made.
But Leytonstone ward councillors Clyde Loakes, Marie Pye and Jenny Gray, and PC Peter Neale all strongly objected to any extension. The truth of the matter is that there has been a systematic campaign by the police and local authorities to close down every single black-run pub in East London. Lincolns is one of the very few still open. Black people are unwelcome in most white pubs in this country, but as soon as we get our own drinking house they want to close it down.
The sub-committee refused the application on the grounds that extended hours would create crime and disorder, endangering public safety and cause public nuisance. Yet at a time when Britain is supposed to embrace multiculturalism, Lincolns is one of the few pubs that people of many different races can mix together and feel safe.
|
