BigShinyThing

King Adz (who was also there) writes of the incident:

Blek Le Rat and King Adz were attacked by a gang of Chavs (UK Youth Sub Culture) (sic) as Blek was pasting up a poster of David and an AK47, in Batley UK last night.

5th April 2006 at 6pm, Blek, Adz, Princess Kaiya and Prince Casius (Adz’ 2 kids) were in an abandoned housing estate near the 100proof Studio, when a gang of around 15 Chavs attacked with a volley of stones, and then moved in to fight Blek and Adz.

A swift exit was orchestrated and the four escaped unharmed.

Now. We’re glad that Blek and Adz (and their kids!) escaped: they also managed to get their work up. But. The labelling of their attackers as belonging to a perceived criminal underclass suggests a tribalism that helps the government divide and conquer. Just today more laws in the UK were pushed to target both the so-called ASBO generation and graffiti artists:

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said of the measures:

Graffiti is a depressing and unsightly menace in many communities.

It affects people’s quality of life, increases fear of crime and reduces pride in a community. It also costs us all millions of pounds a year to clean up — money which could be better spent on other valuable services.

Adz, Blek and their attackers may have more common ground than they think…

UPDATE: Wooster have had to take down their reporting of the incident due to complaints about the word ‘chav’ in a nice bit of US/UK cultural dissonance. We think we’ll just defer to John Lennon:

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you’re so clever and class less and free
But you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see