Yes we do remember Bob and Marcia, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Decker at al. But do you remember us? There seems to be an attempt to write us out of history. There is now an official black history in the UK, that runs from slavery to WIndrush and to black lives matter.
Maybe I will call my memoir 'when we were West Indians'. We were the troublesome 'West Indian youths', but we don't hear the term West Indian much anymore, and it seems as though we have been struck from the historical record.
West Indians have become Afro-Caribbeans or have been subsumed under the 'black' umbrella. My father came to the UK (in 1956) from the island of St Kitts population 40,000, there are about 200 million Nigerians.
In the 1980's my rebellious generation rebelled against our 'Windrush' parents and their Britishness, we rebelled against British society too, the daily insults and injustices, the British state itself, the Police and the Conservative Party of Powell, Thatcher et al.
The British state feared us. After a series of inner city riots in the 1980's, Conservatives began to entertain the idea of a Black middle class. There already was a black middle class but this was not what they had in mind. They wanted a political buffer between themselves and the troublesome West Indian youth.
Today there have been demographic changes, the black population has expanded and diversified. There are now more black graduates and an emerging black middle class, the meaning of 'black' is transforming in the UK, the Africa influence is becoming more prominent.
The Conservatives wanted a black middle class, so that dissent could be co-opted and pacified. This has happened, middle class white leftists now dominate 'black radicalism'. Black lives matter was embraced wholeheartedly by the political and cultural establishments, including the Conservative Party.
In the UK we have had 13 years of Conservative Government during which time identity politics, what we now refer to as 'woke' has gone mainstream and dominates so many aspects of our lives - work, culture and politics. In the UK we have had the most ethnically diverse Government that the UK has ever had, but interestingly none of the black and brown Conservative cabinet ministers has been from a Caribbean background.
INTELLECTUALS AND SOCIETY (mentioned in the article), INTELLECTUALS AND RACE, and SOCIAL JUSTICE FALLACIES (recently published) are also excellent and timely. I also highly recommend WHITE GUILT and THE CONTENT OF OUR CHARACTER, both by Sowell’s friend, Shelby Steele.
Great article! I'm planning to do a review for my design students of 'Knowledge and Decisions'. Always inspiring to read about Sowell's work and help make it known to new people.
Yes we do remember Bob and Marcia, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Decker at al. But do you remember us? There seems to be an attempt to write us out of history. There is now an official black history in the UK, that runs from slavery to WIndrush and to black lives matter.
Maybe I will call my memoir 'when we were West Indians'. We were the troublesome 'West Indian youths', but we don't hear the term West Indian much anymore, and it seems as though we have been struck from the historical record.
West Indians have become Afro-Caribbeans or have been subsumed under the 'black' umbrella. My father came to the UK (in 1956) from the island of St Kitts population 40,000, there are about 200 million Nigerians.
In the 1980's my rebellious generation rebelled against our 'Windrush' parents and their Britishness, we rebelled against British society too, the daily insults and injustices, the British state itself, the Police and the Conservative Party of Powell, Thatcher et al.
The British state feared us. After a series of inner city riots in the 1980's, Conservatives began to entertain the idea of a Black middle class. There already was a black middle class but this was not what they had in mind. They wanted a political buffer between themselves and the troublesome West Indian youth.
Today there have been demographic changes, the black population has expanded and diversified. There are now more black graduates and an emerging black middle class, the meaning of 'black' is transforming in the UK, the Africa influence is becoming more prominent.
The Conservatives wanted a black middle class, so that dissent could be co-opted and pacified. This has happened, middle class white leftists now dominate 'black radicalism'. Black lives matter was embraced wholeheartedly by the political and cultural establishments, including the Conservative Party.
In the UK we have had 13 years of Conservative Government during which time identity politics, what we now refer to as 'woke' has gone mainstream and dominates so many aspects of our lives - work, culture and politics. In the UK we have had the most ethnically diverse Government that the UK has ever had, but interestingly none of the black and brown Conservative cabinet ministers has been from a Caribbean background.
INTELLECTUALS AND SOCIETY (mentioned in the article), INTELLECTUALS AND RACE, and SOCIAL JUSTICE FALLACIES (recently published) are also excellent and timely. I also highly recommend WHITE GUILT and THE CONTENT OF OUR CHARACTER, both by Sowell’s friend, Shelby Steele.
Great article! I'm planning to do a review for my design students of 'Knowledge and Decisions'. Always inspiring to read about Sowell's work and help make it known to new people.