The Star MONDAY APRIL 21 2008

11
INSIDE
F
rom my office window in London
I look out on a row of shops that
offer a range of services, from
hairdressing to dry-cleaning. In
each of the dozen or so restaurants, delis,
news agents and interior-design boutiques
that line the busy street, there is an ethnic
mix of tradespeople who provide services
to the residents of Maida Vale.
Amoul was born in Lebanon, Belal in
Egypt, Bijan in Iran, David in Nigeria,
H and D as they are known by the local
community are Indians from Uganda,
and Prue is from Australia. In London that
is hardly unusual. From a rather homoge-
neous start, the capital has, without doubt,
become a hugely multicultural and
vibrant, if difficult, city.
That idea of multiculturalism, espe-
cially in the wake of the bus and tube
bombings of July 7 2005, has come in for
much debate and scrutiny. The idea of rel-
ativism, where all cultures lived side by
side without an overarching British iden-
tity, is being questioned. It has, some argue,
produced a sense of alienation in a sub-
stantial minority of second-generation
immigrants. They may be well-educated,
enjoy middle-class lifestyles, but they feel
profoundly disaffected and foster a sense of
grievance which is often expressed in vio-
lent Islamic militancy.
Forty years after Conservative MP
Enoch Powell made his famous Rivers of
Blood speech, the issues of immigration,
integration and assimilation remain as
contentious now as they were then. Four
decades later people ask: was Enoch right?
Powell perhaps gave the most provoca-
tive speech in the history of British race
relations. As a member of Edward Heaths
Shadow Cabinet he spoke to the annual
meeting of the West Midlands Conserva-
tive Political Centre in Birmingham on
April 20 1968. He quoted the Roman poet
Virgils prophesy: I see the Tiber foaming
with much blood.
Powell predicted communities would be
torn apart by the tensions of conflicting
cultures learning to live together. He was
immediately sacked, but not before spark-
ing furious debate, with his words dividing
the nation. Those words echo still.
Powell was addressing the concerns
sparked by Jamaican immigration: But
while to the immigrant, entry to this coun-
try was admission to privileges and oppor-
tunities eagerly sought, the impact upon
the existing population was very different
they found themselves made strangers
in their own country. They found their
wives unable to obtain hospital beds in
childbirth, their children unable to obtain
school places, their homes and neighbour-
hoods changed beyond recognition.
We hear the same comments today.
I found this image of Britain hard to
reconcile with the tolerant country I know.
But these tough, racist views still exist.
Anecdotally, it became clear when I can-
vassed a marginal Labour seat during the
last General Election in 2005.
Britain did not seem that happy melting
pot a term sociologists believe to be out-
dated espoused by its leaders, but the
fractured land Powell predicted.
Taking the pulse of the nation, a recent
report from the UKs National Statistics
Office, though, found that the vast major-
ity of people from ethnic minorities feel
British, even if they were not born in the
country. The study showed that both first-
generation immigrants and those who
were British-born had a strong sense of
identity with their adopted country.
This doesnt surprise Dr Dina Kiwan,
lecturer in citizenship at Birkbeck College,
University of London.
I am amazed that there is not more dis-
quiet than there is in this country, she
says, seeing things very much as a matter
of degree and perception.
But there are others who deliver far
bleaker messages. Trevor Philips, chair-
person of the Commission for Equalities
and Human Rights and himself a convert
to the perils of multiculturalism has
warned that Britain is sleepwalking into
segregation.
Kiwan wonders if what we see isnt
more of a youth problem, where teenage
boys fight things out. Tensions often flare
up when there is a perception that different
groups get better access to services.
There are always teething problems
with new commu-
nities, she says.
We had it with
the Irish, for exam-
ple, until they
became part of the
majority and didnt
stand out any-
more.
For the last
decade the internal
debate in the UK
has been about
what constitutes
Britishness. Scot-
land and Wales
have devolved, and
the Empire is long
gone; yet the latter
is still a topic of
discussion and the
cause of much
angst, as is the
legacy of colonial-
ism, all contribut-
ing factors in the
race debate. The
sense of superior-
ity is yet another
legacy. Many years
ago Gandhi was asked what he thought
about British civilisation. He paused for a
long time and then said thoughtfully: It
would be a good idea.
Each year about 190 000 immigrants
arrive in Britain, more than Powell could
ever have imagined. About 83% of Britons
polled said they feel that there is an immi-
gration crisis, and 84% believe that the gov-
ernment should stop or reduce immigra-
tion altogether. About 66% feel their jobs
are being undercut by migrant workers,
and 69% feel they are losing out because
new immigrants
are given special
treatment.
These are
exactly the same
sentiments Powell
expressed. Its as if
those decades had
not elapsed and all
those lessons had
not been learned.
Then it was the
Jamaicans. Today
it is the Poles who,
since Poland
joined the Euro-
pean Union in
2004, have arrived
in the hundreds of
thousands, and the
immigration from
around the world.
This caused the
same type of ten-
sion that Powell
talked of, with
papers like the
Daily Mail linking
the surge of East-
ern European
immigrants to a crime wave across the
country. A study for the Association of
Chief Police Officers has found that this is
not the case. In fact the annual crime rate
in England and Wales fell by 9% last year.
In another survey carried out by the
BBC, it showed that half of the British
public believe Britain is a racist society.
But half also believe we have become more
racially tolerant than we were 10 years ago.
When asked the key question has
immigration benefited or damaged British
society over the past 50 years? almost
half (47%) of whites thought it had dam-
aged British society (compared with 28%
who think it has benefited society). Among
black respondents, 43% said British soci-
ety had benefited and among Asians half
thought the same. Some 22% of both ethnic
groups thought British society had been
damaged by immigration and they regis-
tered high levels of dont know (35%
among blacks and 29% among Asians).
Across the street at the news agent that
Ds family has owned since 1979, theres
something beyond the figures and surveys.
D and his family left Uganda in 1973 when
Idi Amin kicked out the entire Asian com-
munity. In the 36 years that he has lived
here, D has witnessed enormous changes.
Arriving at the age of 9, going to school in
London, it wasnt until he was 18 that he
had his first Asian friend simply because
there were no other Asians. In the more
working-class neighbourhood where he
lived and studied, he was often beaten up.
I have the scars to prove it, he says.
Since then he has noticed a significant
reduction in the levels of racism and a rise
in Asian immigration. In fact he hardly
hears any racist remarks and his kids dont
hear it at all. His identity is split. Despite
having never been to India, not even to
visit, he feels as much Indian as British.
Everything about me is Asian or
Indian. What I believe, how I live my life.
But Im also British because I have grown
up here.
Just a couple of metres further down
the street at the cafe on the corner, Belal
Aly, who is Egyptian, and Sanita Voitkevca-
Jusefa, a Latvian married to a Lebanese
man, have had different experiences. Belal,
a long-distance runner training for the 2012
London Olympics, came to London eight
months ago after a year and a half in New
York, which he loved. He finds the capital
a little bit frightening. Recently a 14-year-
old boy was stabbed for no reason nearby.
Every day he sees fights and a large police
presence where he lives on the Edgware
Road, known as Little Lebanon, where
many Arabs in London congregate.
Its not the colour of my skin but the
fact that I am an Arab that sometimes
alarms people.
Sanita would feel safer in Lebanon than
in London, provided there was no war, a
big proviso. She met her husband, an
architect, in Riga, and they chose to live in
London because he couldnt work in Latvia
and she couldnt work in Lebanon.
The situation in Britain continues to
frustrate many people, but that is only in
part due to the immigration issue. London
is increasingly expensive and difficult to
live in. There is a nostalgic sense that life
was better before. Ethnic minorities have
changed the face of Britain, foreign travel
has opened up the world, Indian take-away
some years ago overtook fish and chips as
the national dish.
Immigration remains a politically sen-
sitive issue and one that is not going to go
away, though it needs to be dealt with in
less emotional terms. The melting pot
metaphor has feasibility.
Different ethnic groups have added to
Britains dynamism and to the growing
tension.The problem is how to convince
the sceptical that the rivers of blood are
not going to flow.
SO COLOURFUL: Britain is home to many cultures, religions and colours. Here, Madiba supporters dance in Londons Parliament Square after the unveiling of a statue of the South African legend last year. PICTURE: SANG TAN / AP
Immigration adds to dynamismand tension
Enoch Powell predicted
communities would be torn
apart by the tensions of
conflicting cultures learning to
live together. He was
immediately sacked.
Even though the phrase melting pot of cultures may be outdated, its reality isnt
Just stand by a window in London and have a good look, writes Heidi Kingstone