I don’t know Leicester that well, I know it a little, I do know that allegedly the population of the city is more “asian” than white. I use the parentheses because the word asian is used by people in this context to denote people with dark skin, it could easily be classified a subconscious form of racism. Why I say this is because many of the people classified as “asian” by this catch-all are largely 2nd and maybe 3rd generation. This means that the only difference between them and those that consider themselves ‘indegenous’ is the amount of time between the ancestors arriving from abroad into this country. The fact is if the Irish were dark-skinned we would be referred to as ‘Indo-Celtic’ or some such and I would be dark-skinned. However if the French and/or Germans were dark-skinned then the vast majority of the population of this country would be too.

The arbitrary nature of the skin differential is like saying that someone with red hair must be Celtic in origin and is therefore also a foreigner, likewise those with freckles. It is a complete anathema to me that because the Indo-European whites were here first from wherever they came they see themselves as having some inate territorial claim above anyone from further afield who of course has only in the recent couple of centuries had the chance to come over here. Leaving aside the natures of the colonial past being the cause of much of the migration it is not without a heavy slice of irony that I look at countries like the United States and Australia where the Indo-European whites have superimposed themselves onto a non-white population and yet their logic appears not to have any conflict with this strategy.

It is therefore very easy to say, “I’m not racist I have nothing against the asians or the blacks” etc. etc. but the tacit racism is rife in this country and is not just restricted to colour. There are many more tolerant of certain ethnicity who will speak with vitriol towards the Romany community. Do those who are genuinely racist shun tea, coffee, wine, spices, Chinese takeaway and Indian curries and restrain from using any words that have not come from Indo-European stem? Of course they do not for their diet would be very dull by comparison and their vocubulary would be non-existent.

If you want to stop Multiculturalism then in this country you are in a better position to do so than most. Firstly stop all transportation in and out no-one currently in gets out and no-one out gets in. That way you would create a snapshot a freezing of the influx of culture restricted to a certain time. For a while the culture would continue to evolve with all the current people exacting their influences but in time it would stabilise. It would be interesting then to compare how this country would be in contrast to others than did not take that step. I suspect the differences would be staggering and this country would be the one that would have been shown to have stagnated.

There are many “non-racists” who say, “I have nothing against other cultures but haven’t we the right to defend ours against its total subsumption by all those around it?” (Yeah like lots of them use words like subsumption! 😉 My answer to this is why? You are merely creating a snapshot again of a culture that has been evolving for millennia and must continue to do so if it is to survive in any way shape or form. Why is it fine for the culture now called British to be made up predominantly from Greco-Roman and Franco-German influence and yet it is deemed arbitrarily unacceptable for any further influences to be applied? After all the Americanisation of this culture is not halted and most people would see it as somewhat inexorable now anyway. Is it again some form of tacit racsim that sees non-white cultures as having some incompatibility? That would be curious since we have done quite well with arabic numbers for some time now, not to mention many words which where they may have come to English through Latin have originated in a variety of other languages. Take the word ‘Sugar’ which has cast it’s influence over all of Western Europe. It’s origins are as follows – Middle English sugre, from Old French sukere, from Medieval Latin succrum, from Old Italian zucchero, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit arkar meaning grit, ground sugar. How about an easier one – Saffron – Middle English safroun, from Old French safran, from Medieval Latin safrnum, from Arabic za‘farn. Why do these words have such a history of lexical influence? Because the words come alongside the products on the trade route. It is natural that if presented with something you have never seen before you will use your own approximation of the word used by the person who had brought it to your attention. A linguistic chinese whispers if you like.

Another example of the tacit racism affects a fella I used to know, he spent most of his life in London since coming over from Jamaica as a lad. He was a plasterer and a very good one at that, got commisions to work on seriously high-profile buildings and the like. In conversation I asked him sometimes why he chose to remain in London, he said it wasn’t so much of a choice as a necessity. He couldn’t go down to Cornwall or the far-flung corners of the country for example because he simply wouldn’t get the work. I know of even more ludicrous examples of this inate snobbery, take the town Harpenden in Hertforshire, a very haughty gentrified place, where it is traditional to employ only tradesmen from the local area and under no circumstances from the nearest big town Luton, in spite of the fact that because Luton is a less prosperous area prices are lower across the board. This sort of Them and Us mentality is exactly that which leads to mistrust of anyone different. If it is not educated out at a young age it becomes ignorance and bigotry and I think we have quite enough of that as it is.

Finally to those of hindu persuasion all the best for Diwali.

Song Of The Day ~ Cornershop – Brimfull Of Asha

Original Comments:


Kristie made this comment,
There are many who are ever fearful of change, be it in the language or the make-up of the population. It’s all the same to them, and so they feel the need to “protect” whatever the status quo is from evolving, as if evolution weren’t inevitable. Change or die. It’s true of everything. But not everyone gets that.
comment added :: 2nd November 2005, 16:11 GMT+01