The Impact of Black
When I left the 6th form 58 years ago, there were no black pupils in my school at all. Meanwhile, folks of other heritages have increased in great numbers in the UK and are found in all areas of life. This phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by my generation, who due to our overwhelming sense of tolerance and integrity have adapted to the changes without making much of an issue of it.
In the meantime, the «BAME» label has been introduced to cover multiplicity, particularly in the workforce. The label embraces such minority groups as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and their cause has attracted more focus since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. This triggered off the global campaign called «Black Lives Matter» in an effort to eradicate racism. But the effective results seem to have fragmented society more than ever, for some bizarre reason. In some instances, some people have actually been made to feel almost embarrassed about their white skin.
This development has magnified a culture clash rather than solving it. People of colour are becoming increasingly offended by names and songs that they perceive to be belligerent. Historical statues are being tipped over, claiming the individual supported the slave trade. (For general information, the UK navy was the overriding factor in eliminating the slave trade in Europe and it was passed by law in 1807, just by way of setting history straight). Nursery rhymes, names of pubs or even products are supposed to be re-christened to avoid upsetting people of non-white cultures, even though they have carried their name humbly and with dignity for decades.
The current call for certain percentages of BAME people to be represented in all public offices is now generating the impression that skin colour is the key criteria and not the suitability for an explicit function. The frightening aspect of this movement is that it is pontificated and propagated particularly by people of influence in the media, schools, universities and politics alike. The trend is blatantly obvious. Advertising on British television has now been largely appropriated by people of non-white backgrounds although white people represent 86.1% of the population. It is the clear intention that the public should adapt themselves to regarding it as symbolic of everyday British life today.
Recently Coca Cola ran a course called «Confronting Racism» to coerce their employees to try and be less white. Happily, several discerning participants leaked some slides which produced a huge backlash against the beverage concern. It was even available on LinkedIn, before being deleted again after the ramifications. It doesn’t bear musing on the reaction if the colours had been reversed.
The famous Oprah Winfrey interview in March saw Meghan and Harry, expressing their indignation about their professed racism in the Royal family. They had previously whinged about apparent systemic racism in the UK. Verbal missiles are frequently fired these days, to accentuate an issue, whether there is any foundation or not to the claims; but it makes good headlines. It has to be said, the Queen has headed the Commonwealth for nearly seventy years and this represents 54 voluntary sovereign states with 2.4 billion inhabitants all with equal rights. Seventy percent of commonwealth citizens are non-white, and the Queen has unceasingly supported them throughout her reign. I think we can most definitely declare, that the royal family is not racist.
It would be nice to think humanity resembles a piano keyboard, with black and white keys, which reach their full potential in communion with each other. It’s the black keys that provide the sharps and flats in the composition and infuse it with profound joyfulness, in the way they interact. The concept of keyboard unity is becoming increasingly remote. The world is becoming a progressively complicated algorithm and one way or another we have to live with it. It’s never simply a question of black and white, it’s the shades of grey in-between that give relief and cushion us from the tension.
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