In the US, racial issues are interpreted as a divide, which must be battled. In the UK, racial issues are interpreted as a harmony, which must be preserved.
Both situations naturally arising from our different histories and the blunt statistics of race they have produced.
That is not to say that Brits believe the racial situation in this country to be entirely harmonious, but that they do see the overriding sense as one of harmony, and that that harmony is fragile and can be disrupted by ill considered actions. This perhaps explains why so many Brits are resistant to a US analysis of British racial problems since by their very existence such analysis can be seen to be risking the disruption of the harmony.
Speaking as an American woman of color (i.e., Black) it seems to me that regardless of national affiliation in the west, the "harmony" or the "divide" that is being contested is the current racial hierarchy, and regardless of which country in the Western world, there is a need to preserve it--White folks>everyone else. Of course there are people who deny this--mainly white folks--but it doesn't make it not true. Probably part of the reason there is so much frustration during the "race discussions" because PoC, regardless of nation of origin in the West, are pretty much saying the same thing. It's not good when you are an immigrant in a country and you don't feel like you belong--even if you were born there, and your mother was born there, and your grandmother was born there . . . I know ethnic pride works differently in Britain than in the US, but I have to say, the US tends to make it okay to be Italian and American (okay, so those are white people, but the gist is still the same). There is a divide in the US, maybe because the US claims one thing and does the complete opposite. There's something to be said about Britain--Britain never presented the "illusion of inclusion" like the US does. However, just because Britain tries to maintain "harmony" doesn't mean that's a better model than the US's tending divisive nature. You can't grow, can't get better without contention. Can't solve problems if no one ever mentions them, or makes light of them. What happened in France with the racial/religious riots was the perfect example of that. Britain was involved in slavery, made massive amounts of money of it; it was/is involved in colonialism, made/makes massive amounts of money of it. Maybe it's not exactly the same as what the US did or is doing, but from my American woman PoC perspective, the results are decidedly similar.
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Date: 2008-02-27 09:51 am (UTC)Speaking as an American woman of color (i.e., Black) it seems to me that regardless of national affiliation in the west, the "harmony" or the "divide" that is being contested is the current racial hierarchy, and regardless of which country in the Western world, there is a need to preserve it--White folks>everyone else. Of course there are people who deny this--mainly white folks--but it doesn't make it not true. Probably part of the reason there is so much frustration during the "race discussions" because PoC, regardless of nation of origin in the West, are pretty much saying the same thing. It's not good when you are an immigrant in a country and you don't feel like you belong--even if you were born there, and your mother was born there, and your grandmother was born there . . . I know ethnic pride works differently in Britain than in the US, but I have to say, the US tends to make it okay to be Italian and American (okay, so those are white people, but the gist is still the same). There is a divide in the US, maybe because the US claims one thing and does the complete opposite. There's something to be said about Britain--Britain never presented the "illusion of inclusion" like the US does. However, just because Britain tries to maintain "harmony" doesn't mean that's a better model than the US's tending divisive nature. You can't grow, can't get better without contention. Can't solve problems if no one ever mentions them, or makes light of them. What happened in France with the racial/religious riots was the perfect example of that. Britain was involved in slavery, made massive amounts of money of it; it was/is involved in colonialism, made/makes massive amounts of money of it. Maybe it's not exactly the same as what the US did or is doing, but from my
Americanwoman PoC perspective, the results are decidedly similar.