Who are the English? In the midst of scandals, recession, political turmoil and the swelling of far right sentiments, this question is taking interesting shapes. The BNP and the English Defence League (EDL) are clear in their answer to who is authentically English. They would have little time for Jeremy Paxman’s The English: a Portrait of People or Robert Winder’s Bloody Foreigners; not to mention any of the other serious contemporary writers on this subject. While it may be unfair to lump the BNP and EDL together, there is enough evidence, through both their public and privates faces, to suggest commonalities of intent and agenda in their antics.
To take up their own extreme positions, the EDL for instance, behaves as if the rest of the populace are idiots; by wanting us to believe that they are only against Muslim extremism and extremists. They even would go to the extent of burning a Nazi flag to try to convince us that they are not racist or fascist. One is also taken aback by the brand of Christianity that members of both groups seem to be espousing in their crusade of England for the English!
The reality is that there is a very thin line between their brand of Islam-o-phobia, and racist/fascist tendencies. It is only people suffering from historical amnesia who are unable to see what truly lies beneath and beyond the facade of such groups, in spite of all their apologetics. A key to the rising of a far right agenda as manifested in the BNP and EDL is located in a form of deception that feeds on fear - at a time when greed has screwed our economic lives and our politics seem to be floating in a cesspool.
Where and how can one begin to have a conversation or serious debate with people that espouse ideas that are offensive, racist and repulsive to the majority of the population? Indeed, being tolerant to intolerance is one huge challenge. Would the BBC wanting to engage with the BNP – to have serious debate help to turn the tide and broaden narrow minds? I am not sure. Who actually needs a racist/fascist group to expose itself? Their policies tell the whole story and we already know that! Can/Will they change? It may be that the minds of their supporters can change.
The Far Right virus is alive and threatens to spread unless we can quickly and collectively come up with antidotes. In this regard one is thankful for the many voices that resist (and are resisting): people who and organisations that make it a point to stand up to the nonsense of the BNP and EDL. Solidarity across all walks of life and stripes of politics is needed in order to trample on the ugly heads of this Leviathan. A diverse landscape is here to stay and we need to affirm the majority of peace loving people committed to building “our home together”. Britain can be defended from narrow minded people (whoever they may be) and from far right politics.
© copyright October 13, 2009
