Foreword Jonathan Dimbleby

hen we dreamt up the idea of soliciting a wide national and international scale that they have man- Wrange of essays to promote VSO’s Cultural aged to achieve in their own lives. Again and again, in Breakthrough campaign, I was enthusiastic but niggled different ways, they demonstrate the important truth by doubts. Would any of our wish-list of contributors that, while no culture can claim ‘superiority’ over any really find the time to respond to my entreaties, other, human rights are indivisible. let alone the energy to deliver? Would they find it They also illuminate the frustrating paradox that, as in themselves to share intensely personal experiences communications have made the world smaller and and insights? Would they be tempted to offer more accessible, mutual understanding and tolerance f o rmulaic homilies – well-meaning but term i n a l l y is in alarming decline. Yet, they also remind us that with bland? Alternatively, would they be tempted to use a little imagination and curiosity it is remarkably easy our platform to indulge a public rant about what David and very rewarding to break through the barriers to Blunkett, in his contribution, refers to as “the real make this vital contact. challenge of the new century”? For me three things shine through what they have As it was, to my relief and delight, our wish-list written: the glorious, if often ludicrous, complexity of became the real list. And not only have our contribu- our species, which has to discover better ways of tors delivered, they have done so in a manner and with sharing this fragile and crowded planet to mutual a commitment that went way beyond what we might advantage; that pessimism need have no place in the have hoped or expected. I am hugely grateful to them dialogue that this vital adventure in human relations for demonstrating that it is invariably the busiest entails; and that honesty and generosity must replace people who somehow manage to make the space fear and rage in this mortal challenge, for Auden’s stark for something that matters – and do so for no financial comment is as true now as it was in 1939: “We must gain either. love one another or die.” If I am right, then you will They come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures share my gratitude to our contributors for the time and and races, which infuse their differing perspectives the trouble they have taken in this cause. and priorities. The combined effect is to pinpoint, th r ough their own defining moments, the urgent need Jonathan Dimbleby, Broadcaster and for the kind of cultural brea k t h r oughs on the communal, President of VSO. Cherishing diversity Bhikhu Parek h

ike all other Western countries, Britain today is a and even banned. Forced or pressurised assimilation, Lmulticultural society. It includes several culturally however, is an altogether different matter. It is oppres- self-conscious and more or less well-organised sive and illiberal and violates a community’s right to communities, which entertain and live by divergent preserve its cultural identity within acceptable moral systems of values, beliefs and practices. These limits. It is also counterproductive. As we know from communities include post-war Asian and Afro - experience and re s e a rch, when a community is Caribbean immigrants, long-established but dispersed subjected to assimilationist pressure, it develops moral communities such as the Jews and the Irish, and panic, builds up a siege mentality, turns inwards, territorially concentrated communities such as the discourages dissent, and arrests the inescapable Scots and the Welsh. The fact that British people like process of internal change. to choose their own lifestyles, experiment with different The assimilationist pres s u r e is also self-contradictory. cultural practices, and thereby give rise to different By and large its advocates have commended the Asian subcultures also adds to Britain’s cultural diversity. community for its enterprise, hard work, family life, This cultural diversity is unlikely to disappear in the respect for law, the will to succeed, the spirit of self- fo r eseeable future – indeed, the opposite is the case. The help, and peaceful conduct – all made possible by its co u n t r y will continue to need new immigrants for years to cultural resources, cohesiveness and the communal come, about a quarter of a million during the next five spirit. One cannot cherish its strengths and undermine years alone according to the latest estimate. It will also the very conditions that make these possible. Once its have to admit asylum seekers because of its interna t i o n - distinctive identity and communal basis are under- al obligations, albeit at a reduced rate. Thanks to the free mined or rudely shaken, as they would be under the movement of people within the European Union, new assimilationist pressure, its widely admired virtues gr oups of people will continue to arrive. And there is no could easily evaporate. Indeed, there is ample saying what new choices of lifestyles and subcultures evidence to show that many Asian children growing up our own people will make in the future. in non-Asian areas, or taught in overzealous assimila- Some people resent this cultural diversity. They find tionist schools, are deeply confused, insecure, tense, it morally and emotionally troubling and a threat to their anxious, ashamed of their past – including their identity. They do not know how to cope with it, and p a rents, lack resilience and self-confidence, and seek ways of reducing and even eliminating it. They display disturbing patterns of thought, feeling and argue that gays, lesbians, and others of ‘unusual’ behaviour. Many of them show poor academic results, sexual orientation should be suitably re-educated; or pay an unacceptably high moral and emotional price young people should be taught to follow traditional for their achievements. Indeed if we are not careful, the values and forms of behaviour; and immigrants Asian bubble might soon burst. and other cultural communities should be vigorously Su p p r essing cultural diversity is not only unworkable, assimilated into the national culture. This is a illiberal and counterproductive, it is also undesirable misconceived response to cultural diversity. It is both morally and culturally. Cultural diversity is a great simply not workable in a liberal society that rightly human good. Since human capacities and values cherishes individual freedom. Traditional values cannot conflict, every culture realises a limited range of them be revived in the vastly different world of today, and and neglects, marginalises and suppresses others. many of them, such as gender inequality, deference to However rich it might be, no culture embodies all that authority and unquestioned conformity with traditions, is valuable in human life and develops the full range of are not worth reviving anyway. human possibilities. Different cultures thus correct and As for assimilating different cultures, individuals complement each other, expand each other’s horizon should of course be free to break away from their of thought, and alert each other to new forms of human communities and embrace the majority culture if they fulfilment. Cultural diversity is also an important condi- choose to do so. And practices that violate basic tion of human freedom. Unless human beings are able human values and those deeply cherished by British to step out of their culture, they remain imprisoned society, such as forced marriages, polygamy and within it and tend to absolutise it, imagining it to be the female circumcision, should certainly be discouraged only natural and self-evident way to understand and organise human life. And they cannot step out of their deepest tensions – its capacity for self-deception, its culture unless they have access to others. vulnerability, its tenderness and toughness, and the The diversity of cultures also alerts us to that within fascinating interplay between its kind and cruel, and our own. Used to seeing differences between cultures, generous and mean impulses. As an outsider, he sees we tend to look for them within our own and learn things in the English character and society that the to do them justice. We appreciate that our culture is English cannot, and deepens their self-understanding. a product of different influences, contains different What creative writers do at a sophisticated level, strands of thought, and is open to different interpreta- ord i n a r y men and women do in their daily encounters. An tions. This makes us suspicious of all attempts to Indian colleague who was taking invasive pictures at a homogenise and impose on it a simplified and singular religious ceremony was gently asked by an English friend identity. It also encourages an internal dialogue within if that was a common practice in India and did not offe n d the culture, creates a space for critical and independ- the feelings of the gathering. The Indian and his friends ent thought, and nurtures its experimental vitality. got the message and behaved better on future A multicultural society creates a climate in which occasions. When a white colleague died, an Afro- different cultures can engage in a mutually beneficial Caribbean asked their common white friend to join him dialogue. In Britain a creative interplay between differ- in calling on the widow. His friend reluctantly agreed, and ent musical, culinary, literary and artistic traditions has was pleasantly surprised by her welcome and warmt h , resulted in several exciting developments and opened ap p r eciating that the common and largely unquestioned up many new areas of exploration and research. Take, English practice of leaving the bereaved alone could do for example, the English language. Over the centuries with a change. In short, communities educate and even

Unless human beings are able to step out of their culture, they remain imprisoned within it and tend to absolutise it, imagining it to be the only natural and self-evident way to understand and organise human life it has greatly benefited from the contributions of writ- ‘civilise’ each other in subtle and elusive ways, prov i d e d , ers who have drawn upon the resources of their native of course, that none is too overbearing and self-right- tongues and introduced new metaphors, images, eous to welcome a dialogue. idioms and forms of writing. By stretching English to Different communities also bring with them new accommodate new sensitivities, they have helped it talents, skills and sensitivities, different kinds of imagi- become genuinely universal, not merely in its geo- nation, new ways of looking at things, new forms of graphical spread but in its ability to express an unusu- humour, and new psychological and moral resources. ally wide range of human emotions and experiences. All this represents a most valuable human resource, Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is a good example of which can be fruitfully harnessed in such different this. Like many other foreign-born writers, he has tried areas of life as sport, business, management, industry to force open the English language, changing its rules and government. One need hardly emphasise the of grammar, syntax, vocabulary and even spelling in contributions of Afro-Caribbean footballers, boxers, order to bring it into harmony with the way Indians cricketers, sprinters and long- and short-distance think, talk and feel. Rushdie is not content to say what runners not just to their respective sports, but also to the the English language allows him to say. Indeed, he ways in which sport is organised and viewed in Britain, bends it to his will, asserts his equality with it, intro- and at a yet deeper level both to the culture of sport and duces Indian words and literary mannerisms, and gen- the place of sport in British culture. At a diffe r ent level, uinely Indianises it. In the process he both enriches it the Asian corner shop has changed not only the very and affirms the integrity of the Indian sensibility. At a concept of such shops, but also British shopping different level, he probes the English psyche from cu l t u r e. It has humanised the inner city, familialised the the perspective of an immigrant and uncovers its shop, redrawn the family–civil society distinction, in t r oduced new items on our menu, and made such shops an integral part of the local community. Cultural communities can make their unique contributions and make Britain a vibrant society only if their diffe r ences are respected and cherished. If they are denigrated, viewed with disdain, or denied public rec o g - nition, they tend to wither away. As the older generation of Jews have reminded us, many of them used to feel deeply nervous and embarrassed when their immigrant pa r ents in the 1930s spoke in Yiddish in public, and dr essed and conducted themselves in their traditional ways. Over time the younger generation lost their inter- est in and even abandoned their culture, which many of them now deeply reg re t . The sad phenomenon is still pervasive, as many Asian pa r ents and their children will testify. A couple of years ago when I was travelling by train from London to Hull, I was sitting opposite an elderly Pakistani couple and next to their adolescent daughter. When the crowded train pulled out of King’s Cross, the parents started to talk in Ur du. The girl, who was sitting next to me, began to feel restless and nervous and started making strange signals to them. As they carried on their conversation for a few mo r e minutes, she angrily leaned over the table and asked them to shut up. When the confused mother asked her for an explanation, the girl shot back: “Just as you do not expose your private parts in public, you do not speak in that language in public.” Though no one had pr esumably taught that to her, she knew that the public realm belonged to the whites, that only th e i r la n g u a g e and customs were legitimate within it, and that the ethnic identities should be kept confined to the private realm. In a society dominated by one culture, pluralism req u i r es more than mere tolerance. Multicultural society is here to stay. It cannot be wished out of existence and it also has great virtues. It can, of course, be irritating and lead to tension and conflict, though these are not peculiar to it. The only practical and morally acceptable course of action is to manage it wisely so as to minimise its dangers and maximise its creative potential.

Lord Parekh chaired the Runnymede Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, whose report was published in 2000. He is Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Westminster. In two minds Haleh Afshar

s I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City clutching my British and mark stages in life courses. What is far more ACouncil standard issue satchel and being received unexpected is the ascribed identities that we are by my kind, attentive Vietnamese hosts, I was hardly faced with and which we sometimes adopt as a polit- aw a r e that there, then, I was merely a British academic. I ical act. For me these were neither Iran nor Islam, was part of a new project, but an old friend of these were cradle creed and nationality, which I never the Institute for Social Sciences whose members thought about consciously. But I did decide that I was had visited us in York and had lunched and dined at ‘black’ in the 1970s when colour and ethnicity my house, and met my family. No one thought of me became important political issues in Bradford where I as anything other than British. I don’t think that was teaching. My family was shocked – they had they had ever ascribed a faith or another nationality always thought of me as being green. In Iran one can to me. What mattered was the work that we had been be rice pudding white, corn colour or olive green. I doing, the project that we were beginning, the was green and my nicknames ranged from ‘peach’, papers that were to be delivered the next day and given to me by my doting parents, to ‘auntie beetle’, the problems of translation. given to me by my more discerning grandmother! Yet the previous day in England, I had the York H o w e v e r, when in my application for a US visa I wro t e Radio car parked in my drive with its aerial stretching g reen under the category ‘colour’, the consulate half way to the sky. They had wanted to speak to me insisted on seeing me in person! because I was a Muslim, because I was Iranian and But the identity ‘Muslim’ was one that came to me because of the Middle East. Now I find myself back at late in life. To begin with it was the Islamic revolution in my desk facing a letter from an immigration appeal Iran that made me study Islam in some depth, to criti- tribunal for which I had provided an expert opinion cise what the religious leaders were teaching in Iran about the current political situation in Iran. The Home and to work with Iranian feminists to defend the Islamic Office presenting officer has contested my opinion, rights of women. In Britain it was on 11 September. I arguing that I have been away from Iran for far too long was listening to the news in a Birmingham taxi. When to know anything about the country. the driver realised that I was a Muslim he slowed down So who am I? Am I an Iranian? My Iranian col- to almost walking speed. He wanted to know what we leagues and visiting scholars always remark that I am Muslims as a whole could do and what he as a Muslim very ‘British’ and no longer a ‘real’ Iranian. I worry too in Birmingham should do. As an older woman and a much about time and exactitudes and write in the Muslim, I was expected to help, to tell him how to cope Western concise way rather than the Iranian philo- with the avalanche that he assured me was about to sophical way. Yet we collaborate and write about Iran, descend. Academics are cocooned in the security of its laws and the current situation, and journals in Iran the ivory tower – I felt that I could assure him that the and Britain publish our material. So is there an aca- British were sane, they were not prejudiced. We were demic identity that is different from a real identity? both assured by the arrival of the Prime Minister on the P e rhaps it is time that I asked myself which of airwaves telling the British that it was not the Muslims these many ascribed identities are mine? What as a whole that were to blame, but a specific group. So seems obvious is that living a lifetime in the UK, he delivered me to the station and we were both rela- p roducing a couple of British kids and educating tively reassured by the Prime Ministerial speech. heavens knows how many British graduates has not But Islamophobia cannot be held at bay by word s . made me a ‘Britisher’, except in the eyes of the The British National Party moved on from the colour Persians and the Vi e t n a m e s e . black and focused on Muslims. No doubt my young But identities are neither fixed nor perm a n e n t . taxi driver faced a lot more harassment than either Women of course have almost a chameleon charac- Tony Blair or I could have expected. For me the shock ter where identities are concerned. They often take was to come much closer to home – in my office their father’s name only to change it for that of their in that very ivory tower that is supposed to protect us. husbands or their children – many of us are quite I found myself faced with a young student barely out accustomed to being known as someone’s mother. of his teens asking me whether I had a British But such identities have at least a certain known form p a s s p o rt? It is the unexpectedness of Islamophobia and its virulence in the calmest of surroundings that is shocking. The ascribed identity is thrown at you as if it were a re a l i t y, as if the masks of years of educa- tion, boarding school, elocution classes and a lifetime of living and working in Britain has never diminished the foreignness that I was born with, forever the o u t s i d e r. Yet I have never claimed to be an insider. In fact I only obtained my British passport when the Iranians refused to give my children a Persian p a s s p o rt because their father was not Iranian. I did

In the face of Islamophobia, which in the north of Britain is almost on the rampage, I have to adopt Islam as yet another political emblem not want to find my way barred and have to pass my babies to immigration officers, so I got a British p a s s p o rt and now have a European passport. All t e rribly ord i n a ry and bureaucratic and nothing to do with identity. But in the face of Islamophobia, which in the north of Britain is almost on the rampage, I have to adopt Islam as yet another political emblem. This is rather ironic since Iranians have historically lamented the Islamic invasion that ravaged their ancient history and have in revenge adopted Shiism, which is seen by many Muslims as almost, though not quite, a here s y. Yet faced with Islamophobia one has to abandon all niceties of history, and even re a l i t y, and accept to be p a rt of the feared minority. P e rhaps by adopting the ascribed identity of Islam and continuing to be myself, the person without labels, the person who continues to be a teacher, I may come to terms with the unexpected hatre d . P e rhaps over time, Islam, like the colour black, will cease to be a sign of terrorism and will become once m o re an indication of diff e rence, that should be cele- brated. Perhaps it would happen, if and when world leaders, and maybe the media, cease to stigmatise e n t i re nations and faiths as standard bearers of evil. In the meantime, some Muslims will change their names to become more British, others will adopt the identity even if they don’t practise the faith, and many larg e minorities in the West will live with the unexpected fear that they find themselves in.

Haleh Afshar is Professor of Politics and Wo m e n ’s Studies at the University of York. Sharing good fortune The Rt Hon Chris Patten

he first deep influence on my life was America. always did, that poverty is toxic. Aid programmes have T F resh out of Oxford, still focused on the not had a good enough record in alleviating poverty pleasures I had discovered there (theatre, writing...), since the war, but that is a reason for improving their my dearest ambition was to join that most British of effectiveness, not abandoning our responsibilities. institutions – the BBC. And it would have happened, The America I revered as a young man was also the had I not won a travel scholarship to the United States. America of Emma Lazarus’ wonderful poem Working in New York in the mayoral election still located on a plaque in the museum under campaign, I had my first taste of politics, and found an the Statue of Liberty: American hero, who has coloured my thinking ever since – as MP, Minister, Governor and Commissioner. “Give me your tired, your poor, George C Marshall was a representative of what some Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, people might be tempted to call ‘old America’. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. He was a military commander turned politician, who Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. believed the key to solving global problems was I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” international cooperation; who believed security policy was not synonymous with war policy; who believed Over the centuries America has opened that golden economic and social advances were the real guaran- door to freedom and opportunity for millions of people tees of our common safety. from all over the world. In Europe too often we have The Marshall plan for post-war Europe is the tried to throw up walls against those seeking a better best-known manifestation of his philosophy, and his life for their families. As a result the Old Continent is was the voice that summed up for me America at its getting older. But we are learning our lesson – and best – the land of incalculable opportunity, open, free, b e f o re I leave my current job as Euro p e a n rich, offering to share its blessings with others. Not just Commissioner, in late 2004, we will have spread our an attractive credo, but one that worked. We privileges of prosperity and freedom to a further owe Europe’s current prosperity, our rebirth from the ten countries, with more to come. Sharing our bless- depths of despair, in no small part to his vision of ings with our neighbours remains the best way to America as a generous superpower of the peace. That guard against the threats to our security – organised concern to use America’s unchallenged power to build crime, trafficking, drugs, destabilising flows of migra- up strong and stable partners in the world is still tion. Self-interest, yes. But also morally right. relevant today. And that far-sighted generosity is Perhaps it is not so unusual to be formed by an needed now more than ever. experience abroad while young. My great privilege has Po v e r ty does not excuse or cause violence and been to have another chance to go exploring – in te r rorism. But just as in rich countries higher crime tends mid-career. The electors of Bath were presumably not to be concentrated in places where there is poverty and intending to offer me an experience that I would value hopelessness, so rogue states, violence and terror i s m so much. Quite apart from the fact that my years in tend to flourish where swamps of misery and human Hong Kong were among the happiest I have known, degradation exist. It is morally unacceptable, and Asia had a profound effect on me. Even after 20-odd politically and economically destabilising, that so many years in politics, and extensive travel as Minister for millions of our people attempt to scratch out a miserably Overseas Development, I was not expecting an inadequate existence from their immediate surrou n d - experience that would have me taking a completely ings. It cannot be right that more than a billion of our fresh look at my roots – my European culture, and fellow human beings live on less than a dollar a day. my political ideas. Nor that so many young children die of hunger, It was refreshing first because of the dynamism of of diarrhoea caused by lack of access to clean the place. America has no monopoly on ‘can-do’. Asia water and of childhood diseases for lack of access and Hong Kong showed me a people who instinctive- to vaccines. ly believed in their ability to make life better, year by Even if you were to ignore the moral case for year, through their own efforts; a people teeming with overseas aid, we have to recognise, as Marshall talent, who created one of the most astonishing economic success stories ever known. All I had to do experienced that journey from hell had been singing to was cut taxes every year and watch revenues rise – a me: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a politician’s dream. great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of More than once during my days in Hong Kong death, upon them hath the light shined.” I heard the view propounded that Western values, We, who have the good fortune never to have d e m o c r a c y, human rights, civil liberties, were walked in the darkness of poverty, hopelessness and incompatible with ‘Asian values’. It’s an idea I have danger, wherever we come from, have a responsibility learned to reject utterly. It is my firm conviction that, to share our good fortune, and share the light. And just as there was no contradiction between civil we are perhaps more likely to recognise that if we l i b e rties and economic growth in Hong Kong, have seen rather more of the world than our own human rights and prosperity are always likely to back gardens. go hand in hand. Standards of decency matter everywhere – and the The Rt Hon Chris Patten is European aspiration to be treated decently is the same the world Commissioner for External Relations. over. Freedom and human rights are not Western nor He is Chancellor Elect of the University of Asian values. Is Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, an Oxford and Chancellor of Newcastle University. inspiration to freedom lovers across the world, not He was Governor of Hong Kong 1992-1997 Asian? Looking at my island home from a distance and Conservative MP for Bath 1979-1992. helped me see our ‘Western’ values in their proper context. Europe, now so committed to the values that I argue for around the globe as Euro p e a n Commissioner, came to these views only recently. As the great Indian economist Amartya Sen has pointed out, when European nations still believed in the divine right of kings, Indian emperors were practising tolerance and defending diversity. As Britain’s Minister for Overseas Development, I once visited Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, who had fled the terrible civil war raging even then between the Islamic north of their country and the Christian south. These refugees from the Christian south had trekked for weeks across the parched landscape of their country to find a haven from the war. I remember asking one young boy how he had managed to lead his group of younger companions through the countryside to safety. “It was quite simple,” he replied matter-of- factly. “We just followed the dead bodies.” They were being supervised by a Lutheran pastor, who asked if they could sing to me. They sang the Lord’s Prayer in their own language, Dinka, then a text from Isaiah. It sounded wonderful, though of course I had no idea what it was. Lying in bed that night, in the comfortable bungalow residence of the British Ambassador to Ethiopia, with the fans spinning slowly overhead, I found a Gideon Bible on my bedside table. I picked it up to find the passage whose chapter and verse I had been given in the book of Isaiah. The young Sudanese who had Joking apart Shazia Mirza

“Hello my name is Shazia Mirz a . straints, which included pre s s u re to be a stand-up comedian At least that’s what it says on my to become a doctor or lawyer, and it failed. It was just such p i l o t ’s licence.” Wa ry laughter kept Shazia’s secret ambition a huge risk – to go on and talk ripples through the bar. in check. “I was seven years about being a British Asian “I’m very pleased to be here old when I knew I wanted to be Muslim woman.” tonight. My Dad is picking me on stage. But how was I going For Shazia it was a risk worth up in ten minutes. He thinks to get there? Had there been taking. But she kept quiet about this is a library.” loads of Asian women on her new care e r, pretending she The lairy, predominantly white television it would have been was still teaching in an east audience at East London m o re acceptable. But there London comprehensive. “I had U n i v e r s i t y ’s bar snigger. It’s a w e re no Asian women in been doing stand-up for two strange irony that what seems politics, the media or comedy. years and I hadn’t told them funny to these students was, My parents would have said because I knew my Dad would not so long ago, no laughing to me, ‘those are jobs for go absolutely crazy. If they had matter for the diminutive yet white people.’” And in any been to some of the places f o rmidable woman on stage. case, they were n ’t deemed w h e re I perf o rmed my Dad would Shazia Mirza is the world’s suitable roles for a young have been devastated.” first Muslim woman comedian. Muslim woman. She has earned plaudits and Shazia did a degree in T h ree years later and Shazia b roken taboos – prime among b i o c h e m i s t ry, in line with her is a regular on the British come-

“I understand what it is like for young Asian women – the pressures from the family, culture, the religion, your friends, the stigma attached to being an independent woman.”

them poking fun at the p a rents’ wish that she pursue dy scene. She has appeared on d i s c repancies between Islam a career in medicine. “I tried to the BBC’s Have I Got News and the contrasting cultures do it for my parents but I hated For Yo u and was a finalist in it has spawned around the world. what I did,” she says. Instead last year’s Asian Women of Shazia knows all too well she went into teaching, going Achievement Aw a rd. Her how wide the gap can be to Rose Bru f o rd ’s drama school following is growing abroad, between tenets of faith and in her spare time. Secretly she with invitations from Germ a n y, cultural values. As a teenager w rote material, based on her Denmark, Holland and an g rowing up in a traditional Asian experience and perceptions as upcoming perf o rmance in San household in Birmingham, she a young Muslim woman, which Francisco. She writes fresh w a s n ’t allowed to go to clubs or she one day hoped to perf o rm. material for each country, based p a rties. “I had no social life. My It was several years before she on her perceptions of the p a rents were very strict. My Dad finally had the courage to get national psyche. Given the believed that women should be up on stage. c u rrent US administration’s locked up in the kitchen – my “I debated for many years: politics, isn’t she deterred fro m t h ree brothers were brought up what if it fails, if it all backfire s , going to America? If anything d i ff e rently to me,” she says. what shame it will be in the Shazia can’t wait, part i c u l a r l y The Koran confirmed her c o m m u n i t y. Not only am I not with US officialdom unwittingly belief in the equality of men and m a rried, I am not a doctor, o ffering up a rich seam of women. But parental con- I’ve let my parents down. I tried c o m e d y. “They said to me, ‘oh y o u ’ re coming over in May upset. A lot of the time the Muslims – usually men. “Not but there might be a delay in Muslim community is itself to that they’ve ever seen my show, ” your visa because you are a blame for not moving forw a rd . she says. They object in Muslim.’” She pauses. Her We have programmes in Britain principle to a Muslim woman comedy timing is impeccable. like Have I Got News For Yo u , on stage. Their opposition “Right then, from now on no total political satire, in which sometimes takes a sinister turn . m o re Muslims are allowed into white people are laughing at In Denmark recently she had to the country?” themselves continuously. be accompanied on stage by On stage she is scary, staring Why can’t Asians, why two armed guards after re c e i v i n g down hecklers or cutting them c a n ’t Muslims?” death threats. None of which dead with, “Have you ever heard Shazia is equally scathing seems to deter her. “At the of a fatwa?” She readily admits about the habits of what she end of the day I am only telling her humour plays on stere o- calls her ‘English’ friends – jokes,” she says emphatically. types. “I have to say what peo- p a rticularly when it comes to But her comedy has always ple are thinking. The truth of the alcohol. It is this ability to hold been about more than just matter is that white people do up a mirror to any culture and making people laugh. It’s about think that Muslims behave in a reflect the peculiarities of their challenging cultural mores c e rtain way,” she says. Only by attitudes and practices that that control what many Asian nailing stereotypes can they accounts for Shazia’s bro a d women can and cannot seen for what they are – gener- appeal. Although she has a do with their lives. “I understand alisations, at best misleading, g rowing Asian following and what it is like for young Asian at worst dangerous, because does one-off gigs for a range women – the pre s s u res from they shut down understanding of niche audiences, from the family, culture, the re l i g i o n , and blind us to the world’s prison officers to lesbians, your friends, the stigma complexities. she is most happy in front of a attached to being an independ- She is quick to point out that diverse audience. “I love it best ent woman. People still think she never mocks her faith. “I am when I am standing on a stage you should rely on your only telling the truth. Every t h i n g in a comedy club and I see husband and your family. I say in my set has happened to black, white and Asian people “ With Asians it is about status. me. It is my own personal expe- in the audience and they are I think personally my parents are rience. I am not saying anything all laughing together. That v e ry proud but people in the against the Koran, anything brings everyone together.” community still say to my Dad, against Islam. What I am doing Shazia believes comedy ‘ You haven’t brought your is ridiculing the diff e re n c e s can play an important role in daughter up pro p e r l y, look, between religion and culture , ” a multicultural society like s h e ’s a comedian. If you had she says, citing the un-Islamic Britain, where many communities b rought her up properly she c o n t rols on women in still live in islands defined by would be married and be a Afghanistan under the Ta l i b a n . e t h n i c i t y. Last Christmas in doctor by now. ’ These discrepancies, Huddersfield she played to “Those are exactly the i ronic, inhumane or plain silly, a black and Asian audience kind of stereotypes we need depending on your viewpoint, that, it was clear, was divided to get rid of. In a way, this is a re something some Muslims by mutual suspicion. In the racism, sexism within our a re loath to admit, she says. end though they were laughing own community,” she says. Such intransigence makes t o g e t h e r. “I thought that was “ B reaking the mould should them their own worst enemy. a great achievement,” she says. be a good thing.” “If some Muslims are upset by Her reception hasn’t always what I do then they need to been so positive. Shazia has Shazia Mirza is the world’s first ask themselves why they are p rovoked the ire of some Muslim woman comedian. Facing up to change The Rt Hon David Blunkett MP

he world we live in now is profoundly intercon- In fact, its whole history is criss-crossed by T nected. Communications and the media are glob- migration. Sheff i e l d ’s earliest remnant of settlement alised, with the same TV pictures seen simultaneously is the Iron Age fort at Wincobank (in my constituen- throughout the world. The internet is a truly global tool. cy itself), built as a defence by ancient Britons We see, hear and encounter the culture, politics and against the Romans. Centuries later, the Norm a n economics of other countries all the time in our every- conquest left its mark in the castle built by William day lives. de Lovetot in 1150. Industrialisation in the nineteenth S i m i l a r l y, millions of people now live and work c e n t u ry brought Irish workers to the rapidly develop- outside their countries of origin – from traff i c k e d ing steel industry in the city. Later, in the years after human beings suffering the horrors of the sex trade, the Second World Wa r, Yemenis and Afro - to corporate executives working in the global out- Caribbeans came to Sheffield to work in the posts of transnational companies. Migration is more east end steel mills. Finally, in recent years, the complex and rapid than ever before. Yet mutual dispersal of asylum seekers has brought many more i n c o m p rehension and mistrust is high. Fashionable diverse communities to our city, many of them to my commentators devote thousands of column inches own Brightside constituency. to talk of the ‘clash of civilisations’. More sharply, Of course this means that the Sheffield I grew up immigration and asylum have become subjects in has changed. In my childhood, the local commu- of intense political and public debate. These are nity was tight knit, with a strong ethos of mutual tense, difficult times. s u p p o rt, high levels of trust, and clear means, such I am one of those people who believe that the study as apprenticeships, by which young people were of history is vital if we are to understand the present and m e n t o red and socialised into adulthood. shape the future in prog r essive ways. One of the most It was largely the economic whirlwind of the late im p o r tant lessons of history is that humanity has 1970s and 1980s that wrought such damage to this always migrated. It is woven into the fabric of human social fabric, with mass unemployment, drugs and experience. Trade and migration have been vital motors crime in its wake. Sheffield actually produces more

I wouldn’t for a minute pretend that everybody welcomes diversity, or that community relations are somehow spontaneously good. They are not

of economic and social prog r ess, stimulating the trans- steel than it has ever done before, but modern pro- fer of knowledge and invention, opening up one culture duction techniques mean that far fewer workers are to the insights and wisdom of another, and bringing the needed to do it than in the past. richness of human diffe r ence into creative interplay. But the fact is that Sheffield, like any other larg e This migration has affected us all. People some- c i t y, has always depended on migration, and the times say about me that my views on race and ability of people of diff e rent backgrounds to come community cohesion reflect my Sheffield upbringing together and live peacefully as fellow citizens. and the views of the constituents I serve. I make no During my period as Leader of Sheffield City Council apology for being rooted in my constituency and rep- I actively promoted community development and resenting my constituents as well as I can as their MP. mutual support for Sheff i e l d ’s diff e rent communities. And I am very concerned to ensure that there are open I made it a priority to make real improvements for and honest debates on race, to which all sections of local communities, rather than indulge in gesture s . s o c i e t y, including the people of Sheffield, can For example, I take pride in having funded the new contribute their views. But people misunderstand community centre for the Sheffield and District Afro - Sheffield and its history if they think it is a monocultur- Caribbean Community Association in the old al city with a static past. Samuel Osborn Steelworks building on the Wi c k e r. Renovation of the building provided work for unem- ployed skilled workers from the community, and it now serves as a hub for the community. That said, I wouldn’t for a minute pretend that e v e rybody welcomes diversity, or that community relations are somehow spontaneously good. They are not. One of the worst failures of the Left in the 1980s, in my view, was its failure to understand that community cohesion cannot simply be achieved by legislation, or that just accepting diff e rence without also promoting integration leads to ignorance and p rejudice. These things have to be worked on by local people in their communities. This is my major point. Migration and diversity bring huge benefits. Modern global economies have complex labour markets, and need migrants who bring specialist skills or a willingness to work in p a rticular sectors of the economy. But we need to manage that migration, giving people confidence that immigration and asylum systems are fair and not abused, and cru c i a l l y, promoting dialogue and communication between communities. Integration without diff e rence means forc e d assimilation to a prevailing monoculture. It is coer- cive, impractical and undesirable. But likewise, d i ff e rence without integration leads to mutual ignorance, and social segregation. That is why I s u p p o rt integration with diversity, founded on the common citizenship of people from diff e rent back- g rounds who have diff e rent interests and beliefs. U l t i m a t e l y, we will only connect in this common citizenship if we as individuals are empowered and enabled to shape society ourselves as active p a rticipants in change. Mutual belonging and social p ro g ress can be supported and facilitated by g o v e rnment, but not imposed. Real change only comes from the bottom up – whether it is about a local community facility or tackling the AIDS crisis in Africa. This is about radical democracy, and it is the real challenge of the new century.

The Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, Home S e c re t a r y. Mr Blunkett has been MP for Brightside, Sheffield since 1987. He was S e c retary of State for Education and Employment 1997-2001 and previously Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Education, and Education and Employment. Journey man Sorious Samura

o the citizens of Our One World, Fellow Citizens, outside intervention are these selfish and gre e d y TI’ve always believed (please stop reading if you African politicians, who have exacerbated humani- feel I have wearied you with this African saying tarian disasters, violated the basic human rights of too often in the past) that when two elephants their citizens and laughed at the concept of pre s s fight, there ’s no doubt it is the grass that pays the f reedom. What a cruel destiny to have been born on ultimate price. the wrong side of our one world. It shouldn’t be As bombs and guns in Iraq are replacing the surprising that most of us are desperate to come and d rums of war, I couldn’t help but race down memory make a life in the West. It offers you choices, oppor- lane. Bombs, bullets and missiles, I have seen it in tunities, peace and relative freedom, which many my country, Sierra Leone. Thousands of wounded people here take for granted. and dead bodies all over the place. In my head I can It wasn’t until the end of 1991 that my prayer still hear the thousands of innocent, ord i n a ry voices was answered. I made that lucky escape from c rying as they mourn loved ones, while the lucky few S i e rra Leone to the UK through a UNICEF- flee the mayhem. This is exactly what is happening s p o n s o red video course at Leeds Metro p o l i t a n to the poor, defenceless people in Iraq. Pretty soon U n i v e r s i t y, just a few months after Corporal Foday they’ll be knocking at the gates of their conquero r s , Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Fro n t asking to share in their peace, comfort and security. (RUF), declared war on my country. Apart from the The war in Iraq will indeed influence the course of w e a t h e r, the first real shock I suff e red the moment I h i s t o ry in our world, but it will not change the set foot here was the fireworks I saw on television meaning of words in the West. Asylum seekers or during Question Ti m e in the House of Commons – migrants will always mean ‘bogus’ or desperate, between politicians and their leaders – something i rredeemably poor, hopeless and, more re c e n t l y, you might get thrown into prison for dreaming of in d a n g e rous people. most parts of Africa. Over ten years ago I was a new arrival in Britain Life in a free and peaceful world, a world that myself. In the world where most of us migrants come o ffers you education, job opportunities and the f rom, wars are pitted against the ord i n a ry people chance to live a decent life, for most of us migrants either by their own people, or by men and women is like a dream come true. I was the first lucky mem- f rom neighbouring states. The business of killing, ber in my family to set foot in the We s t e rn world. I raping, maiming and all forms of tort u re is carried out was determined to make the best of it. The skills I by a minority against a defenceless majority. It is the a c q u i red at Leeds, together with the experience of use of military power without any re s p o n s i b i l i t y, the mixing with people who were used to living in open combination of povert y, unemployment and corru p t democratic societies opened my mind to the idea leadership that has contributed to the destruction of that we all live in ‘One World’. It made me focused our social fabric. and determined that all of us, wherever we live, have Because of what I have seen, I know that when a common right to be led responsibly by politicians these things happen we need help from outside. But and leaders who are open to criticism. it is the quality of that help, that ‘intervention’, that During my time here in the UK, I learnt about matters. The easy/cheap option of sanctions by respect and quickly gained my self-esteem, my We s t e rn governments, which supposedly should self-confidence. I began learning the true meaning have kept potentially dangerous situations in check of the word re s p o n s i b i l i t y, something our African in my part of the world, not only helped hasten the leaders have yet to learn. I realised that every slide in health and human development but also man and woman, politicians as well as those c reated millions of traumatised people and bro u g h t they lead, are all accountable. No one person nations to their knees. The more difficult and is above the law. But I also realised that in this m o re valuable peacemaking/humanitarian/military s o c i e t y, which had taught me all this, I am not re a l l y i n t e rvention that Britain at last brought to Sierr a accepted. Viewed as a migrant, I am only here to do Leone, in 2000, has worked. c e rtain types of jobs for a limited time, before What has too often brought us the need for re t u rning home. A n y w a y, two years later I re t u rned home to Sierr a make that diff e rence. It is frustrating Africa being at Leone only to find myself rushing back here after a the bottom of the world’s ‘To Do’ list and I felt this few months. I spent the next seven years in and out was our time because this film would be for CNN, the of the UK, working hard, trying to make enough w o r l d ’s biggest stage, offering us the opportunity to money to buy equipment and set up my own pro- conduct our own post-mortem. duction company back home. First there was the I now think that Charles Ta y l o r’s rule of Liberia 7am to 4pm job in Burger King, then 5pm to 11pm in is a textbook case of how not to run a country. B l o c k b u s t e r, then 11pm to 6am cleaning the London Liberia was already wrecked by civil war when U n d e rg round. I won’t tell you the secret of how I he took power in 1990. Since then Mr Taylor appears always managed to be on time. to have encouraged other rebels to do the same By late September 1998 I had made the money I job in neighbouring countries, Sierra Leone being needed and I decided to re t u rn to Sierra Leone for his first ‘accomplishment’. In 2001 I felt this was good. You know, they say chance always favours the the time to open our wounds and examine p re p a red mind. All that was on my mind was to go to them pro p e r l y, hoping to find some of the answers the countryside where an eight-year conflict had to our problems instead of continuing to play the been devastating my country and film this unseen blame game. Having lived within such a system w a r. I was well pre p a red to use the only weapon I of oppression and injustice for most of my life, I the experience of mixing with people who were used to living in open democratic societies opened my mind to the idea that we all live in ‘One World’ had – my video camera. It was 6 January 1999. The knew exactly the risks that lay ahead. rebels launched their final campaign in Freetown, the A rmed with this knowledge, I went to Liberia with capital city. They called it ‘Operation annihilate every t h ree colleagues in an ill-fated attempt to examine living thing’. Senseless killings were committed by the plight of this country (America’s first son in both the rebels and government forces. Again, the Africa, created as the land of the free for newly people who paid dearly with lives and pro p e rty were liberated slaves in the nineteenth century), to try to indeed the innocents. With my footage we were able understand why my Continent was stuck in this to make C ry Fre e t o w n, a documentary broadcast all rotten situation. Everyone in West Africa was blaming over the world. my country ’s civil war on Liberia. On the third week After this film I was off e red the opportunity with of filming we stumbled on something that I think was the same production company, Insight News TV, to vital to Mr Ta y l o r, as well as the international com- tackle the sorts of issues that have crippled my con- m u n i t y. That day was to be our last day tinent. There was corruption, the fight over Africa’s of freedom in Liberia. mineral re s o u rces (in Sierra Leone’s case the dia- That night we were arrested, thrown into prison monds that were used to fuel the rebellion) not to talk and charged with espionage – a charge that meant of illiteracy, massive unemployment and the social death by firing squad if we were found guilty. Here injustices where promotion was most likely because we were facing the death penalty at the hands of a of who you knew rather than what you knew. p resident known to have tort u red and killed innocent We agreed that the first stop had to be neigh- people, including journalists, in the past, despite bouring Liberia. This was one of the countries condemnation by human rights and intern a t i o n a l accused of supporting and financing the rebel move- o rganisations. The moment we were taken to Ta y l o r’s ment in Sierra Leone, believing that they stood to t o rt u re chamber, the National Security Headquart e r s , gain control over the sales of ‘conflict’ or ‘blood’ dia- I was separated from my colleagues and put in a cell, monds. I thought now was the time to stand up and which began filling with smoke. They knew of my work showing what their allies, the RUF, had done in coming to their land as economic migrants? He also my country so they seemed to be singling me out for a rgued about how the West should share their por- special treatment. Soon, two fearsome men came tion of the burden, or pain, for their roles in some of with knives, threatening to open my chest and eat our manmade disasters. my heart, a common practice among rebels, and one Despite this history, I know through experience how I took seriously at that time. My three colleagues well-intentioned the Americans and British can be w e re confined to a tiny, dark, hot space and left there when it comes to helping the voiceless, the defence- in fear for long nights. We endured this for thre e less and the innocent. When upholding their values nights while We s t e rn powers were piling the pre s s u re and helping ordinary people overseas, these countries on Taylor and his govern m e n t . are often courageous and outspoken. Yet the same The international community did everything they voiceless people they help in countries far away are could to get us out but suddenly the Americans and magically transformed from victims into migrants, ‘ille- the British took over the whole show. I believe what gal immigrants’, when they can stand the pain no motivated their campaign was their values of fre e- longer and flee in search of better lives elsewhere. dom and justice – these same values that I had learn t When these people turn up on the shores of while living in the West now came into play again. E u rope or America they are treated like pawns in the

Why should Europeans brand us ‘illegal’ now that we, like them 200 years ago, are coming to their land as economic migrants?

Within a week, bullyboy Taylor succumbed to pre s- political game and media arena by the very people s u re and we were released. There ’s no doubt that the who are now killing to liberate the Iraqis. Is it superpowers probably saved us a lot of suffering – because we were meant to stay and endure, if not maybe even saved our lives. We lost the film though. e n j o y, the ‘We s t e rness’ which was introduced to our As part of the deal for our release we had to agre e countries first through colonialism and then that the film would never be made. capitalism? Or is it because, suddenly, by coming My next story took me directly in the path of into your home, you believe we are corrupting you by migrants, desperate men and women, who had given bringing our cultures and our problems with up on Africa to embark on this incredible journ e y us? What are our hosts, our providers of re f u g e , a c ross the Sahara desert on foot, and through the s c a red of in our ‘One Wo r l d ’ ? M e d i t e rranean Sea to Europe. I warned them they w e re entering a world where they would become Sorious Samura won the Rory Peck Aw a rd and known as ‘illegal immigrants’ and of the huge diff i- Mohamed Amin Aw a rd in 1999 – the first person culties they would face in securing jobs and living to win both awards. He was also one of the our dream life. It was just not enough to deter any of winners of the CNN African Journalist of the Ye a r these migrants from this very expensive and danger- in 1999. He works with Insight News Television in ous journ e y. All of the people I met while making the London and regularly re t u rns to Sierra Leone. d o c u m e n t a ry E x o d u s, shared the same belief I’d had a few years ago that only Europe could give us a f u t u re worth imagining. In fact, one gentleman, Osas, was quick to remind me that the white man’s journ e y to Africa, in which he did not only colonise but took our re s o u rces and created borders for us, never re q u i red a visa. So why should Europeans brand us ‘illegal’ now that we, like them 200 years ago, are Belonging Naim Attallah

n the mid 1930s I was about five years old and of foreign origin who sought refuge in the UK. So that Iliving in Haifa, Palestine, under a British Mandate. I could at least stay and work in Britain I made an T h e re was a political uprising at the time that application for my landing restrictions to be lifted, but stemmed from the Balfour Declaration, which at first this was rejected. A battle with the Home Office f a v o u red the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine. ensued, with a particular Tory Member of Parliament, I have nightmare recollections of that period. We Major Legge-Bourke, championing my case at the would be woken up at 5am by British soldiers, who request of Frances Newton, a legendary missionary then bundled us into trucks – the whole family, with who had worked in Palestine till she was kicked out of no proper clothing – to take us to a large stadium, the region by the British authorities for her support of t h e re to spend the entire day without drink or food. It the Palestinians. Frances Newton was rich and influen- was done to us as a communal punishment for some tial and lived in style in a mansion off Sloane Square. act, presumably perpetrated by a freedom fighter, Eventually the Home Office allowed me to stay, but which had resulted in a British casualty. Those were would only let me be employed in menial positions, or days when we were living in fear, waiting for the what they termed ‘unskilled labour in industry’. I then unwelcome knock on the door and then having to spent three years with the English Electric Company in e n d u re harsh punishment at the hands of a bunch Stafford, thanks to the ex-Palestine policeman, who by of riff - r a ff. As a child my views on Britain and the that stage held a senior position with the firm. British were uncomplimentary to say the least. My stay in Staff o rd in a working-class enviro n- It was a viewpoint that was to change dramatically ment was to be the making of me. To begin with I had

I found that being a foreigner in the first place did nothing to disadvantage my pursuit of success and excellence

for me when in 1949, at the age of 18, I came to a tough time in the workshop and was for a short England as an engineering student. I soon began to period the target of abuse. “Where ’s your camel?” see Britain and the British people in a different light. one would shout. “Why don’t you go back to the The colonial power of my childhood evidently behaved d e s e rt where you came from?” another would in a very civilised and liberal way at home, in contrast b e l l o w. I kept my cool, lost my temper only once, and to the oppressive policies it enforced on the native ultimately somehow became one of the boys. The populations in its dominions. What struck me most jibes stopped and a warm camaraderie followed. The was the way in which the English you met every day experience was to shape my views, to help me were polite and cultured and held commendable views understand what it means to be the underdog, to on the world, nothing at all like the harsh, unsympa- become more sympathetic to the needy and people thetic soldier on official who was sent out to run the less fortunate than myself. Later in life I was to colonies. There were a few exceptions, like the British publish books of ‘social conscience’ in favour of the policeman in Palestine who befriended our family. He o p p ressed and dispossessed, the unemployed, the was to become my saviour in a sense when, in 1951, I homeless, the persecuted minorities and to champion desperately needed help. As a student I found that I causes that were not particularly fashionable. In this was no longer able to continue with my studies when way my life took many twists and turns. I was the source of my maintenance was suddenly denied by non-establishment in pursuit of lost causes yet I the authorities of the new State of Israel imposing for- joined the establishment under various guises. eign exchange restrictions. A p a rt from becoming a publisher, my roles came The Home Secretary of the time, Sir David Maxwell- to include being the Chief Executive of Asprey plc Fyfe, had been one of the judges at the Nuremburg tri- and all its subsidiaries – Garr a rd the Cro w n als but was known for his tough stance against people Jewellers, Mappin & Webb and Watches of Switzerland. Alongside this went being a producer of fabric. Much of this can be accounted for by the plays in the West End, of films and music. My life ability of the English to respect the privacy and was enriched not only by the variety of things I did, individuality of everyone within their so-called but also by the encounters with people from all walks s p h e re. The class system may well still be appare n t of life that these activities entailed. I began to under- in some quarters, but it no longer carries the stand and appreciate the very fabric of British society clout that it used to, nor is it credible enough to a c ross its whole range, and how it has in many form s influence our new social contexts. I have thro u g h o u t enhanced international thinking in topics fro m my working career employed, amongst others, democracy and politics to science, literature and the the daughters of the aristocracy and have found a rts in all their varied strands. I found that being a them in general to be charming, willing to chip in f o reigner in the first place did nothing to disadvan- when needed and with no illusions of grandeur. tage my pursuit of success and excellence. It might They also have a sense of humour, sometimes in some ways have delayed this process in the short absent from left-wing ideology, for ideologists tend t e rm. In others it opened doors because of the sense to take themselves too seriously to appreciate the of curiosity engendered by coming originally fro m lighter side of life. another culture . When I first arrived in the United Kingdom one The immigration into Britain at the turn of the of the most notable aspects in the lives of the twentieth century not only profited the immigrants British was an inflexibility in the face of change. but added to the wealth and expertise of the United Over the years, and with the younger generation Kingdom. Without the Jewish immigration our travelling more, this is a situation that has impro v e d m e rchant banking system could never have moved a great deal, with positive consequences. There to the fore f ront internationally in the way it has, and is now far less rigidity and more ready acceptance in the world of publishing there are many famous of new situations. One disturbing phenomenon of names of companies to illustrate the contribution late, however, is a dependence on the United made. The immigration from Central Euro p e States, to the extent of being subservient politically. undoubtedly enriched and gave added dimensions It is something I have never seen before in Britain’s to the British way of life. Even cloth merchants fro m f o reign relations in half a century of observation. as far away as Syria established themselves in That this should be happening under a Labour M a n c h e s t e r. And what about the Asians, arr i v i n g g o v e rnment is a fact which flatly defies com- during the second half of the last century? They too prehension. The pre s s u res and instincts of British have brought their traditions to the nation and added public opinion must surely be against taking such a colour and diversity. Without the Asian newsagents d i rection and no government can aff o rd to ignore this on our street corners there would be less eff i c i e n t for too long. deliveries and perhaps less of the reading and My own assimiliation into the British way of life i n f o rmation material that is so readily available has been by choice and in no way enforced. I feel t h roughout the country. The Notting Hill Carn i v a l , totally at home in this country and have no wish to which every year offers colour, spice and exuberance live anywhere else in the world on a perm a n e n t to Londoners, is only one example of how a basis. Although I am aware that my roots stem fro m multinational, multi-ethnic society, including the the house of my grandmother who lived and died in peoples from the Caribbean islands, can harm o n i s e the Holy Land, in the little town of Nazareth, I am a the routine in our daily lives and lead us to a better realist in the sense that my home has, through the understanding and a true appreciation of other vicissitudes of times, come to be relocated where I c u l t u res in our midst. happen to be now. Sentiments towards and love of None of this would ever have been possible the land of my forefathers are certainly there, but without the inherent tolerance within the British these apart, I could never envisage the desertion of attitude to life. The intolerances of extremist politics, my adopted country. even when playing on popular prejudices, have never gained significant inroads into the British political Naim Attallah is a publisher. Selective sight David Tomlinson

hen one of the boys talked to me about it, he never a match for any of it. I was posted to edit and write Wreckoned that the reason he had the knife in a science magazine for local teachers. I loved the sound the classroom was because there was talk of trou - of the job as I had written news rep o r ts (badly) before ble within the community. The feud had been bub- training as a teacher and enjoyed teaching science in my bling up for a while, a rehash of old argu m e n t s , London primary school. In fact the subject had been a territories and insults. Local violence had erupted revelation to me – as a pupil myself I had skived off too last night between two opposing sides. They had many biology lessons to scrape anything more than a ov e r h e a r d their elders saying that today was the CSE. I must admit that I arrived in Kaduna with a zeal for day for action and he and his friends weren ’ t science that echoed the religious convictions of the mis- taking any chances. He stood there, aged 11, sionaries who had come before me. The need for this shame, anger and bravado in equal measures. teaching tool was obvious. Most teachers had little infor- I am his teacher. mation to teach from – a lucky few had pre- i n d e p e n d - I’m a nicely brought-up boy living in south London ence text books, with idiosyncratic examples of English who went to teach in Nigeria care of VSO. For two years people doing strange things in lab coats. I enjoyed a life in the sun although even my friends, who Although the work itself was enriching, I found the first habitually ref e r red to it as a ‘holiday’, knew that the expe- few months to be an uneasy cocktail of adrenalin, liber- rience involved a bit more than a Thomas Cook package. ation and bouts of depression. I had never felt so isolat- Nigeria is a lot of things, but it isn’t Lanzarot e . ed in my whole life. I had wanted to join in, become Th e r e is a tale, possibly, hopefully, apocryphal that accepted in the community straight away. Instead I was be f o r e Guinness was first produced in Nigeria in the early an outsider. As one of only two visible white people in the 1970s, the prospective concession owner was req u i re d city (there were others apparently but I hadn’t met any at to send a sample of his brew to Dublin. Sadly for him it that point apart from a gin-soaked expat with an unfor- was rejected outright by Quality Control. A few months tunate hatred of all things Nigerian), I had underes t i m a t - later and after much trial and error , a second sample was ed my own novelty. It was all very well being a celebrity sent to Dublin and swiftly rejected on the not unrea s o n - down at the tomato market but I wanted to get beyond able grounds that it tasted far worse. Indeed it was so that. Some days, strangers calling out ‘white man’ rea l l y wide of the mark that Guinness thoughtfully sent him got on my nerves – it was a real barri e r . I would like to say back a case of their finest as a reminder of what he that I stuck it those first few months because I was big should be aiming for. When it arrived in Lagos, the and bold and brave, but I wasn’t. I was homesick and concession owner, being a canny soul if not the most tal- vain – I didn’t want to face my friends in London having ented of brewers, simply soaked off the labels, failed to stay the course. So I stayed a while longer, one stuck on his own and sent the case straight back, thus month, two months, three months. winning the contract and setting up a business that Four months and one week after arriving (yes, I thrives to this day. was still counting), a large-scale riot erupted on an This may or may not be true. It was told to me over a average morning, a cool day typical of the harm a t t a n bottle of the same beverage (still unlikely to be confused season. Symptomatic of the economic and political with its Dublin cousin) by a friend of mine in a shady lit- c o rruption in the country as a whole, trouble had tle bar just off the main drag in Kaduna, a former outpost popped up in my town in the form of a religious riot of the British Empire in north e r n Nigeria. The city is more between Christians and Muslims. Except that this famous now as the place the Miss World riots starte d w a s n ’t really about religion at all, it was about things than for colonial administration. I remember the story people really fight for – oil, vengeance, money and because it was funny and it was rough, just like the political influence. co u n t r y itself. Even within West Africa, Nigeria’s rep u t a - This conflict lasted three days. A thousand lives tion goes before it – car-crash politics, wealth, poverty , w e re estimated lost, homes burned, families division, potential and beauty. Nothing could have s c a t t e red. No need for ‘shock and awe’, it merited pre p a r ed me for it. just a quick mention on the BBC World Serv i c e a n d As the new boy in town, I tried to keep up with the Channel 4 News. For 48 hours I hid under my desk dodges, the deals, the labyrinthine local politics, but was h e ro i c a l l y, as the petrol station opposite burned (the rioters having sensibly siphoned off some of the br ought-up boys don’t always know much outside the fuel before they torched it), my own house looted na r rowness of their own upbringing; that decency and and smouldering at the back of the third floor off i c e help and courage are as universal as hate, corrup t i o n w h e re I worked. My boss, a local mover and shaker, and exploitation wherever you are in the world; that the buried his head as his car burned out; the men with d i ff e rences between Britain and Nigeria were not machetes, mainly young, bored, unemployed, had so great once I peeled away the veneers of res p e c t a b i l i - stopped shouting his name and found a new targ e t , ty or notoriety. the doctor who lived on the corner cro s s roads. It Today, 18 months after returning to London, if I look was all confusion, manipulation and blood. around the playground at the school where I teach I During my two days under the desk a strange thing can see people of different cultures playing together. happened. For the first time I was feeling part of the Not always harmoniously, often with screams and co u n t r y, part of what was going on, not just a gorml e s s tears, but playing together nonetheless. Most of them by s t a n d e r . I didn’t know how to trust this feeling at first were born in the UK and know nothing of trying to fit but I took stock (there wasn’t much else you could do to into a new country, although their parents or grandpar- be honest) as the night fell and sounds of anger contin- ents will. Recently, however, a boy joined our school ued sporadically. from West Africa. He spoke no English and just stood I looked back over my four months there. The maga- at the classroom door, not sure of what to do, what to zine had started off small. It grew thanks to local teach- say or who to follow, scared of getting it wrong. And I ers and their input. At first they distrusted me, thought I knew exactly how he felt. It helped me to help him – was spying or was there to catch them out and chastise. although the fact that he is good at football probably UK teachers often feel undervalued and I think rightly so. helped him more! Now, thanks to his friends in the Still, after a hard day at the chalk face, few of them have playground, he looks like Rageh Omaar but sounds to work the land in order to support themselves and their like Phil Mitchell. It isn’t easy whatever your age, dis- families. Many of the Nigerian teachers I knew could only placement, whether voluntary or through necessity, su r vive this way because the pittance they were paid still feels debilitating once you’ve arrived in your new was often three months overdue, whilst coincidentally ‘home’. And it is only when you stop using your eyes the proprietor of their school would be driving a new selectively that the similarities, both good and bad, Toyota. Despite this, many grew to see that the magazine between cultures can become clear. was genuine and that the sweaty ba t u r i editing it rea l l y The boy stood eyeing his friends, still defiant needed some help. and scared. I am his teacher. They had been All I had under that desk at that moment was a queasy caught, the knives had been taken, their elders stomach and a decision to stay. Because it really is too called. There would still be trouble in their lazy to stand as a Wes t e r ner in a country as proud as community that night. I had only been back Nigeria and let your initial reaction to the mismanage- three months, my Nigerian tan fading around the ment and corruption blind you to everything else. edges. This was Peckham, home of Del Boy, the Ce r tainly these things held their fascination for me to the dodgiest kebabs in south London and of the late ve r y end, but underneath that there is a very real and Damilola Taylor, a boy originally from Nigeria functioning country that deserves to be taken more seri- who had been murd e red on his way home ously than rep o r ts of social unrest and tales of fake from school just a few months before. As a nice- Guinness would suggest. It is a new democracy, the ly brought-up boy living in south London, most populous country in Africa, with vast res o u r ces of nothing could have prepared me for Nigeria. oil and gas, and after its treatment at the hands of the It was Nigeria that prep a r ed me for Britain. colonials it’s hardly surprising that the place is hard to manage! The friends I made, the acceptance that I did David Tomlinson is a writer and teacher. He eventually enjoy, the kindness that was shown me, vo l u n t e e r ed with VSO in Nigeria 1999-2001. Ju n i o r I would never have known any of it if I hadn’t been force d Sc i e n t i s t , the magazine he edited in Nigeria, rec e i v e d by circumstance to open my eyes and take a closer look. a UNICEF commendation and celebrates its fourth And when I did open my eyes, I saw that nicely anniversary this year. The Racial Colourist Ben Okri

his was during the war. We were in a line, sitting on do? Do they assassinate people like me? I felt unsafe. T a wall, and I was trying to get these two people, I hurried away from the group. I went down the road. these two men, to know one another. I was trying to The bespectacled youth, with his chart, and his walkie- get them to meet. But one of them was a racial talkie, got up and came after me. I crossed the field, at colourist and he had a chart in one hand and a paste a near run. He picked up speed. Where was I running on his fingertips and he said to me that there was no to, where could I run to, where was safe for me? It way he could shake hands with a second-class white grew dark. The chap kept on my tail, pursuing me. I man. I was surprised – because this chap too was lost him across a maze of fields. Soon it was dark. but he wouldn’t accept a touch from another white man whom he believed was inferior in colour purity to him

white, and he would take a hug from me, but he would- Then suddenly I could see him in the distance, with a n’ t accept a touch from another white man whom he torch in his hand. He was coming at me. He walked believed was inferior to him in colour purity. I tried but he alongside a field. Behind him was a quaint provincial refused; and the supposedly second-class white man town, almost a village. A voice in me said: “Go towards was so hurt and offended that he stormed off. I went him. Don’t run away from him, go at him, menacingly, after him, but he walked so fast he disappeared. And as purposefully. He’s more scared of you than you think.” I went back to the group I became aware for the first So I stopped running away and with a mean pur- time of the danger of my position. pose in me I made towards him, striding. As I went I had no way of telling who was a racial colourist. I towards him he appeared to hesitate. I continued. He rejoined the group. The first white man, who had too continued towards me. When I neared him I gazed begun it all, had gone. He too had vanished. I stood into his face. It was an ordinary face, a harmless, among the rest, ill at ease. Then I noticed a white youth scared, timid face which I didn’t have the heart to hurt amongst the men. He wore little round glasses. And he in any way. I went past him in the dark, and he went was looking at me in a peculiar way. I tried to ignore past me. I went on towards the village, and I didn’t look him. A white girl went past, and waved hello to me. She back, I couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t care anymore. was someone I knew. The youth with glasses consult- ed his colour chart and then made an immediate call Ben Okri, OBE, FRSL, is a novelist and poet. with a walkie-talkie to someone. “Yes, sir. He said hello He has won many prizes, including the Booker to one of ours. Yes, yes, sir.” Prize for his novel, The Famished Road, in 1991. It was clear he was monitoring the contact I had with Mental Fight, his epic poem about the possibilities people of accepted racial purity. I became aware that he of the new Millennium, was published in 2000. belonged to a shadowy orga n i s a t i o n . What else do they His latest novel is In Arcadia. Last laugh Meera Syal

was 22, fresh out of university and had landed an might notice that it sounds like the minutes fro m Iacting job with the prestigious Royal Court Theatre . some earnest new age committee. Yes, we were ide- A rriving in London as a newly hatched actress, the alistic, we had ideals coming out of our multi-pierc e d city was a heaving cultural melting pot. People like ears…and yes, the backlash would soon begin. It me, the first generation of children born in Britain to was called Political Correctness. Now don’t get me immigrant parents, had come of age and were w rong, however maligned it is now, PC was an a s s e rting their new forged bicultural identities with i m p o rtant phase of development for us. Just as we noise, pride and struggle. The timing could not have had to go through our hippyish ‘hold hands and cele- been better: a newly elected Greater London brate your colour!’ phase, because all re v o l u t i o n s Council, led by a visionary left winger called Ken begin from a period of angry autonomy, we also had Livingstone, had decided to embrace the rainbow to support a movement which made being sexist and population and backed it up with funds. Money was racist Wrong. suddenly available to set up the clubs and networks Growing up, I clearly remember so-called comedy and cultural celebrations that up until now, we shows where fat white blokes in tasteless shirts would had done in private, to stay connected and make jokes about niggers, pakis and mother-in-laws sane. Somewhere in London, it seemed there was and it was called Entertainment. Councils would always something to celebrate and it always involved uphold complaints about foreigners’ ‘smelly food’, (this e x p o s u re of what had been previously hidden, was before Indian cuisine became Britain’s favourite but ever- p resent ethnic cultures. And there I was, food). In school, we were taught about the great British suitcase in hand, doing what I’d always dreamed of Empire and reminded how nice and well-run India was doing for a living but never imagining a funny-looking before the Indians got their hands on it. Integration was Punjabi girl from the Midlands would ever achieve. the policy, but translated for us meant ‘forget who you The new Multiculturalism meant there was plenty are and behave yourselves’. of work for a young Asian actress like me. In my first Political correctness blew all these long-held few years I hardly had a day off, playing at all the assumptions apart; suddenly comedians had to London fringe theatres and some West End venues change their acts or be booed off stage, at least in too, in roles as diverse as a seventeenth century deaf London. Comedy was now called Altern a t i v e mute, a fur-coated Peruvian millionairess, a Deep C o m e d y, which meant no more paki and fat wife South blues singer and a blowsy nort h e rn football jokes; instead, those who had relied on prejudice for fanatic. Some of the roles were Asian, many were n ’t . a cheap laugh had to actually use their imaginations But the London stage was going overboard in try i n g and find material that we could all relate to. Ben to reflect the city’s diverse population. Elton, French And Saunders, Victoria Wood, a whole Most import a n t l y, I had found like-minded cre a t i v e new crop of Irish comedians, female stand-ups like people who were using their individual struggles with Jo Brand and Donna McPhail, surrealists like Eddie identity and belonging as a basis for their art. There I z z a rd and Gerry Sadowitz - these were all the peo- w e re painters, photographers, designers, writers, ple I saw perf o rm when I arrived in London. p e rf o rmers and singers. Viewed as a body, many of Laughter was no longer a weapon used to keep these projects/pieces reflected the same obsessions out the foreigners; the foreigners, the odd balls, the and themes; our families, our ancestry, the diff e r- women, the Irish, they were reclaiming it, grabbing it ences and miscommunications between genera- and turning it back onto its makers. We were onto tions, anger, resistance, exploration/celebration of something new, something exciting. We could sniff it the mother tongue, sexism and how this applied to when we sat amongst audiences who whooped Men of Colour, feminism and how it did or didn’t at the in-your-face politics, the debunking of colonial s e rve Women of Colour, struggles abroad in South and patriarchal attitudes, the new open sexuality, Africa, the invisible but steely umbilical cords the collective comic voices of those in opposition to running between the land in which we were born and the government and all it stood for. None of this that of our parents. would have happened without PC and I was there, H o w e v e r, anyone cynical reading the above list I saw it all. Single groovy women like I thought I was, want- and often loads of laughs along the way. ed the street vibe, the rough and ready London with The contrast between these women and the kind its dirt and noise and music blaring. I had to be of women portrayed in many of the roles I was s o m e w h e re that was Real. It didn’t get more re a l o ff e red, was almost laughable – the meek subdued than the impoverished high rises, abandoned busi- teenager escaping an arranged marriage, the nesses and casual violence of the East End. Here , s u b s e rvient wife bewildered by her surroundings, the p a rticularly around Brick Lane, has always been a exotic princess pouting with Eastern promise. None b a rometer of British immigration. In the 1930s it was of them reflected what I saw going on around me, or the Jews who settled there and battled Moseley’s indeed the many women I had grown up with - funny, b l a c k s h i rted fascists along Cable Street. In the s a u c y, intelligent women who grabbed life with both 1980s it was the Asians, specifically the Muslim hands. My disaffection with acting was growing. I Bengalis, who had appropriated the area; Khans was beginning to realise that job satisfaction was replacing Cohens, mosques replacing synagogues, just as important as getting the job. To top it all, my and the skinheads from the National Front re p l a y i n g money was running out and I was encountering less the same hate crimes against outsiders. Despite the and less work I wanted to do. And I knew why. ever present threat of violence and the depre s s i n g An inevitable by-product of the ‘I’m alright Jack’ reminders of those who Thatcher’s Britain had aban- attitude in London was a huge backlash against doned, this was one of the happiest periods in my political correctness. A few years previously I had life in London so far. My tiny shared flat was a micro- been going up for a selection of roles; some straight,

I clearly remember so-called comedy shows where fat white blokes in tasteless shirts would make jokes about niggers, pakis and mother-in-laws and it was called Entertainment

cosm of the new London; my three flatmates were some flawed, some written for white actresses. Now Jamaican, Pakistani and a nicely brought up English t h e re were superficially many more roles written Rose, the UN of E15 we joked, and none of us born specifically for Asians, on TV as well as in the theatre ; in the city. obviously eff o rts were being made to create a Being in East London at that time proved multi-ethnic cast of characters. How nice, you may so important for my development. Because be thinking. But then I read the scripts. Every Asian alongside the culture of Get Rich Quick, (the 1980s character on offer was long suffering, eternally noble had seen the invasion of the Yuppies), pockets and squeaky clean. Whether it was a newsagent’s of resistance were growing and all of them spro u t i n g wife or a surgeon, a manager or a street cleaner, up on my doorstep. Newham Asian Wo m e n ’s Pro j e c t they all shared two characteristics. They had very few was formed then, and is now one of the most lines and they were all boring old fart s . vocal and important organisations for Asian women, It was a bizarre time in London. On the one o ffering legal advice, therapy, company and solidari- hand, the press were labelling all ethnics as ty for those trying to establish their independent manipulative money grabbers, guilt tripping their lives in London, as well as setting up one of the first councils into getting grants, (‘Grant Aw a rded refuges for women fleeing abusive relationships. to One-Legged Nigerian Lesbian’! ‘Children told It was here I met so many people, part i c u l a r l y Baa Baa Black Sheep is Racist Song’). Whilst women, who influenced by thinking and writing to within my own profession, the artistic liberals date. Here was the real version of what Asian women thought they were bending over backwards to give w e re doing, redefining their roles as females, wives, us work, not realising that their own patro n i s a t i o n mothers, daughters, with bravery, commitment was killing our artistic dignity. Quality as well as q u a n t i t y, reality rather than lip service re p re s e n t a- Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh and Black Star Liner, the tion. Oh sod it, I wanted a job. A good job that I fusion-wallahs coexisting with the ever thriving could be proud of. Bhangra and Dub scenes. Asian fashions swept the My social life had collapsed as I couldn’t aff o rd to catwalk; every North London home sport e d be girl around town anymore. However, London Rajasthani cushion covers and Tibetan wall hang- surprised me, offering up hidden charms that were ings. Madonna did mehndi and yoga, Jemima Khan f ree and had always been there. I’d just never had to became Pakistani aristocracy, Indian women kept look for them before. I acquainted myself with all the sweeping the board at beauty competitions and any Sunday markets, including every o n e ’s favourite clubber worth their salt flocked to Asian fusion nights hang-out, Camden Market, where New Age pro d u c t s in London’s hippest venues, wearing their bindis and practitioners began to make their first tentative with pride. appearances. I remember nudging my fellow Punjabi So in the new Millennium, where are we? This friend as we spotted stalls selling Om T- s h i rt s , whole Asians Are Groovy thing amuses me but c a rved statues of Ganesh and home henna painting I don’t trust it. None of us want to be re m e m b e re d kits. "My god, we’re almost in fashion!" I giggled. m e rely as this year’s flavour, to be discarded when How prophetic that turned out to be. Of course the next cute ethnic phase comes along. Having we had always picked up desi supplies and the e x p o s u re is fine and dandy, being feted and noticed desi vibe from hanging out in Southall and its is important, but it’s how we survive from here East End equivalent, Green Street. But it seemed that counts. that all things Asian were becoming tre n d y, or being But if I open Time Out and read the listings, a p p ropriated depending on how you view it. The well, I feel optimistic. At any given moment, I can go time was right. Acting was unchallenging; I realised and watch the latest Hindi movie, catch some I had to create the roles I so longed to play and bilingual stand-up, eat new Keralan cuisine, buy felt would re p resent all of us re a l i s t i c a l l y, and designer saris in the West End, gobble chaat in i n t e rest was growing in who were really were. So I Soho or Southall, or just hang out near the river and began writing. watch the rainbow coalition stroll by. A glance at Between 1995 and 2000 I wrote three films, B h a j i a map means I can pinpoint the Asian millionaires On The Beach, A Nice Arr a n g e m e n t and My Sister in Bushey, the Bengali housewives in Bow, the Wi f e; two novels, Anita and Me and Life Isn’t All Ha Sikh families in Tooting, the Punjabi artists in Hoxton, Ha Hee Hee, and wrote and perf o rmed in the and thousands of others whose parents landed a w a rd-winning BBC sketch show, G o o d n e s s as strangers in London, never imagining that Gracious Me. All my experiences in London had their children would feel part of the city and shape it b rought me to this point, where I felt passionately themselves. Around me I hear teenagers mixing about our untold stories and confident now that they cockney glottals with black patois and Punjabi slang. would find an audience. London was being feted as I t ’s a new language with a unique beat and it dru m s the world capital of Cool, due largely to the t h rough all our work, the new Londoners. Innit? astonishing creative output from people who had p reviously been on the margins of society. The Meera Syal is an award-winning actress, writer cultural melting pot was back as in the days of the and dire c t o r. She has received a British Comedy GLC but older, wiser; people were no longer mere Aw a rd and Royal Television Society Aw a rd for tokens but had their own sense of irony and wit, Goodness Gracious Me and an MBE for her this time speaking for themselves. s e rvices to the Arts. She won the 1996 Betty Goodness Gracious Me’s phenomenal success, Trask Aw a rd for her first novel, Anita and Me, with its cross-over audience appeal and re f re s h i n g l y which in 2002 was made into a film. Most re c e n t l y, non-PC humour, coincided with a thriving Asian Meera appeared in the BBC2 comedy, The comedy scene, when ten years ago, Asians and Kumars At Number 42. Funny was a paradox. Artists appeared like Anish Kapoor and Chila Kumari Burman, musicians like Trust and betrayal Nitin Sawhney

suppose I could have chosen a lighter title. It is, of my ancestors – to learn of the Aryan journey to the Ihowever, difficult to look at the world around me with- Indus valley and of the Dravidians’ historic migration to out a degree of cynicism. south India. How inspiring to learn of the great Moghul At each stage of my life I remember being req u i r ed to em p i r e and origins of the Vedas, the Upanishads and en t r ust my understanding of the universe to those in posi- the epic Mahabaratta, I thought! What I did learn how- tions of power. From my parents to my teachers, from the ever was a lot easier to grasp than any of that. Five media to politicians – at each defining moment of my voy- wo r ds: ‘India was a British colony’. Of course, I had no age through life I was always accompanied at the helm. pr oblem with what I was taught per se (our history This seemed fine until it dawned on me that some people teacher was a passionate and thoughtful man) but not only wish to accompany you at the helm of your life’s wh e r e was the balance? Where was I in this ambitious jo u r ney but to yank the steering wheel from your grasp pi c t u r e of world history? and navigate you into a very large roc k . So I went through school with an uneasy suspicion It was not always that way. My parents were great. I that I was inferior. It may have been a product of the had a wonderful, idyllic childhood. Love and kindness notion that the history of the non-white population of dominated my early years. I was constantly exposed to this world was embedded in slavery or colonisation, or music, art, philosophy and diverse thinking by my perhaps the echoing resonance of the word ‘paki’ as it parents and elder siblings. I would sit comfortably accompanied me through the hostile corridors of the astride two cultures with the considerate and relaxed science block. Who knows? guidance of those around me. Still. In a school where the subject of history meant The child psychologist, Piaget, maintained that we ‘History of White Men’ and music revolved around experience greater development through being Western classical harmony and counterpoint, I guess I exposed to diverse and even conflicting ideas. My emerged fairly well-balanced. I had nurtured a mild home environment could not have been more phobia of teachers, people, my own shadow and one conducive to such development. My father would small screwed-up kid with a lisp but I wasn’t beyond often play music ranging from Flamenco to Indian clas- help. No. It wasn’t school that turned me into the bit- sical traditions, whereas my brothers would listen to ter, twisted musician presently engaging your atten- everything from Santana to Miles Davis. My mother tion. I lay the responsibility for that little transition with was an Indian classical dancer with an in-depth knowl- the very next guardian of my trust – the British media. edge of Hindu philosophy and my childhood friends were into Marvel comics. Home life was pretty cool. News prioritisation My parents could not have honoured the trust they Now, there’s an interesting thing. You see, I have engendered with any more respect than they did. always held this crazy, radical, subversive belief that So where did this shift in course to the waters of one human life was of the same value as any other – cynical disillusionment actually kick off? For me it all whoever or wherever they may be. That doesn’t really began with senior school. I remember the excitement work for the British media, though. All I ever really with which I greeted this amazing new world – a place noticed was that the newsworthiness of a person’s to conquer life’s mysteries and storm through the death was in direct correlation to his or her skin colour, broad corridors of adolescence. wealth and birthplace. Reality was a little different, however. My newfound Why is it that we can spend hours and days being world was a singularly white, all boys grammar school whipped into an over-anxious frenzy by the British where the National Front would be happily distributing media over the plight of one or two individuals on leaflets at our school gate and an embittered music British soil when the fact that 7,000 people die of AIDS teacher would ritualistically prod me out of the music in Africa PER DAY (nearly twice the reported mortalities rooms for attempting Indian ragas without a written of the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001), score. Indian classical music is an oral tradition. I never goes largely unreported? Whose priorities are domi- had the heart to break it to him. So what was I taught? nating my daily information about the world? History. Yes, I was taught history. How wonderful an Do we not, after all, live in a multicultural society experience it would be, I imagined, to learn the origins where equal opportunity is championed by all major political parties and racism is abhorred? Are we all to be Surely attacking and invading a country to seize fo r ce-fed the prioritisations of a white elitist England? weapons we once sold it, when there is no immediate Of course, some mainstream politicians would have threat and no sign of any such weapons still in exis- me believe that to advocate the broad church of a truly tence, is a striking analogy. As a recent leader in The pluralistic England was a little naïve and that England is Independent asked: have we all been duped into an for the English etc. The problem is that I don’t really trus t illegal war? politicians either – why trust people whose principal moti- Over the last few years I have written and produced a vation is power? Of course, there is the exception of icons series of albums that reflect my state of mind over many such as Nelson Mandela, whose principal motivation was issues. For me, rec o r ding an album, much like writing a justice, of which power was a by-product. However, peo- di a r y, is both a process of catharsis and of rec o n c i l i a t i o n ple who crave power put their own interests before those with my personal history. In 1991 I released my fourth of the majority. They would do, wouldn’t they? Such is the album, Beyond Skin, which began with the Indian Hindu pathology of power. That’s why politicians can so easily prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, proudly announcing manipulate the tools of patriotism and morality with such the testing of three nuclear bombs on Indian soil. I ended little conscience. War is the ultimate example of this phe- the album with an audio sample of Robert Oppenheimer nomenon and the ultimate abuse of trust – indeed, we are (the creator of the nuclear bomb) condemning his own taught this very idea throughout childhood. How many of cr eation in the name of Hinduism. Some music journa l - us can never erase Wil f r ed Owen’s Dolce et Decorum est ists interpreted the inclusion of these ref e r ences as a or the horrific and inevitable conclusion of Wil l i a m di r ect attack on India’s nuclear programme. Of course, Go u l d i n g ’ s Lo r d of the Flies fr om their most vivid memo- this was not the case. To have made such a statement ries of school education? would be as deeply hypocritical as America’s and So what of the politicians in whom we invest our En g l a n d ’ s current position on disarmament, given that I safety and wellbeing? Well, there are too many con- gr ew up in England. My point was much more do with spiracy theories and confusing media-generated the hypocrisy of nationality and religion on a conceptual impressions to form a clear perspective. Writers such basis rather than direct condemnation of any country’ s as Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Naomi Klein, defence policies. Michael Moore and John Pilger all offer views that I have recently completed my latest album, Hu m a n , continue to challenge the motivations and trustworthi- (out in July). This will be my sixth album and it is an auto- ness of those in power. At the current moment we are biographical perspective on the world, featuring some of inundated with bizarre, squirming and hopelessly the country’ s most exciting young musical talents. It has inconsistent justifications for the overtly pointless also been my most difficult and personal album to date. slaughter of innocent men, women and children in Iraq. The beauty of music for me is that it can be as So who can you trust in a world where a New York literal or as abstract as you want it to be. That is why it lawyer is arrested in a shopping mall for wearing a has always been the most wonderfully pure form of T-shirt pleading that we ‘Give Peace a chance’? emotional and artistic expression. Indeed, ideas, It’s not the adults that worry me so much. That is to moods and emotions have always dictated my precise s a y, if your average Londoner is genuinely fickle choice of musical instrumentation. That is why I have enough to have strayed from the path of passionate enjoyed making music for sculptors, filmmakers, anti-war demonstrations to the world of self-righteous animators, theatre directors, dancers and poets. All of Blair/Bush propaganda over the space of a fortnight, these collaborations have relied on a constant then that’s their problem. What does worry me, how- dialogue based on mutual trust and respect. ever, is the irreparable damage being visited upon the world’s innocent, trusting and impressionable youth. Trust is a precious thing – as precious as time itself. What message are we giving them? Perhaps that it’s I hope we never run out of either. okay to shoot a fellow pupil in the head, and anyone else who gets in the way, because he may at some Nitin Sawhney is an acclaimed musician. Beyond Skin point use the knife you sold him at lunchtime last was shortlisted for the Technics Mercury Music Prize week? (Even if he doesn’t appear to have it anymore). and Prophesy received a MOBO award. Multicultural - on the face of it George Alagiah

or most of my childhood my mother did not go out the Pops and on Sundays we gathered in the school Fto work. In common with most Sri Lankan women hall to watch old westerns on a projector that always of her generation our home was her domain – and one broke down. I discarded the West African pidgin she ran with great pride, warmth and effort. But about picked up at primary school in Ghana and affected the 30 years or so ago, when my father came to Britain unmistakable tones of middle-class England. When I from Ghana to do some post-graduate studies, money was teased in the shower room for not having a was tight. There were five children to support, two of summer tan line round my waist or called ‘wog’ on the us already enrolled in boarding schools. Somewhat playing field, I was more hurt than angry. reluctantly my parents decided she would have to earn As migrant journeys go, mine has been exceptional. some cash. The total-immersion therapy of a predominantly white The first job she was offered, after passing a written b o a rding school is in stark contrast to the experience test, was in the administration department of a of most black and Asian children today. On the s u p e rmarket. But there was a catch. Her future c o n t r a ry, for many, school can re p resent a micro c o s m boss suggested she might like to dress rather of whichever ethnic community they belong to – and differently; her sari, he said, might be inappropriate. that is before government plans to extend faith- Desperate for the work my mother accepted the based teaching has taken hold. That initiative, though condition with meekness and returned home to tell my well-intentioned, may well serve to exacerbate the father the good news. But that was not quite how he t rend towards ethnically concentrated schools. saw it. No wife of his was going to be told what to wear While my own upbringing may have entailed an and that was the end of it. It was back to the classified unnatural, and undesirable, dislocation from my ads in the evening paper. parents’ traditions, the reverse may be true for many There is, of course, a whole article to be written immigrant children growing up today – an unnatural about the hiring practices of the supermarket chain and undesirable estrangement from the culture of the but far more telling was m y reaction to what country in which they will have to make their way. had happened. My overriding response was not indig- It begs a question – what exactly has been nation but embarrassment. “Why,” I thought to myself, the effect of the multiculturalism that has underpinned

Multiculturalism may have enshrined the right to be diffe r ent but all too often failed to offer any real incentives to mix and interact. In truth what we have in many pa r ts of Britain is a form of separate development

“couldn’t my mum dress like my friends’ mothers?” It race relations policy in this country? Multiculturalism was the first time I became aware of that private battle may have enshrined the right to be different but all too fought by all migrants – the tug of war between her- often failed to offer any real incentives to mix and inter- itage and assimilation. I’ve had to do it twice – first act. In truth, what we have in many parts of Britain is a when my parents took us from Sri Lanka to Ghana and form of separate development. The riots in the north then when I was sent to Britain in the 1960s. west of the country a couple of years ago exposed the For me, from the day my father had dropped me off extent to which whole sections of towns and cities in at the school boarding house a couple of months shy the region were defined by ethnic exclusivity. of my twelfth birthday, fitting in had become a pre- London, with Britain’s most varied population, is no occupation. My friends were white and my teachers exception. There is something wonderful about the were white. We had fish and chips on Fridays and way in which Greek and Turkish Cypriots share Green toad-in-the-hole midweek. We watched with tumes- Lanes, achieving a cohabitation that eludes their cent fervour as Pan’s People did their stuff on Top of leaders back home. Southall was exhibiting India’s charms long before the capital’s movers and shakers certainly not the most important one. The fact is that discovered how to make money out of the ‘Bollywood’ the white middle classes are not alone in hot-footing it look. And the grilled meat served at the Suya Spot out of these areas. Ironically, as equal opportunity in Dalston is as tasty as the real thing on a roadside policies create more wealthy black and Asian people, bar in Lagos. they too are heading for more salubrious surroundings. But this is the multiculturalism so favoured by The result is the growth of ethnically concentrated the leader writers, the advertising executives and the areas deprived of the kind of tax base that only the chattering classes. Something exotic, something to middle classes offer. It is not a new phenomenon but dip into every now and again. It allows you to say you its social implications are explosive – as we have wit- live in a modern and colourful Britain without ever hav- nessed to our cost. What’s happening here in Britain ing to share your garden fence with someone who is an action replay of what has already occurred in the speaks a different language or who prays to God in a United States. We are well on the way to creating what different way. they call an ‘underclass’. Genuine multiculturalism, if The question is, who is being exclusive? The that is what we are after, cannot be left to chance. It migrant population crowding into the inner cities or the has to become a core aim of social policy and not white people who run away from these areas as soon some frilly aspiration. as they can? The flight of the middle classes to the The first phase of race relations policy in Britain was gentler suburbs has become something of an urban rit- dominated by outlawing racism and punishing those ual. Here’s how it happens. Young white, middle-class who practised it. Undoubtedly there have been gains. couple moves into a flat in a culturally mixed area. It is simply unthinkable today for any employer to try to They buy low and hope to sell high. They have a child prevent an Asian woman from wearing a sari, to take or two and their minds turn to pastures new. The next just one small example. Perhaps it is time to build on step up the property ladder will take them somewhere, that progress, to move to a second phase in which the and let’s be blunt, more white. In north London, a move emphasis would be less on punishment and more on from Hackney to Muswell Hill or Islington would be incentive and reward. Using local government services typical. Wherever you live, just fill in the blanks. as a tool, especially education, the aim should be to It isn’t, of course, entirely one-sided. Those who create multi-ethnic, mixed-income communities. That have adopted Britain as a home need to ask the ques- way we would begin to replace the Bantustan model of tion: does emigration mean no more than the right sim- urban planning, which under apartheid re s e rved ply to carry on as before but in a new country? Caught certain areas for black South Africans, with a Britain in between those competing demands of heritage and which there is space for genuine cultural exchange. assimilation, many have chosen old allegiances rather than try to cultivate new ones. Often this is because it George Alagiah is Presenter of the BBC Six O’Clock is the only way they can feel secure but sometimes it News and Patron of the Fairtrade Foundation. is down to a lack of imagination or old-fashioned prej- udice. Within the Sri Lankan community in Britain caste and race can still play a part in winning family approval for a marriage. Among my neighbours it is not uncommon to return to the sub-continent in search of a spouse. Though white middle-class flight depresses me (some of our friends in Hackney have left the area) I understand what drives it. Despite appearances, it is not necessarily the black and Asian people they are fleeing from but the poor, run-down services, especial- ly schools, that go hand in hand with areas of the city where immigrants congregate. Race may be a factor but it is not the only one and Sea change Liginiku Millinga and Paul Dever

ef o r e I came to the UK, my perceptions about the Minister for International Development, Clare Short. At Bco u n t r y and the rest of Europe were that people this meeting I saw a man with long hair dressed as a th e r e were rich, well-educated and had everything they woman who was rep r esenting a gay and transgender needed – cars, big houses, a good living environment. I gr oup. That surprised me because in Tanzania anything thought there would be lots of cultural diversity and that to do with homosexuality is not accepted by society. people would be aware of other cultures – people would- Most people I’ve met in Cornwall have been curious n’ t be poor or need help. But the reality was very diffe r - and eager to know who I am, where I come from and ent. In Cornwall I have met many people with diffe re n t what I am doing here. After learning that I came from an economic levels – some are homeless or have no job, African country, most talked about their (stereo t y p e d ) some live in very small houses, some hold stereo t y p e s images of Africa – mud huts and lions, water shorta g e s , and there are more racist incidents than I expected. st a r ving kids and civil wars. The good thing was that they I am Tanzanian, 22 years old, originally from Ruvuma always asked my opinion about what it was really like in region near Lake Nyasa. In 2002 I completed my Tanzania. I always told them more than they asked, advanced level secondary education, majoring in including the things I am proud of about my country, physics, maths and chemistry. Before joining VSO’s such as the fact that it is democratic and very peaceful. World Youth Millennium Awa r ds, I was working in Also Tanzania has lots of natural wealth. We have Africa’s Shoprite, a South-African-owned supermarket in Dar es biggest lake (Victoria) and its deepest lake (Tan g a n y i k a ) ; Salaam. My ambition is to work for an interna t i o n a l its highest mountain (Kilimanjaro); the biggest population development organisation although I will train as a of wild animals in the world and the largest game res e rv e telecommunications engineer because there is more in Africa (Selous), as well as an abundance of res o u rc e s chance of a job. such as diamonds, coal and gas. The things I am not On the World Youth programme we spend three happy about include the fact that, despite being peace- months in each country, volunteering in a community ful and having all these res o u r ces, Tanzania is still one of that is not our own. We’ r e paired up and live with a local the poorest countries in the world and a lot of young fa m i l y . We have been working with Young People for people are unemployed. Co r nwall, an organisation that runs a drop-in centre and In response, people would ask what I thought of the café, Zebedee’s, in Trur o. We have been developing an UK and I told them the people are very energetic and anti-racism project, carrying out res e a r ch to combat work hard – there are a lot of opportunities. The country racism, particularly in rural areas where prejudice is a big is peaceful, with good policies, and people are sensitive, pr oblem. We’ve also been running workshops for young polite and appreciative. But sometimes people are over- people on sex education, racism, drugs and alcohol. sensitive. For example, I might want to help someone but Working with young people, one of the biggest cultur- have stopped myself because I’ve realised they may al diffe r ences I found is the attitude of students. They do think that I intend to harm them. not respect or pay much attention to their teacher even These discussions were very positive and I hope I though they are few (25 to 35) in one primary school challenged the way people view their own culture and class. In Tanzanian primary schools there are 50 to 70 that of other places, like Africa. The people of Cornw a l l students per class and only one teacher. Students are seem very appreciative of what we’ve been doing – they well-behaved and pay attention as soon as the teacher see that we can contribute to community development speaks. I’ve been wondering why it is so diffe r ent in the and that this will have a lasting impact. From these expe- UK, where it takes up a lot of the teachers’ time to make riences and the work we’ve been doing, I’ve realised that ve r y few students in one small class pay attention. not everyone is rich and there are some people who Social behaviour and cultural values, in general, are need help. I have recognised my own prejudices and quite diffe r ent here. For example religious beliefs no become more aware of community development issues, longer seem important, especially for young people. I such as recycling and sustainable development. remember when one young man saw the cross on a As part of European Action Against Racism, my chain around my neck, he asked with surprise, “Are you counterpart Paul Dever and I organised an African religious?” as if this was something new to him. Another Week at St Just Primary School, in the small town of St cu l t u r e shock I remember was from our meeting with the Just near Penzance, Lands End. Through workshops, which included photo displays, painting, music, food, came to mind. Although I knew that English was an games and storytelling, we challenged stereotypes by official language in Tanzania, I assumed that Liginiku’s explaining how people from what seems like a different would be unpractised and possibly broken. These world, Tanzania, live. We received good feedback from stereotypical ideas most likely came from my precon- the students, who said that it was the best week they ceptions of a developing country and media represen- had ever had and now they know that not everyone in tations of Africa. Africa lives in mud houses and has no food, and that I was therefore taken aback when Liginiku arrived, there are skyscrapers and electricity. The students and I found that he was extraordinarily ‘on the ball’. were a good group to educate because they will talk to Like the rest of the Tanzanian group, he played card their parents, relatives and friends. games such as ‘cheat’, supported Arsenal and Real Living in another culture can be very difficult and Madrid football clubs, listened to RnB and Hip Hop, confusing but I’ve learnt a lot from it. The main thing is and enjoyed watching action films. I was also inspired recognising those values in other cultures that are good by the way he was able to hold people’s attention, in and adopting these, for example time-keeping and fre- front of any audience. I’ve learnt a lot about myself and quent use of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. It is also impor- gained confidence as well learning many new skills tant to share your values, such as respecting elders, f rom working alongside him. The experience has

Living and working overseas with people from a completely different background I’ve learnt many important things

being forgiving, controlling emotions like anger and certainly taught me not to be presumptuous or patron- respecting traditional values. It is this approach of shar- ising towards people from other cultures. ing and learning that makes for truly global citizens. The other culture shock for me, a Scouser born and All of this has made me a better person. It has given raised in Liverpool, was coming to Cornwall. When I me the confidence and energy to implement my ideas. found out that we would be in Cornwall for the first I have already started to plan a new project on HIV stage of the programme I was apprehensive. How awareness, which would link young people in the UK would I cope in a rural area with fields, beaches, cliffs and Tanzania, getting them working together on peer and sea, together with Cornish pasties and farmers education in secondary schools. Right now I feel that I chewing straw? What would I do without the wide could plan, organise and work with any person or selection of shops, pubs, entertainment centres and organisation in the world for positive change. fast food restaurants, not to mention different types of Liginiku Millinga pollution, that I was used to? Until then I had spent my life in cities. After finishing my ‘A’ levels I left Liverpool, went to university in Newcastle and efore I met my counterpart, Liginiku Millinga, I then volunteered with Community Service Volunteers Bexpected that I would have to help him out a lot. I in Birmingham. understood that Tanzania had a very different culture to Arriving in Penzance for training before the start of our own and believed I’d have to ‘hand hold’ him World Youth my concerns were partly alleviated – the throughout the UK stage of World Youth. I thought that city, though small, even had a nightclub! But when we he’d find our way of life unusual and that I’d have to moved to Tresillian, where we would be based for three explain how things worked to him. I was also quite months, the nearest city was Truro, more than three anxious that his English wouldn’t be proficient and that miles away, and even further from my perceptions of a we might not have a lot in common. I wasn’t really city. How could the ‘Capital of Cornwall’ be a city if aware of any Tanzanian pastimes or hobbies – only there are only a few buses and people walk around tribal dancing, drum playing and barefoot football sightseeing rather than shopping? I came to realise, however, that Truro did have many places and things to Another negative incident happened when a free- offer, such as funky, independent clothes shops, and lance photographer came to the school during the the people were extremely friendly and often intrigued African Week. He wanted only Liginiku, “the African about Liverpool. boy”, posed among the predominantly white pupils. I Perhaps the biggest culture shock came when I was extremely offended by this discrimination against moved into what would be my home for three months. me, especially since I had worked equally hard on the Firstly, the house (if I can call it that and not a mansion) event. After opposition, the photographer reluctantly was on a 192-acre farm with sheep, pigs, horses and took a hurried photo with me included.

“Racism wasn’t a problem in Cornwall, was it?” other wildlife that I could only guess at naming. This We also worked with the Cornwall Association for was quite unlike the terraced innercity house that I Development Education to create a teacher resource grew up in. Instead of beeping cars, I was woken up at pack on cultural diversity, which we used for lessons the crack of dawn by random animal noises. and which was also adopted by other volunteers and Living with a vet, his wife, who ran the on-site bed teachers. This pack is one of the achievements that I and breakfast, and three young children was an amaz- am most proud of. ing experience. Being part-time farmers, our host fam- In addition to our voluntary work placements, ‘The ily taught us firsthand about sewage reed beds and Dr eam Team’ (so named because of our mutual vision how they filter clean water, various animals and other and ambition), managed to accomplish some amazing farm-life things that I would never have cared about tasks, many of which were carried out in our spare time. before. I’ve certainly learnt to appreciate rural areas in The Tanzanians not only gave us ideas but also ways in light of this experience. Feeding lambs in a barn, with which to implement them by sharing their experiences only fields and trees around me, was quite surreal. and opinions. One such task was renovating a disused Our main task in Cornwall was to educate primary and derelict woodland cottage, on the Fal Estuary and school children about cultural diversity. I am sure that only accessible by boat. This will now be used as a res - Liverpool’s culture would have made an interesting idential ‘green’ res o u r ce centre for disadvantaged and case study, being so different from Cornish life. But di s a f fected young people. This experience has showed having Liginiku in Cornwall was an unmissable me the enormous impact that a group of enthusiastic opportunity to teach the children about a different people can have working as a team. country and culture firsthand. The need for this type of I certainly believe that the World Youth experience work was brought home to us several times during our will influence my future. Although I feel it is now time stay in Cornwall. for me to earn some money (how much longer can I As part of our res e a r ch for an African Week at St Just survive on £15 a week?!), I definitely want a job that Pr i m a r y School, we went to the local library where benefits the community, which I admit was not my Liginiku asked for any newspaper clippings on racist intention before World Youth. I have learnt that this is incidents in Cornwall. The librarian didn’t apprec i a t e where world development begins. what he was asking for, so she turned to me to ‘trans- Paul Dever late’. She then questioned why the library would need to collect such information. “Racism wasn’t a problem in Co r nwall, was it?” When we explained that, accordi n g Liginiku Millinga and Paul Dever are taking to res e a r ch by the Home Office, the south west has the part in the World Youth programme, which is th i r d-highest number of racist incidents per capita, she currently funded by the Millennium Commission was extremely surprised. This was a common rea c t i o n and run by VSO and the Prince’s Trust. World Youth among the Cornish, stemming, I think, from the small organises six-month exchanges between young number of black and Asian people in the area. people in the UK and developing countries. Daughter of China Jung Chang

n China they are not allowed back to a life which at that time I apy wasn't Jung's only motive in “Ithe luxury of remembering. just wanted to forget all about," writing. A desire to tell the truth Overseas we have the liberty to do she says. about the hardship, cruelty and so and therefore we must live up The catalyst was her mother, injustice endured, not only by her- to a certain responsibility." As if Xia De-hong - literally 'wild swan' self and her family, but by millions surprised by her own boldness, - who came to Britain for the first of others, also propelled her. Even Jung Chang laughs gently. Of time in 1988. For the first time she in 1991, nearly three decades after course, she explains, she isn't told Jung her life story, and the Mao's death, this carried risks. So advocating that every exiled experiences of her own mother much so that Jung made sure her Chinese writer should adopt such and grandmother, both of whom mother was out of China when the a missionary zeal when it comes had their feet broken and bound, book was published. "She went to relating the injustices and suf- as was the custom in Imperial back and there was no trouble. It fering of millions of ordinary peo- China. Her mother's memories was a risk that was worth taking. ple in twentieth century China. inspired Jung to record the incred- In any case both of us have in our It wasn't Jung's primary pur- ible experiences of her family. lives constantly tried to push the pose either, when she embarked "When I was growing up it was the boundaries to stretch or even on Wild Swans, a book that chron- Cultural Revolution and it was break the rules," she says. icles three generations of women - impossible for parents to tell their When she first came to Britain Jung, her mother and grandmoth- children anything different from the in 1978, on a scholarship, Jung

“People in China are still given a largely false version of their very recent history. Anyone who thinks history is important must think this is quite unacceptable”

er - whose lives spanned the most party line," says Jung. "In any and her fellow students were not momentous upheavals of the past case you don't usually sit down allowed out alone, let alone into 100 years in China. and talk about these things - there pubs, which were, it was suggest- Published in 1991, the book has to be something in your life ed, indecent places unfit for young was an overnight success, has that suddenly prompts you to women. But these constraints garnered numerous awards and want to tell these stories and I were nothing to her experiences remains the biggest selling non- think for my mother it was coming during the Cultural Revolution. fiction paperback in recent history. to Britain for the first time in her This was an era when falsehoods But the decision to write it didn't life, in an environment that was became truths and notions of come easily. "I had been in Britain free of cultural and political right and wrong were unnervingly for ten years and the during those constraint." shattered. ten years I had not wanted to Writing the book was painful at Perhaps as a result, Jung has a write this particular book because times and demanding, requiring keen sense of justice and a fierce a lot of things in it were very several trips to China to interview commitment to freedom of painful." Jung had left China in relatives, during the two years it expression. "The most important 1978 when the Cultural Revolution took to complete. "But after it was thing for society is the rule of law, had come to an end and China written it was hugely rewarding freedom of the press, not to men- was beginning to open up. She and I feel the past is very much tion democracy," she says. was the first person from Sichuan behind me now," she says. Wild Freedom of the press and publica- - a province of 90 million people at Swans was cathartic for Jung and tion is the cornerstone of account- the time - to come to the West her mother, and brought them able government, rooting out cor- since 1949. "I didn't want to look closer together. But personal ther- ruption and helping ensure justice, Jung believes. It is precisely these phy of Mao. It has required Mao and that is how they are concepts that are absent in con- numerous trips to China - where in power." temporary China, despite Jung loves to return once or That is precisely why Jung is liberalisation and greater personal twice a year. p re p a red to risk being banned freedoms in recent years. Her home is definitely Britain f rom entering China. She hopes Wild Swans is banned in though. In an upstairs lounge filled that peeling back the years of mainland China, although Chinese with gleaming Chinese furniture, s u p p ression, falsification and language versions are available in which doubles as a study, Jung myth about Mao will at least Hong Kong and Taiwan. "Nothing has been working on the biogra- encourage discussion among makes me sadder than the fact phy, detailing hitherto unknown senior leaders. "I think a lot of the book is banned. People in and unpleasant truths about the skeletons in the cupboards of the China have no access to it - most 'Great Leader’. Sitting in her Communist Party are really not of them have never heard of it," London home, it is hard to imag- known to the current leaders. My says Jung. "I know why the ine this urbane, gentle woman as biography might prompt them to regime bans it - it is because a Red Guard or 'barefoot' doctor feel that the best thing is to make although Wild Swans is a personal in Mao's China. Despite 25 years a clean break from that Part y." story, it reflects the history of in Britain Jung is still curious It may seem an unlikely sce- twentieth century China, from about the era - and the man who nario but Jung knows senior which the (Communist) Party made such a terrible mark on it. "I o fficials have read Wild Swans doesn't emerge particularly well. am fascinated by this man. He and feels certain they will be The Party has issued an official dominated my life when I was in curious about her biography. history and Wild Swans doesn't China and he devastated the lives "I know that we have discovere d toe that line, particularly about of a quarter of the world's popula- so many new things that will be Mao. Wild Swans shows Mao to tion. How he achieved that is e n t i rely new to the Chinese and have criminally misruled China." extremely intriguing," she says. Chinese leaders - I think they will That Westerners have a greater Jung compares the ravages of want to know." access to information about Mao's regime to that of Hitler and With her books acting as tiny China's past than most people in Stalin, yet while these despots chips in the armour of the re g i m e , China saddens Jung. "People in have become pariahs of history, which is already marginalised in China are still given a largely false Mao has got off lightly - and even the daily lives of ord i n a ry people, version of their very recent history. become an icon, with portraits by Jung believes greater openness Anyone who thinks history is Andy Warhol and of course, his and freedom will come to China important must think this is quite continuing legacy in China. "Mao's in the next few decades. "The unacceptable." Chinese people reputation has just been mildly way China is going is becoming need to understand and discuss dented. He has been dead for m o re and more liberal. As future the impacts of China's history - nearly three decades and his generations and new leaders and not only for their own portrait is still in Tiananmen come to power they will be suff i- catharsis. Without a public airing Square," she says. ciently susceptible to the idea of of the effects of brutal regimes Discussing Mao's era re m a i n s a just way to rule. I hope there such as Mao's, the nation cannot a sensitive subject for the curre n t will come a time when they move forward with confidence, Chinese leadership. "Cert a i n l y realise that if they lose power Jung believes. they wont like our biography of they are not going to lose that Jung's commitment to unveiling Mao not because they seriously much," she says. the truth about China's past has feel offended but because they meant spending the last ten claim legitimacy solely from Mao. Jung Chang is author of Wi l d years, together with her husband China is not a democracy, Swans: Three Daughters of China. the historian Jon Halliday, nobody voted for them and so Her biography of Mao will be researching and writing a biogra- they say they are the heirs of published in 2004.