Do I really hate the UK?
There is a growing consensus amongst my friends that I really dislike the UK, my home country. I understand where this sentiment comes from and there are many factors that give credence to such an idea. For one, I emigrated and moved to Spain in the knowledge that I would probably earn less and would be leaving all my friends and family behind. Another key, and perhaps more pertinent point, is that I haven’t been scared to be critical of the UK and call out its shortcomings. But where the confusion lies is that I am critical out of love for the UK not some sort of imagined hatred. I am often proud to be British but I will never be a nationalist!
In the first ever podcast we released, Episode 02: Mother & Father, I expressed the view that I no longer tolerate bad behaviour from family members for the simple fact that we share the same surname. The reason being that, by in large, I love all my family very dearly but I believe that to have the best relationship possible we needed to work from a foundation of honesty, whereby bad behaviour would not only be unacceptable but called out, by both sides. Having started this process I have found that my relationships have become a lot more real, warts and all. Put simply they are more meaningful relationships. The love we now share isn’t based off some misguided notion of respect and duty, it’s based off the reality of who we are. I don’t see my relationship with the UK any differently. If you are serious about loving a person or country you should want them or it to be the best they possibly can be, and that comes when you understand that for potential to be maximised growth is needed.
The UK has recently been in a flux state with Brexit freezing the country in time. There are many reasons the general public voted for Brexit and subsequently for Boris Johnson, but there is no doubt that some of that reasoning can be traced back to white supremacy and archaic nationalism. That is not to say that all Brexit or Conservative voters are racist or white supremacists - far from it. However, the rise in racist incidents at sporting events (football in particular) and race-related attacks is alarming and yet somewhat predictable in such a political climate. Perhaps even more worryingly, the UK is not an isolated example. The U.S, Italy, Brazil and Spain are just some other examples of how populist nationalistic politics are taking hold and ushering in a new wave of racism; one that was once increasingly thought of as a thing of the not-so-distant past.
Being half-Italian, half-English, I have had the privilege of growing up in a culture that is fiercely protected and enclosed (Italian culture) and a culture that is open, welcoming and morphing constantly (British culture). There are positives and negatives to both being a closed and open culture. The closed culture remains much the same through the passing of time as traditions are maintained and so the culture becomes calcified and easily identifiable. The downside of such a culture is that it becomes increasingly antiquated as society evolves. The negative of the open culture is that it is not so easily identifiable and sometimes it can feel as though it has been lost entirely. After all, in 2020 a chicken korma is as British as a roast dinner, even our world renown “Fish & Chips” comes from a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin and the “British cuppa” first came from the East India Company in the early 17th century. For me, however, the beauty of the British culture is that we are (or were) so open, that there is no tradition we hold too dear and that we are (or were) ready for the very definition of what it means to be British to change on an almost daily basis.
I recently went to the cinema and watched the new Sam Mendes film “1917”. It’s a tale about how two young men are given the arduous task of delivering an order by hand to stop an attack that may save the lives of 1600 countrymen, many of whom were Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and black men as shown in the film. When I came out of the cinema I told my Spanish friend, Marcos, that those types of films fill me with pride. I could see he didn’t understand so I went on to explain that in arguably the most important wars in the history of humanity, Great Britain fell on the right side of history. He chuckled and then admitted that he could not feel the same due to Franco being in power at that time. It is worth remembering that it was Great Britain that stood up to the biggest tyrant of modern times and fought for the freedom of all people, not just the white British. However, this fight left the UK on its knees and it was the immigrants from the commonwealth and other countries that came in their droves to help us build back up this country, brick by brick.
It is the grandchildren of those very same immigrants that now feel unwelcome and are told to go back “home” in their own home. We have a leader in Boris Johnson who has called black people “Piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles” and compared Islamic women to “letterboxes”. Make no mistake, the U.K was once the shining light in Europe for its multiculturalism and willingness to welcome all newcomers regardless of religious beliefs or skin colour. I worry that this statement no longer rings true and that slowly but surely we are undoing all the good work of those who gave their lives in the Great War and World War II. I worry that this time we will not fall on the right side of history and future generations will lament our actions. We need to remember what it means to be British, to be the best of British. Welcome those who arrive on our shores fleeing tyranny and extreme poverty in search of pastures new, be open not closed, look past colour and creed and instead see the individual who stands before you. Only then, in my opinion, can we call this land “Great” Britain and be a “United” Kingdom once more.
By Seb Siracusa
