"You will never win": Hackney politician speaks out about racist abuse
Cllr Mete Coban MBE posted screenshots of the homophobic and racist messages he gets
Last updated 10th Oct 2021
Hackney councillor Mete Coban MBE has taken to Twitter to share his experience of racist and homophobic abuse online.
He posted screenshots of messages and comments he's received recently, after he announced new plans aimed at tackling climate change in his local area.
Mete Coban said:
"The reason why I wanted to speak up about it on Twitter was because too often we see a lot of young politicians, particularly ethnic minorities in positions of power who are almost made to feel really bad for being in the position that they are. I just wanted to highlight some of the pressures that come with being in the job that I do".
"It doesn't affect me personally because I don't take it personally but I think it's important to call out racism, homophobia and hate of all kinds. I don't think it's something that we should stand for as a society and that's why I tweeted about it.
"Hackney's a very diverse place so immediately after posting that lots of people from my neighbourhood came out to support me but also to denounce that sort of behaviour. As I say, Hackney doesn't stand for that and will never stand for it.
"In many ways, I feel very proud of the response of people that many people in our communities have stood up to say. It's really appreciated and it just shows that there's a lot of work to do to stamp out and root out racism from our society.
"I think we need to look at our education system and look at how we can encourage our kids to learn more about other people's ways of life and their cultures and really starting that early".