I think you're quite right V, Peter Hitchens who is certainly not a racialist has often been atacked for raising the question of immigration and is even considered in some quarters to be a fascist.
This is a complete nonsence to anyone who regularly reads his column which contains many warnings about organisations such as the BNP. PH regularly condemns racialist views and wrote a piece about 'why Enoch was wrong' :-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/mailonsunday.html?in_article_id=492847&in_page_id=1791
Sorry as this is kinda off topic guys
It's a real toughie for me, I mean even what or who are the 'British working class'?...
I'm Asian, born in Africa, parents Indian, came here in 66, took terrible race abuse as I moved into a very racist part of West london (and I'm talking constant beatings as well as & being stabbed a couple of times) - but that's not my point - my point is - I have cropped hair, speak with a total london accent, I have tattoos, an English wife, go to the football regularly, spent 13 years raising my children on a massive sprawling council estate full of the 'have nots',+ dealers, junkies, murders and suicides.
I have a pride in Indian culture, history and wisdom... but i have an equal pride in British culture, history and wisdom, I too get a sense of pride when I admire the dorset coastline, as I do equally feel anger for the erosion of civil liberites of the British people that had been so hard fought for during the second world war (my stepfather from the age of nine - so effectively was my father) was an Englishman (but his surname was Evans) had fought both in Africa and the European mainland during WW11 - you can imagine how many times he and I sat around together looking at the B&W photos of the campaigns.
What I'm really trying to say is that taking the colour out of the equation (white) - the Island has been a melting pot of all peoples for a very long time.
Acknowleging the differennces but celebrating the similarites has got thr be the way forward... why shouldn't I take pleasure from the King Artur 'myth' or the idea of chivalry, or pride in Bodacia as i do the 'Veda' as if it's something from 'my' people - the British?
Enoch was a man with a twisted romantic view that coloured what he said in a toxic hue IMHO
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White Girl, BBC2
I haven't watched any of the other programmes but I did see 'White Girl' on BBC2 last night. (About a bright 11 year old girl from a dysfunctional white family which relocates to a 100% Muslim area of Blackburn. The girl ends up embracing Islam.) I was totally convinced by the incredible acting and thought it totally plausible, if a little overegged. (White trash bad, Muslims good.) There was one scene though that completely overwhelmed me, from a spiritual viewpoint: the girl had persuaded her disapproving mother to visit the mosque with her and to join her in prayer. The mother, with an alcohol problem and an abusing partner and feckless mother of her own, went through the ritual washing but couldn't bring herself to put her forehead to the ground. However, without dialogue, it was possible to see how the calm and beauty of the surroundings and the peace of the prayers brought her to the point of spiritual revelation and opened her heart, none of which she could deal with. She fled. It was a marvellous piece of theatre and one that really resonated with me.
If you didn't see it, I do recommend that you view it on BBC/iplayer.
xxx
It's not an easy one you pose, Roger. There aren't any simple answers, are there, when as you say the country truly is a melting pot. (If Scots and Irish had blue skin, you'd see the heck of a lot of blue around, including of course in the government. It might be a bit like Obama in the USA: "(Shock!) Could this be a Blue Prime Minister?")
Generalising is often a problem. In a small academic study of Muslim children in Coventry, one teenage girl's response became the title of the journal paper: speaking in a Midlands accent she replied to a question, "My father's a Muslim but my mother's a Sikh."
I'd just have a quick stab at an approach to the thread in respect of people in your own position. If you wished to, you can still identify with your (past, pre-Brit) cultural heritage (as well as your Britishness). Being in a minority group got you beaten up years ago ... for many years though it's just as likely to get a person preference at some "equal opportunity" job vacancies, perhaps.
I lived for a long time in Camden Town where PC was ridiculously rife. The council at one time forbade workers to ask for "black coffee" or "white coffee" - it had to be "with" or "without milk" to get served, so I heard. Whilst having nothing as you know against people of different backgrounds, it's a center for all sorts of minorities including sexual ones. We used to joke that we'd only get employment if ... well, the wording of the joke could cause offence, but it was along the lines of taking on the appearance of every minority possibility going including skin-colour, sexuality, disability and politics ... then we'd be assured of work in that area.
So the point is that we feel disenfranchised. Who speaks for us? Who recognises our worth - at least as being equal to those who get so much media attention? So it may be a question of people from other minority groups, and yourself, finding it a bit tough at times to fit in; however the way it's been leaning, the Caucasian 'working class' feels the same but hasn't had any advocate.
V
So the point is that we feel disenfranchised. Who speaks for us? Who recognises our worth - at least as being equal to those who get so much media attention? So it may be a question of people from other minority groups, and yourself, finding it a bit tough at times to fit in; however the way it's been leaning, the Caucasian 'working class' feels the same but hasn't had any advocate.
Yes apologies, I totally agree and get the point as Mark is also conveying... and yes I can see it and agree that it is not good for those that it affects (directly and indirectly) nor is it good for those that are given this 'false' leg up to the detriment of a group of people that are easily identifiable as not fitting into any of the 'special' catagories.
I do agree that it's a problem, & I know my post was off topic and my reason for writing about a tough time was not to say 'look how bad we've had it' - but was really about ensuring that we are equally treated - I know that's supposed to be the point as to why some get more 'attention & help' than others - but it don't work... it seems to get abused at both ends and obviously causes a wedge to be driven between people - especially those that have little in terms of options.
So in a long winded way, I'm agreeing 😮
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