Parallel Lives
Oldham, UK - 2014-17
Oldham, a post industrial town near Manchester was named as ‘Britain’s most deprived town’ in 2016. Living parallel to a predominantly British working class population, a large community of Asian and British-Asian people has developed after their predecessors arrived to work in the cotton mills, which have now all closed. Exploring the concept of ‘Parallel Lives’ - where two communities live side-by-side yet culturally separate which was developed after the Oldham Riots of 2001; this project tells the story of modern Oldham and the local people who are promoting integration through their daily lives.
Oldham sits on the edge of the Pennines in the North-West of England and is littered with abandoned mills and factories which act as a reminder to its once industrial and prosperous past. Demographically the town’s population is made up of 75% White British and 17% Asian or Asian descendant (2011 Census).
The Asian and British-Asian community, who are predominantly Pakistani and Bangladeshi, emigrated to Oldham in the 1960s after a nationwide push to employ people in the cotton mills. They moved to, and were located into the same areas as their families and friends which over time caused residential districts in Oldham to be only resided in by one of the ethnic groups, meaning integration between the communities has proven difficult. Even today many of the local school’s students are of one ethnic group and many of the older generation still do not speak English. Contemporary events in the muslim world add further mistrust between the communities and race hate incidents spiked after the Brexit referendum of 2016.
Fifteen years after the infamous Oldham riots the Brexit vote exposed a cultural divide in Britain, however, the residents of Oldham have known this divide for decades. Despite many successful community cohesion efforts by local arts, charity and educational groups a general mistrust between people in the town remains.
After the Oldham Riots a government commissioned report by Professor Ted Cantle developed the concept of ‘Parallel Lives’, where the two communities live side-by-side in the same area, yet with little social mixing or integration. This model has been used on towns across the UK and abroad.
Despite these issues, many people of Oldham display constant tolerance and promote integration through the actions they take in their daily lives. The focus of this project, is to document the concept of Parallel Lives through the interactions of the communities brought together by their shared residence of Oldham, whilst celebrating those who are actively breaking down cultural barriers.
The Imam of the Jamie Masjid reads Islamic prayers at the mosque in Westwood, Oldham. 7.6% of Oldham’s population identity as religious Muslim. The Jamie Masjid, one of the smaller Mosques in the Oldham area which was built by converting two terraced houses into one.
Many local Asian people talk of an identity crisis as they feel and are British, due to being born and living their lives in the UK, however they still live in relatively closed Pakistani or Bangladeshi communities both physically in the town as well as socially.
Najma Khalid, a life long resident of Glodwick prepares for prayer in her home. Najma is a single-mother who has battled unemployment during her parenthood during which she figured out the related government welfare available to her without support. She now uses her experiences to help other local Asian women who struggle with similar social issues within the more traditional elements of Pakistani society. Here Najma is giving a cultural identity workshop to local British-Asian women at Oldham Coliseum Theatre as part of Chai Ladies.
Najma with her mother - Sabar Jan Masood, who emigrated to Oldham in the 1960s, on their way to Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s annual garden party. Najma received the invitation due to her community work.
“I was walking down the street and saw this punk guy with green hair walking towards me. I thought oh no whats this guy going to do. I was terrified.
I then saw an old lady carrying her shopping so I said - ‘you need a hand with those bags love’. She then screamed get away from me you Paki’ to which the punk guy jumps in and says - ‘whats your problem, she was only trying to help.’ It goes to show that you can’t judge people by how they look.” Fermuda of the Chai Ladies.
A ‘non-political’ march through the Westwood district celebrating the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. Tnis was the first tyime in decades that local Asian or British Asian residents of Oldham had flet comfortable doing this celebration, showing an improvement in community relations.
Juel Miah Subhan lives in the predominately Bangladeshi district of Westwood and is a sports photographer working at lower league teams such as Oldham and Rochdale.
Deputy Mayor Shadab Qumer attends the 2016 Remembrance Sunday service in Oldham’s town centre.
Keith Head was a lifelong Oldham Athletic fan who ilived on social housing due to a long term mental-health illness. He lived in the Oldham borough of Chadderton right on the theoretical border between ‘Asian’ and ‘White’ areas.
In his past Keith married Ruqia, an Asian women. Keith is still close with his ex-wife Ruqia, whom he is helped to fix up and sell the house they used to live in together. Keith and Ruqia got married a few years before the Oldham Riots when racial tensions were at their height. Their relationship was seen as taboo in local society however this created a very strong bond between the two.
Keith sadly passed away during the Covid. He was a close friend, the sort of person who would do anything for anyone, and supported me and my photojournalism more than anyone. He is greatly missed by Oldham, his family and myself.
“Kill All Paky” sprayed on an Oldham wall then scrubbed away. In 2001 Oldham suffered its infamous race riots between the ‘Whites’ and ‘Asians’ as ten- sions boiled over into days of violent clashes. ‘Paki’ is the derogatory word used by the far right to refer to Asians regarding many of their Pakistani heritage.
Despite the successful efforts of many institutions in Oldham that are bringing the communities together, tensions in the town still remain with a sense of their being a cultural other. Race hate incidents spiked in the wake of Brexit in Oldham which voted out of the EU. Malaika Khalid watches the town go by.