London: A new poster in Britain depicts an aggressive-looking white male gesticulating at an elder South Asian lady in a sari. They sit level on opposite ends of a see-saw. The tagline is “A Vote Is a Vote.”
The ad was commissioned by Operation Black Vote, an organisation established to improve the involvement of minority African British and Asian communities in European politics.
Amid the turbulent debate over Britain’s potential exit from the European Union — a decision set for referendum next month — the organisation argues that minorities need to make sure they have their own say and understand that their vote has as much weight as that of any other British citizen.
“Many people feel that this debate, whether it’s the Remain or the Leave camps, has been characterised by anger, not much objective information, and at times the demonisation of foreigners and in particular people of colour,” a statement on its website reads. “ Our campaign poster illustrates that.”
The organisation does not endorse one camp or another, but the push for what’s been dubbed the “Brexit” has been animated in part by nativist, populist politics — including anti-immigrant sentiments that can carry a clear racial undertone. The Brexit seems to also have the tentative backing of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
One of the main champions of the campaign to leave the European Union reacted angrily to the message of Operation Black Vote’s ad. Nigel Farage, head of the Euroskeptic, anti-immigration United Kingdom Independence Party, described the ad as a “disgusting” example of “sectarian politics,” according to the BBC.
Farage, a controversial figure in his own right, apparently didn’t like the depiction of the angry “white thug,” which perhaps is a caricature of the mostly white, working-class base that saw Ukip win almost 4 million votes in last year’s general election.
The ad’s proponents say they want the poster to resonate among communities that may feel alienated from the current political conversation.
“I don’t think that the campaigns have necessarily resonated with [minority] communities because they don’t maybe look at issues from that lens,” Operation Black Vote’s operations manager Ashok Viswanathan told Newsweek, “But also they’ve been pretty lacklustre ... we’ve tried to do something that’s a little bit more dynamic.”
Magnus Djaba, chief executive of Saatchi and Saatchi London, the ad agency that collaborated to produce the ad, said in a statement that “this campaign turns its back on the usual political posturing.”
“This is a message about democracy, not a message about race,” he told the BBC. “Whichever community you’re from, it hits home.”
