Race and The English

Race and English Nationalism

As some may know ,my family is of mixed race, and I can’t say this would have occurred to me as an issue, but ,lovely soft skinned and delicately scented David Allen , mentioned the dislocation of ethnic minorities, and, looking at the paper today, it has cropped up again, in an article by Martin Beckford.

More Blacks and Asians see Themselves as British

“ More black and Asian people regard themselves as British than whites, a survey has found ….the study also discovers that fewer people in general see themselves as British ,as they identify with England , Scotland, Wales or Ireland.
The Institute for Public Policy Research , a left wing think tank, found fifty-one percent of ethnic minority respondents describe themselves as British, compared with twenty-nine percent of white people..”
In 1996 , fifty-two percent called themselves British out of preference and the report concludes .
“ Britain’s identity crisis looks set to continue and the implications for community cohesion look clear.” Looking back over the past week or two, the last really impassioned defence I can find for the Union was mounted by none other than ,( new best friend) ,Trevor Phillips , who has so delighted me by irritating world record cab fare holder Ken Livingstone. This is his much improved recent track record

Trevor Phillips

“After supporting multiculturalism for many years, Phillips is now one of its most outspoken mainstream critics. He expressed fears that multiculturalism could cause Britain to "sleepwalk towards segregation" and has argued for school selection to be amended to prevent segregation in British schools.
In 2006 he was appointed the head of a new organisation known as the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights,”

Trevor Philips on Britain … ( abridged version)


Perhaps if we want to see what it truly means to be British, we should ask hard-working, Indians, Eastern Europeans, Chinese and Filipinos……...
Vietnamese and Eastern European families arrive barely speaking English; within two years, their children are rising to the top of the class and qualifying for our best universities….
.Modern Britishness does not define you by your colour, your ancestry or your tribe; but rather it asks you to treat fellow citizens with respect and fairness, to share basic rules of conduct and to contribute to our common good……..
He wants measures to actively foster this inclusiveness
1)Over the past twelve months, English classes have been quietly disappearing from local colleges, to the despair of new migrants and their employers.
2) efforts to bring young people of different backgrounds together – say English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish — in voluntary, cultural or sporting activities.
3)a major drive to encourage initiatives such as summer camps for teenagers
4)citizenship ceremonies

Why it is that Trevor Phillips feels Englishness is so much less likely to be inclusive than Britishness.? Why would you not use the phrase Black -English ? You see I think there is fault line here ,and while I applaud to some extent, what he tries to do , essentially ,he is still denying the that the England is a country in the sense that others are.

What is Englishness and Where has it Gone ?

What do we want ? Larry the lamb, knee length bathing trunks, steam engines , foxtrots and all male cricket clubs. Probably not . I locate the heart of it in institutions like Common Law, our Literature music and customs. All old cultures are under threat from globalisation and the media . The land loses its personal face and the English have begun to feel they are noone and they live nowhere special. They also seem to hate themselves……

Prescribed Ethnicity

In 1999 during selections to the European Parliament 78 year old George Staunton was putting up UKIP posters in Liverpool . On a derelict wall he painted the words “Don’t forget the 1945 war” and “Free speech for England “ . He was arrested by the Merseyside police and charged with “Racially aggravated damage”. Racially ,was on account of the gratuitous reference to England, a country for whom the defendant had fought a war. Pubs have refused to extend opening hours for St . Georges day because it would be provocative and jingoistic. To be English has become to be a “little Englander” a small mean and embarrassing thing . A blot , as Trevor Phillips implies, on the bland vision of “Britishness “in which uniquely , England , and English ethnicity, is abolished.
As we well know ,to Europe, England does not even exist. The official map of the European union, issued by the European commission of Brussels ,which divides the continent into regions ,makes absolutely no mention of England . It would be a vast deal easier to drop Nelson from the curriculum than Nelson Mandella but this seems to concern no-one ..until recently .

The English Wake Up

We are waking from a long sleep, and remembering without triumphalism, the value and distinctive nature of our own history . Is this is a dangerous Pandora’s box , I see the worry but I hope not . Tolerance has always been a leading motif ,but the fact that this country is England ,and the dominant culture in it is that of the English, cannot go on being treated as a shameful secret.

Back to Race.

I know why Trevor Phillips and others fear English ethnicity. It is because he is more comfortable to give us no identity at all in order that others can maintain theirs. “Racism “will be bandied about as it always is ,but it is to do with culture and a real commitment to the “home” ,you live in. Britain is not a country ,it is a political unit . It is something you can join ,and leave ,to whatever extent you like , with full entitlements. “England” ,on the other hand , is a country , a thing made of love, time ,and a thousand bonds of affection .It is not enough for those who come here to tolerate it . This is not racist it is asking for a real joining over the years , not simply ”Parking up “. For some communities it may be a challenge ,but in the context of our reasonable ness I trust we will find a new accommodation.



“English Nationalism is not a question of race, it is a question of being proud of our way of life (ethnicity), our heritage and our culture and about loyalty and a sense of community. All races are welcome as members.”

( English National Party Manifesto)

..and I would want top be a bit more plural than that…just to be on the safe side !!