Peaceful protest or riot; why British values matter even if you can’t win

 

Minneapolis 2020

Whatever the ins and outs of the death of a man outside a food store in Minneapolis one thing is certain; he didn’t deserve to die.

The ensuing protests in his name have carried the hashtag black lives matter; an epithet so obvious and apparent to right minded people as to almost be unnecessary.

But when the protest becomes international and the agenda subtlety shifts to banners reading “Britain invented racism”, culturally significant landmarks are defaced and damaged and protestors demand retribution for Britain’s colonial past then right minded people become concerned; after all in Britain, British Values Matter as well.

Avoiding The Victim Mentality

We undoubtedly have a good history of protest and riot in England. Perhaps not on the scale and with the same passion as the French but still with the ability to shake society to its core.

My recent reading, “The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel and “Tombland” by CJ Samson, has taught me many things but one thing that struck me in both books was this tendency for the English people to regularly protest and rebel.

While I had some awareness of the Tollpuddle Martyrs and the Peterloo Massacre, the Civil War spoke for itself and I’d lived through the Poll Tax riots but things like uprisings in Cornwall and Norwich were new to me as was the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. This latter uprising surprised me, not only because I’d always imagined the pilgrimage as some sort of royal walk about or meet and greet undertaken by Henry VIII with Thomas Cromwell but also because, having finally understood its true nature, of the way its leader was first received by the King only to be subsequently executed having been arrested on his way back to the North. 

Of course all of these protests and riots were triggered by different factors. However common themes are a deep sense of injustice, discrimination and poverty together with the fact that in the short term they all failed and their leaders suffered the appropriate justice of the day.

With such a history of injustice your average English man and woman might have a right to feel aggrieved. We’ve been overtaxed, under paid, under represented, driven of our land to make way for sheep, replaced by machinery, religiously persecuted, conscripted, pressed, deported to the colonies, expected to hammer the Scots, been hammered by the Scots, had heads cut off, hands cut off and suffered all manner of mistreatment and yet still manage to maintain a stiff upper lip and keep singing "God Save The Queen" with gusto.

Unlike other nations, and for whatever reason, we do not appear to be able to bear a long term grudge. We have made a decision, as good Englishmen and Women not to be victims. We remain determined to forgive, turn the other cheek, look for the positives in the situation, respect authority and recognise that the best man won this time.

 

Diversity and Inclusion; the fallacy?

This “I am not a victim” approach will not suit all but it is I believe at the heart of being British and underpins our British Values. We are encouraged to be a tolerant nation and tolerance is about accepting what you don’t agree with and not simply accepting those things that you do agree with.

Tolerance is very much the philosophy at the heart of Diversity and Inclusion - a mindset that numerous bodies now espouse to. The idea behind diversity and inclusion is that this process is in some way synergistic; we improve our culture by opening it up to the influence of other cultures. But for me this philosophy could be potentially flawed as it assumes:

1. The original culture is in need of improvement
2. The influence of other cultures will in fact be to the benefit of the original culture

One example of this flaw in practice would be in the concept of a “snowflake generation” or “snowflake society” which is so contrary to the concept of “I will not allow myself to be a victim” I described earlier. At what point in our Diversity and Inclusion journey did we allow that to pass into our psyche?

Research has shown that there is link between profitability and diversity in the workplace. But as we know correlation is not evidence of causation.

‪Of course things like positive discrimination have tended to undermine the process so that you simply end up with another section of the workforce feeling excluded. 

In my experience, based on my experience in the woke EDF, industry will not accept the counter argument, that diversity isn’t wholly synergistic and might in fact be detrimental to your culture.

Why British Values Matter

So how do did we get here; how do we move from acknowledging the wrongful death of a man in Minneapolis to defacing symbols of British history and culture. This is what I see as an example of people allowing themselves to become victims of their past rather than the architects of their future.

People would rather wallow in the misery of their perception of history than reflect on the benefits they have of being part of project Great Britain. If you believe you cannot progress in life because Britain was a great colonial power who invested in slavery, then you are never going to progress because Britain is always going to have been a great colonial power who invested in slavery.

In my travels around the world I have seen far worst deprivation in the townships of Nairobi and in the streets of Delhi than I’ve ever seen in England. In those countries it is usual for the mildly wealthy classes to live in gated enclaves complete with razor wire, patrolling dogs and security guards.

I do not believe people are flooding across the English Channel to deface statues of Winston Churchill and burn flags on the Cenotaph; they are coming to enjoy and benefit from the British Values that the statues and the sacrifice represents.

It is when they stop queuing up at Sangatte to cross the channel that we will know we have a problem.

Case Study 1: The Colston Statue

I was not familiar with the life of Edward Colston and his association to the slave trade until protestors decided to throw his statue into the docks at Bristol. Surprised that if the statue caused such dismay the Council had not taken formal action to have it replaced and fascinated by the link between Colston and Thomas Cromwell I decided to investigate further.

Of course slavery and the slave trade can not in anyway be seen as a glorious chapter of British History. At the same time we were clearly not the only players. The C17th was not an idyllic Utopia for the poor of England or Africa and in both forms of slavery and serfdom were already practiced; the sad reality is that life was cheap. The first “slaves” in the new world were in fact white but when the demand for cheap labour outstripped the supply from Europe then attention turned to the ready supply of black slaves available from black traders in Africa. Mans inhumanity to man isn’t restricted to cross racial boundaries. Research will not allow us to say slavery was endemic in Africa at this time but it was certainly an unfortunate fact of life. The British tapped into this supply and undoubtedly encouraged it.

Hence while it is possible to identify the victims of this crime the perpetrators came from a mixture of backgrounds. The slave trade was abolished in the U.K. in 1807 and after this time the British Navy was used to enforce the abolishment on the seas off Western Africa. Slavery itself was not abolished by the U.K. until 1833 when slave owners were paid huge sums in compensation. In other words a relatively short and if not glorious part of our history but presumably it was at least profitable.

Which brings us back to Edward Colston, resident of Thomas Cromwell’s old house in Mortlake. Clearly he made a lot of money and clearly some of it came from his involvement with slavery; but instead of “keeping it in the family” he decided to put it to good use for the people of Bristol. This may have been an act of atonement, a way of asking for forgiveness or it could have been an act of self aggrandisement; either way the people of Bristol have benefited and in all of this I haven’t heard people say they want to stop receiving the money or pay it back.

 

My final observation was that the memorial wasn’t erected until 1895; 175 years after Colston’s death. So what did the Victorians see that we can’t appreciate today? I suggest it was an ability to distinguish the legacy from the man and appreciate the good the financial grants have done as opposed to the source.

Case Study 2: The Community Activist

I was so impressed with the actions of this group of friends; it can't have been easy. Interestingly I saw the leader described as a "community activist" who was patrolling the BLM protest in order to ensure marchers received "protection". In this case, realising what the consequences of the marchers committing a murder would be, he "did what he had to do".    

"We did what we had to do"

 

Case Study 3: The Black Lives Matter Movement

I think by now people are used to hearing the BLM Movement described as Neo-Marxist with one Talk Radio commentator describing them as "so left wing as to make Jeremy Corbyn  blush". I would recommend people double check who they are donating their money to before handing them hard cash. This campaign is so much more than simply pulling down a few statues or respectfully marking a wrongful death in custody. This is an out and out attack on our British way of life.

Let's not sleepwalk our way into anarchy!

Here are a few extracts from their fund-raising page to give you a flavour of how they will spend your money:

- Work towards making change at the level of law.
- Developing and distributing educational resources.
- Developing and delivering healing practices in black communities.
- Developing and delivering training, police monitoring and strategies for the abolition of police. Working alongside existing anti-racist organisations to strengthen the wider movement across the UK.
- Supporting the United Family & Friends Campaign (UFFC) in accessing justice for friends and loved ones killed at the hands of British police.
- Providing emergency relief to black communities bearing the brunt of the Coronavirus crisis
We’re especially calling on big business who have historically profited from the cheap labour and cultural production of poor black communities. Actions speak louder than words, so say #BlackLivesMatter with your profits. We’re guided by a commitment to dismantle imperialism, capitalism, white-supremacy, patriarchy and the state structures that disproportionately and systematically harm Black people in Britain and around the world.
The UK Taxpayer was paying for the Reparations of UK slave owners up until 2015, as reported by the Bank of England. If it was possible for Reparations to be given to slave owners and their families, including David Cameron’s, then the reparations of black people dealing with generational trauma and institutional racism is wholly possible. The redistribution of wealth is a key factor of allyship in 2020.

Allyship: the state or condition of being an ally: supportive association with another person or group: specifically: such association with the members of a marginalised or mistreated group to which one does not belong.

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DISCLAIMER:

As always these thoughts are wholly my own and do not reflect the thoughts and policies of my past employer (who was EDF).