Foto: © Anke Illing
Montag, 30. Juli 2007
Feeling British
urmila, 12:58h
BBC World has conducted a poll and offers the results in an article titled: Many Asians 'do not feel British'.
One could imagine that BBC World bases its analysis on the many studies about how exclusionary processes in Britain make it difficult for Asians to feel British. And there is sufficient material for this in the article:
"More than a third agreed to get on in the UK they needed to be a "coconut", a term for somebody who is "brown on the outside but white on the inside""
"...nearly half believed white people do not treat them as British."
""Confidence with identity comes down to ability and knowing you have as many opportunities as other people," she added."
""They feel they need to fit into society and that society looks at them in a bad way," she added."
These quotes clearly show that there is a much pressure to assimilate to 'whiteness' while at the same time 'Britishness' is being refused. If one is not accepted as British then it is very difficult to feel as one.
This could be further analysed, but BBC World decides to take another line of argument:
"Half of the South Asians and nearly two-thirds of the white people interviewed agreed it was too easy for immigrants to settle in Britain."
"Three-quarters felt their culture was being diluted by living in the UK..."
And almost half of the article deals with question whether Asians really have to be coconuts.
Thus the focus is taken away from the exclusionary practices in Britain (in fact it is considered legitimate to restrict immigration further) and the guilt for not feeling British is found in the Asians themselves.
One could imagine that BBC World bases its analysis on the many studies about how exclusionary processes in Britain make it difficult for Asians to feel British. And there is sufficient material for this in the article:
"More than a third agreed to get on in the UK they needed to be a "coconut", a term for somebody who is "brown on the outside but white on the inside""
"...nearly half believed white people do not treat them as British."
""Confidence with identity comes down to ability and knowing you have as many opportunities as other people," she added."
""They feel they need to fit into society and that society looks at them in a bad way," she added."
These quotes clearly show that there is a much pressure to assimilate to 'whiteness' while at the same time 'Britishness' is being refused. If one is not accepted as British then it is very difficult to feel as one.
This could be further analysed, but BBC World decides to take another line of argument:
"Half of the South Asians and nearly two-thirds of the white people interviewed agreed it was too easy for immigrants to settle in Britain."
"Three-quarters felt their culture was being diluted by living in the UK..."
And almost half of the article deals with question whether Asians really have to be coconuts.
Thus the focus is taken away from the exclusionary practices in Britain (in fact it is considered legitimate to restrict immigration further) and the guilt for not feeling British is found in the Asians themselves.
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