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Like many people this last week, I was drawn to the site of Suspect Paki (100% Londoner. 100% Muslim. Deal with it.) to read his somewhat explosive and heartfelt essay on racial integration ingeniously, but also rather insultingly, entitled United KKKingdom. If you haven’t read it, take some time and go there, read it all and read the comments that have been left. Although it is hard to do so, if you leave aside the outrageous claim that all white Englishmen are racially prejudiced and that the author himself is quite obviously racist when it suits his view of the wider world, there is much to sympathise with.
Many people, more eloquent, intellectual and well researched than I, have written on the subject of racism in England – but I’ll do it anyway. Partly to defend myself against the charge this man has levelled at me; partly to apologise for the actions of a minority who, over the years, have ignorantly seen what was once called ‘Paki-bashing’ as some sort of sport; and partly to explain why, what Richard Nixon once called the ’silent majority’, are now finding the current racial, cultural and religious climate of my country intolerable. And for that, you have to start with a bit of history.
Vast numbers of the people of England in the 1950’s and 1960’s lived in small to medium sized towns and villages. I was raised in one. Mine was the first post-war, post-empire generation that started to break down the old and dying rigid class structure, to think politically different to their parents and to break away from the old extended family ‘community’ that had so defined life prior to the war and for many generations before that. Mine was the first generation to witness the mass immigration of people culturally and racially different to us in the form of West Indians who arrived in huge numbers over those two decades. Yet despite this massive influx, I must have been all of fifteen years old before I saw my first ‘black’ man. There were none living in my small town.
This seemingly never-ending wave of immigrants worried many people. The less tolerant but also less knowledgeable, referred to them of course, as ‘niggers’ or if they were being polite, ‘coloureds’. There was also a level of fear of these people, which was, of course, just a fear of the unknown. One of my first summer student jobs was working in a factory that had a high number of what were now to be called ‘negros’ working there. And as I worked with these people, took tea breaks with them, smoked and chatted with them and got to know them better, the obvious truths hit home. The only difference between them and me was the colour of their skin. They spoke my language and above anything else they appeared to want to fit in to the English way of life. And on the whole they have done so. Many will have had experience of racially motivated abuse along the way. To this day there is still the problem of occasional violence caused by nothing more than race but to the vast majority of the white and indigenous peoples of England they have become a part of our culture and life.
The 1970’s saw the start of a similar, but even bigger influx of Asians; firstly from India and then also from Pakistan. This was not so easy to accommodate for a variety of reasons. The first was language as that first generation to arrive on our shores often didn’t speak it well or at all. In the mid 70’s we lived a few houses away from an Indian family of whom only one – to the best of my knowledge – spoke passable English. This led them to live a somewhat isolated and insular existence. The next problem was that they appeared to prefer to colonise an area and take it over. Whilst this has probably been true throughout history of just about every immigrant population in most countries, the Asian communities in England have remained in these areas to this day – and to this day if you walk through these streets, it is still rare to hear English spoken amongst the older generations.
As I sit here now writing this, I am trying to recall if we have any Asian families living in my village and the truth is that I do not think we have. But we do have black families. Yet if I travel into my nearest city there is a huge ‘Asian’ area where you wont find a single white family living. The majority of these people do not appear to want to ‘mix’ and fully integrate. And they have, of course, since been joined by immigrants from other Asian and Middle eastern countries.
If the arrival of the predominantly Christian West Indians in the 50’s had initially provoked fear in the cosy heartlands of England then it should be understandable that this second wave of immigrants caused mild panic. It wasn’t just the language barrier but these people maintained their style of dress, their food, their culture and their religion – all alien to the traditional English lifestyle. Leaving aside the colour of their skin – they were different in so many other ways even down to having unpronounceable names. And it must be remembered that despite the earlier years of Empire, only a very tiny number of English had ever been exposed to Asian culture – and those few were largely protected within white, Christian enclaves. And yes – a small minority took it upon themselves to champion the white man. But many more remained wary whilst not exhibiting intentional racism.
In those early years, like the West Indians before them, they demanded nothing more than to work and live in peace and whilst maintaining their largely insular communities the inevitable mixing of races started to occur in schools and in workplaces – the first England-born generation started to grow and adapt a little and mix a little more and many started to think of themselves more English than Indian or Pakistani and the bulk of the white English started to relax a little from their fears and accept.
And then of course, in 1979 something happened that sharply altered the world. It happened in Iran and it was the first brush with Islam my generation and those older than I had ever really experienced. The average Englishman in the street knew nothing of Islam. Some probably knew a little ancient history – some probably knew of the work of people like Malcolm X in the USA, but it was all largely a mystery. And some, like myself, took a little time to find out what was happening in Iran and sympathised with the overthrow of the puppet Shah. And some, like myself, were outraged by the oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli’s and equally infuriated by the stance of the American and, to a lesser extent, English governments. But we still knew next to nothing about Islam.
But between 1979 and today we have learned quite a bit – some of it perhaps a little mistaken and propagandised but all with it’s roots in truth. Early on we learned the meaning and intention of a ‘fatwa’ (issued against Salman Rushdie) which also taught us that free speech and thought is not tolerated. We learned that Islam condones the stoning to death of women and the hanging of homosexual men. We learned about so-called ‘honour’ killings. We learned about the subjugation of women and the barbarity with which they can be treated by their husbands and family. We learned of the existence of Sharia Law.
And then, a little later, we learned that it was OK to hijack airplanes and fly their human cargo into buildings full of thousands. We learned that it was apparently fine for Muslims to kill other Muslims as long as a few ‘infidels’ died at the same time. We learned that bombs planted in bars, hotels and trains was also OK. We learned that Muslims were apparently quite happy to blow themselves to pieces as long as they took others with them, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. We learned that Muslims could even blow up a Mosque but it was an unspeakable crime if it were damaged by an American bullet. We learned that to be critical of Islam bought Muslims onto the streets in violent protest where they were happily critical of their critics and called openly for bloodshed.
And as Muslim ‘leaders’ up and down the breadth of England continually remind us – we have learned that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.
Muslims – no matter what their origin – are the only immigrant group to continually demand ’special’ treatment. They demand special rights not granted to non-Muslims in Islamic states. They institutionally play the ‘race’ card at the slightest hint of intolerance and as Northwing points out in his item ‘UK Muslim attitudes: feeding the fires’, their organisations and political lobbying groups stop little short of condoning organised violence to achieve their aims.
To ‘Suspect Paki’ I respond that it is not that every white Englishman is a racist. It is that everything we have learned about your religion has no place in traditional English life and values be they Christian or – like myself – non-Christian. And this English life and it’s traditions are important to us and more and more need preserving for our own future and the future of all immigrants who came here to adopt it.
Please forgive me for the crude headline – it certainly drew a lot of comment – and in many ways was meant to be a churlish, provocative and not entirely serious riposte to the outrageous positioning of the whole of Islam by the despicable newspapers of our country.
I don’t think all white people are racist. That was one of the few points that was picked up by many, and it caused widespread offence. I certainly didn’t mean it quite that way, and I have made my position a lot clearer in many older posts. I hope I won’t be judged on that solitary quote alone.
You also hold misconceptions about Islam. That is not entirely your fault. I should point out that such tarring of the whole of Islam with the narrow brushes you choose would be intolerable if applied to Christianity, Judaism or a race.
As for the preservation of the values of British society, I have been one of the many voices who has called for that too. There is much to commend Britain, which is why I am still proud to be British, and which is why in another post I indicated that my children are proud to be British too.
A lot of the points you raise in your piece are aimed towards all Muslims – and without understanding (again, probably not entirely your fault), you are openly doing what you have accused me of, without knowing my true position. I am not a single post!
You correctly state that some of what you learn is propagandised – that is very true and it will take courage on your part to dig deeper and realise that Islam is not a monolithic entity and should not be addressed as such.
Dialogue and mutual understanding and respect is the answer to the woes of multicultural Britain. I hope you will have the patience for it. You seem like a good person.
I wish you peace.
Good day Shahid
You know if I look at the history of Christianity – which I have and do – and I look at the history of Islam – which I have and do – they are both full of bloodshed, hypocrisy and lies. They have both been used for the glorification of those who seek to control and hide behind their religion. They have both been used to condone genocide, to condone wars, to condone occupation of stolen lands and countries. The history of Islam runs with blood as does that of Christianity. Both have been used in the past to gain power over others by people who had no more belief or fear of their God than I do as an atheist. I do not believe I have many misconceptions about either.
There are good Christians in this world and there are good Muslims in this world – they may even be in the majority in both cases. But there can be no doubt that Islam is currently being used as a front by forces whose intent is not even always clear. What the Englishman (or American or Frenchman for that matter) sees and hears are those that shout the loudest; those that have forced their way into positions of power, be they the President of Iran, the Imam of a local Mosque or an al-Qaeda leader issuing threats on the latest videotape. What the people of England have been waiting for is to see the good, honest and integrated Muslims – such as yourself – denounce this aspect of your religion, loudly and firmly. Shout it from the rooftops. Sadly what we usually see are your so-called ‘community leaders’ brushing this aside and complaining about injustice, prejudice and harassment and then making demands – such as has been seen in the recent controversy over the wearing of veils.
You say that ‘dialogue and mutual understanding and respect is the answer to the woes of multicultural Britain’ but I and many, many others, believe that the woes of multicultural Britain is multiculturalism itself. England has absorbed countless waves of immigrants over the past 2000 years but it has always been, up until now, a process of full and total integration that has worked well and benefited all concerned. The concept of multiculturalism does not encourage integration – it encourages the very opposite and calls for all immigrant groups to retain their culture, their traditions and yes, their religion, and to live in tandem with the English traditions. Instead of encouragement to integrate, to embrace the English way of life, they remain outside of it. You, my friend, came to live in this country under the old system. Not only did you take English culture and traditions on board but you also gave us something in return. Modern multiculturalism allows for no such thing. And this makes the English very uneasy. Add to the mix the attempt to radicalise Muslims and the history of which I spoke in my post and all trust is broken. And who are we to know the good guys from the bad?
One day last week, I was driving in to the entrance of a local car park. There were three Asian youths on the pavement and as I turned the car into the entrance, one of them stepped off the kerb without having looked to see if it was safe to do so. It was too late for me to brake – I would have hit him. But I was able to swerve and go around him. And as I did so he yelled at me ‘fucking white wanker’. Now, despite the fact that he was in the wrong for not having looked, the ‘fucking wanker’, whilst offensive, is almost sadly the norm for many kids these days who believe they are never wrong. But the ‘white’ was, of course, the bit that really got my attention. I have to assume that if I had also been Asian I would have just been a ‘fucking wanker’. I mention this simply because also a week or two ago statistics were quietly released (and I am sorry I am unable to provide a link to this) that showed that approximately 50% of racially motivated attacks in the last year have been against white people. And no – I do not believe that all Asians are racists! But the numbers are obviously growing.
I don’t know the answer to all this. In my post I was simply trying to explain, from my own perspective, why the average white Englishman is wary of Islam and why, given the history of the last few years, Muslims should expect us to be wary. And as always happens in these situations, the innocent get tarred equally with the guilty. What saddens me is that this situation is likely to worsen before things get better for us all and this could take a very long time.
May I wish you peace also – and I look forward to future visits to Suspect Paki.
Looks like “Suspect Paki” has fallen for the usual Arab propaganda emanating from Gaza and elsewhere.
Perhaps he/she should convert to Judaism. That way being one of the “chosen people” he/she won’t feel persecuted any longer.
just a small thing to add to this. To quote the last post here,
I just attempted to apply for an arts residency and was refused because of my nationality and origin of birth, – England – White British. So the racism isnt just in the streets, if I even attempted to set up an organisation for artists that you could only join if you were White British I would probably be arrested under current law and I agree with that! so why can you set one up that excludes white British people?
Just a thought.
Sadly there are so many stories like this and they can so easily lead to contempt and frustrations that bring on a sort of ‘intellectual racism’ even though the real enemy are the politically correct army that seem to hold power and infect all of our political institutions.
I’m Indian (Hindu) male and consider myself westernized in all possible ways. I don’t have any hang-ups or crave for “special treatment”; in my experience White Britons are among the most racist people on Earth. They always tend to put me down even though I’m friendly and outgoing. OK, I respect their tendency to be reserved and stiff-lipped (British national trait?) but many of them seem intolerant towards Asians.
Please NOTE: I’m not generalizing for all White people…it’s not about the colour of your skin but the way you treat me when I’m with you. Also in my experience, most White people are just like any other race; there are good and bad apples everywhere but what I object about White Britons is their air of cultural superiority when they meet Indians…just because Britain ruled over India some 60 years ago and many educated Indians speak in English doesn’t mean the White Britons should look condescendingly at us. This is simply not the case with any other White people on Earth – e.g. most White Americans/Canadians in my experience have been extremely nice towards me; in fact I get along excellently with Americans. Even in Europe, leaving aside the French -almost all European nationalities are very well-behaved towards Indians; Germans, Italians, Swiss, Austrians, Scandinavians and of course, East Europeans – I’ve never had a SINGLE bad encounter with these nationalities even though they’re also Whites. Ireland is an exception too coz most Irish in my experience have been nice with me.
As I was saying the problem lies only with White Anglos from UK and maybe, Australia. They have a natural air of superiority when they meet Indians and I’ve been through the worst form of their behaviour: 1. They constantly put you down for your brown skin colour – 2. You feel socially excluded and marginalized by them even if you want to mix properly. 3. They don’t trust your word readily as they would trust White people before you.
If today I have a “phobia” for White Anglo people living in UK and Australia, there has to be a cause to this effect – nothing ever happens in isolation.
Indian dude: I have to say I thought long and very hard about how to respond to this but at the end of the day it sounds like the chip on your shoulder is just too big.
“sounds like the chip on your shoulder is just too big”.
Funny you’re not the first Anglo who I heard using those exact words. Must be high among your standard put-downs for coloured people -an activity Anglos are most comfortable indulging in. Disagreement is fine in a debate -and healthy too; but disrespect is not. Instead of politely refuting the claims I made in the previous comment (which is what you expect), you tried to make me sound ludicrous and stupid – this is the precise thing I wanted to show you; Anglos have a natural arrogance borne out of a sense of cultural superiority, out of step with today’s times when Britain doesn’t even count as a world power anymore but nevertheless, you “over-project” yourself as some kind of moral authority from whom everyone else must learn, and accept as role model. Granted you invented English but noone’s denying your importance here. Just get rid of your “bag of cultural superiority” – if you’re assuming my previous comment is a lone view, I offer you a challenge – just show my points to other Indians/Asians and ask them if they agree/disagree with them!
Anyways, it’s YOUR website and I respect your right to allow content which only you prefer. I don’t intend to spoil your morning cup of tea but if you want to hear my real opinions on this subject, I’ll make them LOUD and CLEAR everytime.