Britain's Race Relations Problem
Reasons for the Unchanging Racial Divide in the UK
The face of Britain is becoming less like the multi-cultural utopia that it aspires to be, and more like a nation divided among its different peoples. The UK government is constantly making grand statements about how it intends to bridge the racial divide. It has pursued a set of measures aimed at resolving this issue, such as bringing schools of different faiths together to promote understanding. However, to see real progress occur the government needs to get to the root of the problem.
Inadequate Government Proposals
Instead it seems to repeat the same generic statements. In a Downing Street speech in December 2006, former prime minister Tony Blair said, "mulitcultural Britain was never supposed to be a celebration of division but of diversity, to allow people to live harmoniously despite their differences. We need to reassert the duty and need to integrate". While he may be correct, is it really enough to see the kind of breakthrough that is needed in easing racial tensions?
On May 10 2007 just before he stepped down as Britain's premier, Tony Blair declared, "This country is a blessed nation. The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts, we know it. This is the greatest nation on Earth". While the statement was certainly Blair merely being Blair, and taking it upon himself to be the one to deliver the ego boost to the British public, it is the type of opinion that can lead people to act superciliously with regard to migrant workers in Britain, that creates among certain nations and races an intrinsic sense of superiority which, ultimately, leads to the racial hatred that so relentlessly suffocates our society.
Lack of Understanding?
For real change to occur, the process needs to work both ways. There are proposed initiatives designed to encourage integration among different groups of society, such as an english language test for new immigrants. But do the British public know anything about the people who come here to find a new way of life? For example, the national controversy that erupted because of the Muslim veil arose because Western values and teachings allow people no real understanding of why it is worn, and indeed the Muslim way of life in general.
How can the government expect immigrants to feel comfortable working and living in Britain when they are made to feel menial? This is where the problem seemingly originates. There is a lack of basic understanding and appreciation between the different sections of society, and until this is rectified, racial tensions will continue to be deficient.
2007's 'Celebrity Big Brother' witnessed the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty suffer a torrent of racial abuse at the hands of fellow housemates. The scenes showed three of the housemates; former pop star Jo O' Meara, glamour model Danielle Lloyd and national goon Jade Goody racially abuse Indian housemate Shetty. The sequence of events, broadcast into millions of homes across the country, has typified the ignorance of a nation with regard to minority cultures. Unless the government takes the initiative to finally act, particularly in the wake of the relatively recent international outcry over the Big Brother race row, race tensions will remain, as will the danger of seeing riots the like of Bradford or Oldham flare up once again.
Muslim veil which has symbolized the race divide
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