{"id":3112,"date":"2015-02-24T11:41:52","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T11:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3112"},"modified":"2015-02-25T14:05:47","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T14:05:47","slug":"immigration-street-airs-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3112","title":{"rendered":"Immigration Street airs tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The much-hyped and controversial Immigration Street<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a Channel 4 docudrama, purporting to tell the true story of a diverse community in Southampton \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is not the first TV show of its kind.<\/p>\n

 
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s produced by the same company and modelled on last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Benefits Street<\/em>, a show with the much the same format, which tells the story of residents on a street in Birmingham, the majority of whom claim benefits.<\/p>\n

 
\nHowever, instead of being about \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcommunity spirit\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 as the producers told the Birmingham residents it would be, it aired as something else entirely \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a twisted narrative that stigmatised the most vulnerable in society.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn Immigration Street<\/em>, Love Productions’ latest show, which will air tonight (February 24) at 10 pm, the target this time around is ostensibly immigration.<\/p>\n

 
\nInterestingly enough, most of the residents on Derby Road, where the show was filmed, have settled in Southampton for generations upon generations. Although the community is ethnically diverse, very few of its residents would consider themselves immigrants.<\/p>\n

 
\nNadia, who runs a sari shop on Derby Road told UNITElive that she initially welcomed the filming of the show.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a problem at all with Love Productions at first,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey seemed like very nice people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nBut, as with the show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s predecessor, the title of the program wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t revealed until later.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe producers came in and had very little respect for us. They said they would be showing the true story of our community but instead they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve chosen to cast us in a negative light,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Nadia said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDecades ago this area was a very run down area,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added, referring to the street\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reputation of being the red light district in Southampton in the 70s and 80s. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we pulled together and made it what it is. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now very safe; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a very tight-knit community with close families and successful businesses.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nNadia fears that after the airing of the show, however, all the progress the community has made will be reversed.<\/p>\n

 
\n“People will be afraid to come here,” she said. “It could affect my business and the businesses around here. Those who criticise our reticence to be on the show say we have something to hide. But we have nothing to hide. We all get along here just fine. We just want to be left alone.”<\/p>\n

 
\nRashid Islam, a solicitor for a local food market on Derby Road, agrees.<\/p>\n

 
\n“The community here is very close in spite of \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or maybe even because of \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our diversity. All sorts have come through here. We have Jamaicans, Irish, Asians, everyone. And we all respect each other.”<\/p>\n

 
\n“But after Immigration Street<\/em>, things could change. Businesses will suffer, house prices could go down, and the quality of the schools in the area too could also be affected for the worse,” Rashid explained.<\/p>\n

 
\n“Those who did agree to participate in the show, I think they were lured by the temptation of fame,” he said. “But now, I’ve heard that some of the participants are regretting their decision.”<\/p>\n

 
\nRashid noted the way in which the show’s producers created a narrative based on selective storytelling.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

\"immigration<\/a>

Derby Road dotted with signs protesting Immigration Street<\/p><\/div>\n

Sensationalise<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\n“They are obviously looking to sensationalise what happens here on Derby Road, so they purposely look for people with a chequered past,” he said. “But if you think about it, every single community will have at least one person who, say, has drug problem. That doesn’t mean the entire community is filled with drug addicts. This is how they twist the story.”<\/p>\n

 
\nNadia feels the same way.<\/p>\n

 
\n“The media is incredibly powerful, more powerful than many of us realise. They have the ability to set the agenda and can cast a community in a positive or negative light, to once and for all establish a community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reputation,” she said. “We’re at their mercy completely.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nNadia recounts how White Dee, a character from Benefits Street<\/em>, came to visit Derby Road. And what did she have to say?<\/p>\n

 
\n“Don’t do it. That’s what she told all us.”<\/p>\n

 
\nJoe Dukes (pictured), a Unite Community member living in Southampton, has been heavily involved in a campaign to stop Immigration Street<\/em> from airing.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe campaign has been mostly successful, since Immigration Street<\/em> was initially set to be a six-part series. Now, however, it will air tonight as only one, hour-long episode, after filming had been disrupted by community protests.<\/p>\n

 
\nCampaign groups also protested outside the Love Productions studio in London last month.<\/p>\n

 
\nDukes was inspired to participate in the campaign in order to preserve the community spirit he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d grown up with in Southampton.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI absolutely love living in such a diverse community,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lived here all my life and I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trade it for the world. Stopping Immigration Street<\/em> for me is about protecting my community.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nDukes condemns the carelessness with which Love Productions forced its way into local communities.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs a business, all they care about is their bottom line,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Dukes said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSensationalism sells, and the company couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care less what happens to the community afterwards.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe saw it with Benefits Street<\/em>. After the show had aired, residents were being threatened, and children were being bullied in schools.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let this happen here. We are a community, and we have a duty to look after one another.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The much-hyped and controversial Immigration Street \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a Channel 4 docudrama, purporting to tell the true story of a diverse community in Southampton \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is not the first TV show of its kind.   It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s produced by the same company and modelled on last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Benefits Street, a show with the much the same format, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[153],"wps_subtitle":" But how do Derby Road\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s residents really feel about the depiction of their diverse community?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3119,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3112\/revisions\/3119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}