Croydon says “no” to the racism of Operation Raise the Colours

A video online has shown Croydon’s way of responding to the wave of far-right, racist flag mania that’s swept the UK.

@t2thewhy

Saw this after my tempo run. Can’t play those anti immigration games in Croydon mate ✊🏾 #t2thewhy #fyp #xyzabc

♬ original sound – T to The Why

“This is sick”, Croydon

The video of Croydon is posted by TikTok user T to The Why with the following message:

Saw this after my tempo run. Can’t play those anti immigration games in Croydon mate ✊🏾

T to The Why is the account of fitness influencer Tyrese Marshalleck, who is ‘running to every Nando’s in London’ (75 and counting according to ScrapeHero). There’ll likely be more than 75 by the time he’s done, so let’s hope he can run faster than Nando’s can open new stores.

The video above shows that residents have complemented a recently-erected St. George’s cross with flags from all over the world. In the video, Marshalleck says:

We’ve got the [St. George’s cross] up there, yeah, and then the neighbours have come out and put up every other flag across the whole end of the road. It’s proper, bro… Says what you wanna say about Croydon… but… I haven’t seen this anywhere else… Look at this. All to rebel, and show them immigrants are welcome, bro. This is sick, I’m not gonna lie.

Comments include:

The video was also reposted to Instagram, where people commented:

Contrast

This hopeful video contrasts with a recent story we covered in which complementary flags were torn down in Earlestown, Merseyside. A resident of the town wrote to us to say:

For a couple of weeks now Earlestown in Merseyside has been filled with St George’s flags – they’ve been left alone and more have gradually been put up over time. At the end of last week a number of other types of flags were put up in the Earlestown market square that were very quickly selectively removed. My friends took some pictures of these flags which I’ve attached. As you can see these were quite positive, with messages of patriotism, pride, inclusivity, hope, and unity: a union jack with ‘everyone welcome’, a progress pride flag, a Ukraine flag, and one with ‘workers of the world unite’. These were added to the St George’s flags that were already flying on the square – I didn’t see that any of the St George flags had been removed or replaced. But the flags that were added with the positive message have now been trampled and binned, while the St George ones have been left alone.

In that article, we noted that the campaign to raise St. George’s crosses was established by divisive far-right figures, quoting that:

HOPE not hate can reveal that the co-founder and organiser of the group is longtime Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) ally Andrew Currien (AKA Andy Saxon). Formerly a key member of the English Defence League’s leadership bodyguard team, and now running security for the far-right party Britain First, Currien has previously been jailed for his part in a racist death. He was one of six men convicted in 2009 after a 59-year-old man was crushed to death by a car following a violent brawl.

Acts of solidarity

Whether people like to admit this or not, ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ was spearheaded by the far-right, and it’s being used to further their agenda. Little gestures like raising the flags of the world in Croydon may not seem like much, but they show that not everyone holds toxic views, and that most of us respect the many identities which make up modern Britain.

If you’d like to keep up with Marshalleck’s Nando’s challenge, be sure to follow him on Instagram and TikTok.

Featured image via TikTok