“Bigotry and prejudice are the hallmarks of those who fear what they cannot understand.” (a concise and accurate comment on a post in the Facebook page of ’ORDER! The Sir John Bercow Fanclub’)
Migration
Like many areas of the world, the British Isles have a long and varied history of absorbing immigrants from elsewhere. Recent archaeological research into Stonehenge reveals how multicultural the population of southern Britain was at the time… several millennia before the influx of Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and Normans. In more recent centuries, the additional ingredients to our nation have often resulted from the colonial era, with a racial implosion from the British Empire, coupled with immigration from other European countries and, now, flows of asylum seekers and economic migrants from further afield.
Integration
Of course, immigrating to ANY country requires some level of effort at integration… and not just in terms of learning a new language: adapting to new eating habits, adopting new customs, observing the elements of etiquette of the adoptive country… and, crucially, absorbing its culture. Even the Romans, who had the power to superimpose their ways on the native populations, merged many elements of their culture with those of the lands they colonised. Hence, the city we know as Bath, built around the famous spa waters previously dedicated to the Celtic goddess Sulis, became Aquae Sulis, using the name of the Celtic water goddess rather than that of the Roman equivalent, Minerva. Integration can, of course, be a two-way process, but it is an essential element of migration. Recognising this, the topic area ‘Multicultural Society’ in the 2008/9 AQA A Level Modern Language specification consisted of three sub-topics: Immigration, Integration and Racism.
Integration and hospitality
Foreigners from any part of the world seeking the right to remain in the UK on whatever basis are required to reach a certain level of competence in English. It seems that it was not always the case: moving to teach modern languages at a school in Wolverhampton in 1981, I soon experienced being required to meet parents who spoke little or no English, having to rely on their child to interpret for me. A bit tricky if the reason for the meeting was for a disciplinary matter! Generally, the pupils of non-British ethnicity were well-integrated, many being among my best language students: used to ‘code-switching’ between their home language and that of their classmates, they had acquired the ability to switch ‘language wavelengths’. The integration worked both ways, too: the school’s annual ‘International Evening’ was a joy, with food from several cultures, with a soundtrack provided by Jamaican steel-bands and Bhangra groups! The ‘Día de Residentes’ in Sayalonga, southern Spain is a similar way of welcoming foreign residents. Closer to home, on August 2 Truro enjoyed its 5th annual ‘Celebration of Culture’, to celebrate diversity, inclusion and culture, providing a showcase of music, international food and lots more. As we’ve seen before, integration works both ways!
Bloody Guiris!
Of course, Farage and his ilk will complain that immigrants (bluddy forriners to many of his brethren) do not integrate sufficiently. Whilst that may sometimes be the case, Brits abroad are hardly role-models of integration. Such is the case with tens of thousands of Brits who live in Spain. Whilst many do make every effort to integrate, not least by developing a reasonable level of Spanish (even a minimal effort to communicate with the natives in their own language is appreciated by them), too many, however, make no effort whatsoever, often resorting to the pathetic tactic of speaking English slowly or loudly or both.
As for cultural integration, whilst we have friends who have worked hard to integrate as much as possible, others simply try to replicate their UK life, just in a warmer climate. UK TV via satellite, British-style ‘pubs’ selling warm Red Barrel, UK football day-in and day-out, all-day English breakfasts, complaining about Spanish chips and the difficulty of getting a proper cuppa… the list goes on. We’ve seen it all, and been embarrassed by it and it has become a cliché because, sadly, it is all to often true! What is more, many such Brits voted for Brexit because they don’t want more foreigners living in the UK! Of course, they refer to themselves as ‘expats’, a term which implies superiority, certainly in relation to the native population… Try telling expats that they are actually ‘immigrants’! No wonder the locals sometimes refer to them as ‘guiris’ (a colloquial word meaning an uncouth foreign tourist). The Channel 4 News report from January 2020 offers some examples of contrasting attitudes; if you watch it, try not to be ill!
Language
And yet… and yet… arguably it would be much easier for Brits to integrate fully in a Western European country like Spain, which is culturally so similar to the UK, than it is for the typical asylum seekers or immigrants arriving in small boats on the Kent coast to integrate in the UK. Whether from Afghanistan or Syria, Gaza or Libya, they will all suffer a massive culture shock if they make it to our shores. And then there is the English language, with little reliable relationship between the spoken and written word; OK, the grammar is simple… or is it? Not at all! No space to explain here, but take it from someone who has taught English to foreigners as well as Spanish, French, Italian and Latin to British students.
Of course, recent arrivals, whether legal or not, need to learn the language of the host country in order to have a chance to progress and prosper. A few weeks ago, I chatted on a Spanish beach with a group of five or six lads from Mali, accommodated in a hotel along the road with dozens of other ‘boat people’, many having arrived via the Canary Islands. Being from Mali, they were fluent in French, giving me a chance to practise! They were being taught Spanish by a native speaker, but said how much easier it would be for them to be taught by a teacher also fluent in French. Linguistic empathy is important in a language teacher! I wish I’d had more time to chat with them, but my family was ready to pack up and go home.
Culture Shock
As for culture: so much of what we take for granted is completely mind-blowing to asylum seekers from countries which have not been heavily influenced by British or European culture, unlike many former colonies. Even those from countries long associated with the UK can struggle to be on the same ‘cultural wavelength’ as British people. As for how to acquire familiarity with UK customs – just where would one start? The obvious adaptation needed early on, of course, is to our calendar, and possibly to the religious background to many feasts and festivals… at the same time as needing to maintain the incomer’s own feasts, festivals and traditions. Then there is religion which, like it or not, plays a major role in shaping the culture of a country… Try explaining the background to Good Friday to a Muslim or a Hindu… and it works both ways!
Fear of difference
The trouble is, of course, that obvious ‘difference’ creates mistrust, fear, even, and can give rise to manifestations of racism – and that is why integration is so vital for societal harmony. Whilst racism is, perhaps, a natural human phenomenon born of ignorance, fear or insecurity, it can and often is exploited for political reasons. Latent prejudice has a voice; racist insults and inflammatory language produce unrest and violence. Sadly, human history shows that this is a constant: the language of hatred and fear is used to ‘other’ minorities and to mobilise empty-headed thugs and even otherwise-decent citizens to attack the targets of the rabble-rousers who are, all too often, politicians or media figures with ulterior motives. In recent months, the media – both formal and social – have been full of inflammatory language, and politicians are exploiting division for their own purposes. This exploitation is by no means confined to those on the right.
The language of hatred
- A statement from defence secretary John Healey was turned into: “Boats arriving like taxis as migrant numbers surge (Daily Express).
- Boris Johnson, as if he had not done enough harm with Brexit, produced the outrageous notion in the Daily Mail that: “The Channel migrants are shock troops recruited by Macron for his jihad against Brexit”.
- Kemi Badenoch – (she who no longer identifies as Nigerian!) is quoted in the Daily Telegraph with a glaring front-page headline: “Ban foreigners from claiming disability benefits”, echoed by the Daily Mail: “Tories demand foreigners are banned from getting disability benefits…”
- On June 4, the Daily Telegraph published an opinion piece by Alison Pearson with the inflammatory title ‘If defence is Starmer’s ‘priority’, why is he letting hordes of migrants invade?”
- No wonder we’ve recently seen anti-migrant protests outside an Epping hotel, organised by Neo-Nazi groups, according to The Independent; a woman was quoted as saying that she is worried about “potential sex offences involving these migrants!” The irony is that her own son is a sex-offender!
The controversy about the correlation between sex crimes and migrants is gathering pace, and guess who is at the centre of the alarmist attitudes: on August 5 the Daily Mirror’s front page accuses Farage of ‘fanning the flames of hate’ with his comments. On 29 July The Guardian suggested that Farage’s ‘summer campaign’ was a ‘cynical exercise that will exacerbate social tensions and fuel insecurity’. The pro-EU group, Bremain in Spain, states this clearly, with reference to a 24 July article in the Independent: ”The far-right are practised at using social media to spread hate, lies and disinformation. They are responsible for causing riots and criminal damage, and they are international. If the government can overreact to curb peaceful protest, why is no action taken to stop violent thugs from poisoning our society?”
Let’s have more integration and less hypocrisy!
So, what about integration? Clearly, however migrants and immigrants arrive, legally or not, integration is desirable. It is a question of survival in the adoptive society, at the very least, but some new arrivals will want to play a full part in their chosen social context. At the same time, it is difficult and may be undesirable for them to hide their origins. Few ‘foreigners’ acquire a totally authentic British accent, but their children will. And, besides, why should they lose their accent if it does not interfere with communication? After all, we at long last celebrate regional accents in the UK, rather than forcing people to sound like newsreaders from the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Quite apart from anything else, making the effort to integrate is a question of courtesy to the host society, and greatly assists in inclusion; I know of Brits living in France and Spain who have become involved in local politics, and the UK has many examples of immigrants playing a full part in public life. Besides, migrants and immigrants enrich the receiving society, bringing their customs and traditions, and their own styles of music, art, literature, and dress… This should be something to celebrate, not to fear and despise. Vive la difference!
All the more reason to regret the fact that so many Brits abroad prefer to form their own little ghettos, simply transposing their British lifestyle into a warmer climate… and at best mouthing a few words of the host language, grudgingly and self-consciously, and only when it’s unavoidable. We’ve all heard these people complain that their environment is spoiled by the presence of the native population! Something which really irks me is when these non-integrated Brits refer to the locals as ‘they’… usually when complaining about when something is not done to their liking. It’s almost as though ‘they’ are the intruders! Integration? More like segregation from the reality of their adopted environment. Yet, such people are the first to complain that foreigners in the UK don’t integrate.
Bluddy forriners? Bloody hypocrites!