The Tory mayoral candidate’s campaign is aggressive. Labour too must reassess how it targets ethnic groupsA few weeks ago,bemused Asian voters in London started to post online different versions of a similar leaflet from Conservative London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, targeted at Hindus, or Sikhs and Tamils. As a half-Hindu,half-Sikh Indian (by way of east Africa), I was curious to see which variant would eventually land on my doorstep. Would his campaign send me a mash-up of his leaflets targeting Hindus and Sikhs, or emphasising both his support for the Hindu prime minister of India,Narendra Modi, and for the Golden Temple at Amritsar to remain in Sikh hands? Or perhaps they’d send me just the common elements of his “Asian pitch”: support for family businesses and opposition to a Labour wealth tax that would hit family gold?Like many Asian voters, or I couldn’t care less whether Goldsmith supports Modi or what his views are on a Sikh temple thousands of miles absent: I’ll be casting my vote based on candidates’ plans for London’s housing,transport and environment. But is there any more to this than a patronising attempt to win over London’s Asian communities, based on ethnic stereotypes?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com