September 11, 2019
In March 2017, our colleagues at HuffPost US collaborated with the nonprofit news company ProPublica to help create a database of hate incidents. This stemmed from concern that President Trump’s ascension to power was emboldening bigots to spread hatred in the streets of their country.
Have You Been Told To ‘Go Back To Your Country’? Tell Us About It
It’s a depressingly familiar picture for those of us on the other side of the Atlantic. Like the US, the UK is in the midst of a growing populist movement and hate crime incidents are on the rise. 
After the Brexit referendum result in 2017, the number of hate crimes recorded by police surged to be 29% higher than the previous year. That remains, to date, the biggest increase ever recorded. 
The latest statistics also show that hate crime figures have more than doubled in the past five years. Police in England and Wales recorded a 17% rise in incidents with three quarters – 71,251 – recorded as race hate crimes.
In total, there were 94,098 offences. Home Office data shows religious hate crime saw the sharpest rise, with a 40% increase from 5,949 incidents in 2016/17 to 8,336 in 2017/18. 
Last year, the government’s counter-terrorism community strand, Prevent, revealed a rise of 36% in people suspected of being influenced by far-right rhetoric.
Far-right groups have become more visible and better understood, and we have seen the toxic narrative of ‘victim-building’ allied to anti-Muslim and anti-migrant rhetoric. Global movements, rooted in the online world, have established and emboldened far-right networks across many different countries.
This increasing prevalence of hate crime is something that HuffPost UK has extensively reported on,  from a Muslim woman having her hijab grabbed in Oxford Street, abuse on Ryanair flight, in which an elderly black woman was verbally abused by a white man to ’no blacks’ being spray-painted on the door of a Salford family.And many people of colour feel that the discrimination goes to the highest levels of our society – the Windrush Scandal saw dozens of black British people of Caribbean and African descent living in this country suddenly stripped of their right to be here, essentially criminalised and told to ‘go back to where they came from’ by the state. 
During Theresa May’s tenure as Home Secretary, in a bid to crack down on immigration, the words ‘go home’ were literally printed on the side of vans, deployed up and down the country as part of the ‘hostile environment policy’ against migrants in the Home Office. 
Last month, President Trump’s used that very same phrase against four BAME US congresswomen  – all of whom are American. His ongoing anti-migrant stance has been well documented; mere months ago he ran Facebook ads stoking xenophobia.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also fanned flames of bigotry with his comments about black people, Muslims and migrants. In both the US and UK, we know that to be a migrant or visible minority means to automatically be under scrutiny when it comes one’s immigration status. 
And, yet, in the UK it isn’t always as plain as being told to ‘go back home’. Often, the inference that non-white people don’t belong in this country is more subtle. For example many, including this reporter, can attest to being asked“where are you from? [...] no, where are you really from?” sometimes by a seemingly well-intended questioner.
Despite the veneer of British politeness with which the question is often posed, it still perpetuates the notion that Britain is only home for white people of English heritage. And the growing frequency of this question, this ‘othering’ of certain members of our society, paints a bleak picture of just how much the threat of nationalism looms in the lives of British people of colour.
We want to join our US colleagues in ensuring this shift is documented and reported, and that the experiences of people who are subjected to these questions are written about.
If you have been told to “go back to where you came from,” or words to that effect,  or you’ve witnessed such an incident, we would appreciate you telling us about it via the form below. For now, because we need to give some focus to this project, we are looking for incidents that occurred between 23 June 2016 and June 15, 2019.
Through collaborating with HuffPost US and Canada, we at HuffPost UK want to clearly reflect the breadth of rising fascism in our countries and re-emphasise, as ever with our reporting, that this must be addressed.
Please include your contact information, so a reporter can follow up with you to investigate the incident.
The form is not a report to any police force or government agency.Loading…
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.