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Bogus and Flabby?
19 February 2008 .
I suspect that the Royal United Services Institute isn't the most representative body in the land, but its pronouncement that multiculturalism is (was) 'flabby and bogus', associated with 'misplaced' policies, seems to be taken seriously.
It has to be conceded that there have been too many misplaced, ill-considered and frankly damaging assumptions, initiatives and policies in the name or context of multiculturalism and, in much the same breath, that too much of the thinking was flabby. However, it's not the philosophy itself that's flabby, and for a great many people its implementation and practice were far from bogus.
Immigration to Britain has largely been the result of our history of empire, from which many people in this country never much benefitted (whether they ought to have done so or not), and of the search by employers for cheap labour, which actively constrained a section of the more vulnerable in the indigenous working population. Natives have on the whole accepted this immigration despite the realities that it had little to do with their interests, that they were never realistically consulted and that it is ordinary people who have faced the consequent pressures on the resources of daily life. It was those ordinary people, including teachers like me, who accepted that a way had to be found by which the hosts and the incomers could live together in harmony - because that surely wasn't universal in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I certainly never thought that multiculturalism was some perfect panacea, and I came to recognise that it was sometimes imposed and bullying. However, it was the best option apparent at the time (and I still don't know if there has been a more effective philosophy offered); and it was certainly in the finest tradition of respect for the rights, traditions and choices of others (and I still don't know if there has been a nobler philosophy offered). Immigration was imposed on us, but in a progressive spirit we sought a positive outcome. Mistaken we may have been, flabby in our thinking we (sometimes) were, but to call what so many of us worked for 'bogus' is the sort of arrogant abuse which underlies far deeper and longer lasting divisions in our society than those between some of the communities.
Bogus and Flabby' 'Royal United Services Institute' 'imposed immigration' empire
Multiculturalism Under Attack.
10 February 2008 .
The concept of multiculturalism is under a more comprehensive attack than it has ever been in my lifetime; it's hard to tell yet what impact this is going to have on the 'great experiment', the nurturing of multiculturalism in our society.
I am, and I always have been, a believer. In the simplest terms, I like the idea that I live my life as I choose, within my own cultural framework if I wish, while my neighbours live theirs as they wish, within the conscience, confession or culture that they are born to - or choose; and that, because we are neighbours, we become friends, share our lives and experiences, and are all enriched. Multiculturalism seems to me a noble offshoot of Western Enlightenment respect for liberty and the individual and, whether in the end the experiment succeeds or fails, I believe that it was always that - honourable. I do regret, I admit, that it ever had to be an 'experiment' at all: how much better if the instinct came to us naturally.
I believe that the 'melting pot' is the future, whether or not multiculturalism is the route to it, and a new world will come out of that - not necessarily altogether better or worse than ours, just different, with its own dreams and problems but perhaps without some of the conflicts; the alternative, if it is to be that we all continue to stare at each other from behind walls of ignorance, suspicion or fear, is just too depressing to contemplate.
When I was a child, I lived in Earl's Court and spent a deal of time in North London. I sometimes heard, of course, about problems like the Notting Hill riots; but, to me in those days, other cultures meant cheerful, outgoing and (most importantly to me at the time) kind-to-children West Indians. When I started teaching in a culturally mixed school, the party line in London was that we should be 'colour-blind'. Personally, I could live with that then, because I thought that it allowed cultures to flourish; but, since then, we've chosen as a society to go down the more positive (even pro-active) road of multiculturalism. [Colour-blindness would have seemed perfectly workable to me as a child, if I'd thought about it, and still would if it weren't for the resilient instinct to xenophobia. I'm not so keen now, because I think it could be the cover for a new and more crushing conformity: as a first example, I think of a child in a school, whose culture does not match the majority - whose culture will be ignored in the name of colour-blindness; it was sometimes the experience of black pupils in largely white schools. (In passing, I believe the same can result from 'class-blindness'.)]
However... Multiculturalism has come up against that bugbear of dreams and political ideas and systems, human nature.
We have, inter alia:
and these are the cause of fault lines which our society doesn't seem to handling too well right now.
The problem with multiculturalism as it now 'established' is that there has to be a commitment to it, together with a generous willingness to compromise, by the influential majority of every group within society. At the moment that just isn't the case; consequently, human nature - including xenophobia and a thousand private agendas - is pulling the dream apart. [It's been said that any political or social system would work if it weren't for human nature. I'm a democrat insofar as I believe that democracy has come closest to mitigating the more baleful effects of human nature (and I'm a blogger because I believe that we have to watch our democracy very closely to see it stays democratic). We haven't yet found how to give our multiculturalism the resilience we hope democracy has.]
Thinking of Canterbury's recent speech... I think it's right and actively good that all these conversations are taking place about the ways the different groups in our society are coming together (or are failing to come together, or should be coming together).
It's possible that we are seeing a critical moment in the development of our society. I hope we're up to it; but, whatever comes of it in the end, it's going to be lively.
'melting pot' 'melting pot' 'social fault line' politicised police' 'race colour-blindness'
Unattributed.
01 January 2008 .
I assume that the following is a letter to a newspaper; it was e-mailed to me by a friend who cannot tell me its provenance. I guess that it may be against protocol to reprint an item without proper acknowledgement or permission: I will try to establish those. If anyone can advise me as to its origin, I would be grateful.
I live in a Muslim country - I have no Western contacts here - all my friends being Malay, Chinese or Indian. Here the local people complain openly about illegal immigrants or the crimes being committed by foreigners without fear of being dubbed racist. My wife and I are again looking forward to Christmas in Penang - much better than in Politically Correct Britain . There will be Christmas songs and carols played in all the shopping malls, along with models of Santa and his reindeer. There will be Christmas Greetings offered by Muslim security men in the supermarkets and, if one of the local hotels is true to form, the Santa - complete with white beard, will be as black as "The Earl of Hell's waistcoat" as my father would have said. We will - like all the stores - have our Christmas tree with presents for friends and family (mostly non-Christian). There will be Christmas cards sent to me from devout Buddhists. I just arrived back from Perak a couple of hours ago and, when in one gift shop there, the young Muslim saleswoman, dressed in Malay baju with tudong (headscarf) showed me a group of tiny pig ornaments which she considered "cute!" I am not offended when people here speak of Orang Puteh (white people). They say that their own skin is dark with the sun. We have recently had Muslim Hari Raya and Indian Deepavali celebrations and I greeted my Muslim and Indian friends and contacts accordingly. My view is that Britain is in a downward spiral and will have a revolution within a few years because of the way the natives - yes natives - are being subjugated by this and previous governments and by the lawyers who are making fortunes out of this P.C. culture. With thanks to the writer.
'Letter from Malaya' 'religious harmony'