'Run Racism Out' launches in reaction to Azeem Rafiq's case

Bushra Shaikh has launched 'Run Racism Out' after her 12 year old son saw Azeem's case and became worried he'd face discrimination too

Headingley Stadium
Author: Hannah NorburyPublished 17th Nov 2021

A new campaign called 'Run Racism Out' has been launched in response to Azeem Rafiq's case.

It's the first British Pakistani led Anti-racism campaign.

Bushra Shaikh launched 'Run Racism Out' after her 12 year old son, who's described as a 'sports fanatic', saw Azeem's case and became worried he'd face discrimination too.

Commenting on yesterday's hearing she said:

"I felt every single word Azeem said during that and I could feel how painful that would've been for him to go through that and not be able to talk about it.

"So what Azeem has done, by doing this, is showing his bravery and telling the community that do not be frightened anymore, we can not be frightened by potential repercussions we might face, over something we have the right to disclose."

She explains what the new campaign aims to do:

"The first time I experienced any level of racism was in primary, and you know when you're young teachers tell you 'sticks and stones might break you bones, but words can't hurt you', that is so inaccurate. We have this subconscious part of us that feel because we're brown, we should expect this to happen.

"This campaign is to make a safe space for us to talk about things, inform people of what steps to take if they are experiencing this type of abuse and going forward how the bigger institutes can make things work better."

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