WHO ARE YOU?

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Myself and my power team at Pack It In are exploring identity, culture, ethnicity, integration, segregation and everything else that makes up our complex world.

The biggest question of all is WHO ARE YOU?

How would you describe your identity?

If you have any interesting stories, anecdotes, personal references, films, photography, music, poetry or writing that may help us to explore IDENTITY get in touch and JOIN THE DEBATE.

The Pack It In team are currently looking for interesting individuals who will strengthen our debate and assist us with the development of a documentary exploring race and identity.

Leave your comments or email paki-tin@live.co.uk for more information.

See the UK Asian perspective below...

Postmodern Racism and ‘The Voice’: Join the Club

Every commuters nightmare, the London rush hour that I frequently have the benefit of entertaining decided that I would yet again leave the tube station and like so many times before watch in slow motion as my bus departs before me without me on it. Should I walk to my destination and burn off the Nandos from lunchtime? I think not. So like a prisoner awaiting his sentence I stand and wait for the next bus. I usually enjoy people watching - mums, dads, children, students, business men and women, people from all backgrounds and cultures mingle seamlessly going about their daily business. I spot the local Asian-manned stall selling newspapers and chocolate bars and the Johnny 5 within me demands ‘input, input’ and a sugar fix.

Scanning over the newspapers, The Times, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, I pick The Voice with the headline ‘Under Siege’. Intrigued and in desperate need of ‘input’, I read further: ‘This respectable family has faced constant police harassment, but have never been charged. Is their story commonplace in Britain today?’.

‘That is a Caribbean paper, you sure you want it?’ asks the stall keeper in a thick South Asian accent (Sri Lankan methinks but then how would I know? The only Lankan I know is M.I.A and Apu from The Simpsons).
‘Yes I can read, just because I’m a turban wearing brown man, doesn’t mean I have no interest in the affairs of my fellow ethnic brothers’ I said (in my mind) while I retorted in a rather inquisitive manner – ‘Yes that is fine’.

So with eyes fixated on me and my paper, I scan through the pages of The Voice while the Caribbean lady next to me watches on quizzically. Is it really that weird to see me reading The Voice? Come on. If my mate Winston, a 6ft black man picked up a copy of the Des Pardes (a landmark Punjabi newspaper) I would congratulate him on his choice of broadsheet and his ability to read Punjabi. What a guy.

A mixture of hard hitting stories affecting the black community as well positive messages from the community folk who make up the paper’s readership. The race stories struck a chord with me. For example the following headline: 'Nine year old girl left in tears over park’s ‘n**gger’ gravestone'. What the hell?

A mum in Coventry is angry with her council for allowing a pet cemetery to hold a gravestone with the word ‘nigger’ inscribed on it. The nine year old girl was in tears after the gravestone was seen by her who thought that the stone marked the burial ground of a murdered black person. Who on earth would name their pet nigger? In the early 1900’s they would. The stone was first erected in 1902. Rather shameful that a racist word of the most extreme variety can be left in public view today.

In ‘Student in school protest over ‘racially offensive’ classic novel’, a young lad studying for his GCSE’s walked out of his school protesting that he abhorred the use of the novel ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ because it used the word nigger. Claiming he suffered as a result of the racial negativity the book generated, Tinashe Makunike asked to study an alternative novel that wasn’t racially offensive. Good on the lad for doing what he believed was right. There is no way on earth he should be forced to read or partake in activities that openly cause offence for him or anyone else on the grounds of race. It’s just wrong.

‘You’d have to blind not to see the police are racist’ says Darcus Howe (He’s not mad, just angry… is his one liner). In recent race related stories, senior officers have apparently allowed a "culture of apartheid" where white officers have threatened black colleagues and refused to travel with them in the same vehicles. Asad Saeed was ordered into 'the black van' by a fellow white officer.

Darcus Howe makes reference to Chief Constable of Kent Mike Fuller’s quote: ‘If you are not a member of the club… then you can find yourself excluded’. Fuller, who once contested the title of being the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police as well as being a black man, was overlooked for the vacancy. Howe argues how the police force remains racist with black people continuing to bare the brunt of racial victimisation.

For me, a new type of racism prevails today - Postmodern Racism as I have seen it called. The 21st-century version of old-school racism. Those guilty of practicing this new type of race discrimination are often higher ranking individuals and members of the higher echelons of the policing establishments and according to the BBC ‘know the right sound bites in order to impress the critics’. Sounds like many well educated people I know personally who can fight their way out of any situation. The racist nowadays is a more intelligent, often educated individual. Not the brute-force, violent racist we commonly associate with the latter half of the 20th century. "Race proofing" where postmodern racists do enough to appear as though they are doing something about the problem – hiring a likely black or Asian right hand man and appearing to be all-inclusive yet simultaneously re-enforcing racial victimisation. It’s more deadly and more difficult to see.

I must admit I was shocked and scared into thinking Britain was a racial hotbed after reading The Voice. But the stories within it's pages are real, true and affect many of us. Postmodern racism is also here and it's a clever guise that shrouds blatant racism as it used to be. And it doesn't stop there, whose to say it doesn't exist in institutions other than the police force? Frightening.

The Voice is a great newspaper and I for one thoroughly enjoyed reading it once my blood pressure returned to normal (it was the anger you see). A concentration of race related stories cover the pages and in this way may indicate that the UK has a massive problem with race issues. Most of the cases and stories however are those that do upset but happen nevertheless and often infrequently. Mix this in with the images of Dancehall hotties shaking their booties and positive stories about black achievements and we have a newspaper worthy of applause. Even, Jasmine Dotiwala (from MTV Base) has her own column discussing her latest interviews with music stars and her new pet hate which in this issue was public transport! How ironic – my bus still hadn’t arrived and when it did the driver had the audacity to park up the double decker and read his newspaper for a short while (it wasn't The Voice sadly) before deciding to collect his multic-cultural passengers and take them further on their journies.

Just written by and for Caribbean people eh Mr Tube station shopwala? You were wrong! To join the club, you have to have the right skills, attributes, characteristics and above all a passion to do the right thing. Correct? I'm sure Mike Fuller would agree.

So the join the club that allows entry by merit only, put forward your Voice and all is else becomes secondary.

Source: The Voice [www.voice-online.co.uk]. March 9 – 15 2009.

Remove your headscarf at the door…All in the name of progress. We’re in a right mucking fuddle we are!

Just like my mental satellite picks up anything race related in the media nowadays, I have the pleasure of announcing that my next venture beyond distant shores outside of my homeland (and that’s the UK if you are still unsure) is the East meets West land of mighty Turkey. Since my excursion was confirmed, it has been inevitable that I have been hearing about Turkey a lot more nowadays in all areas of life. It reminds me of when you buy a car which is unique and stylish and you suddenly realise that 95% of your neighbourhood owns one too in all shapes, models and versions. But that’s what you get when you invest in a Ford Fiesta isn’t it?

Recently, I tuned in to a BBC production looking at ‘Turkey on the Edge’ hosted by the enigmatic Adil Ray. With the country on the brink of joining Europe, the programme looked at how the country battled with its own identity with conflicting pressures to remain a strict Islamic state alongside government plans to become an increasingly secular and liberal nation. A most interesting viewing experience.

I was surprised to learn that Turkey’s secular constitution banned Islamic headscarves in all official buildings! That’s like telling a devout Sikh that he/she must remove their turban before they go into work! What would Mr Singh make of that one should such a preposterous rule exist in Britain? In Istanbul devout Muslim women are forced to part with their headscarves at the doors of their universities; the only way they can continue with their education. It was most disturbing to learn this fact for the following reasons:

1. Muslim ladies are forced to compromise their identities and beliefs at the doors of educational establishments. This often stops many from proceeding with their education. Result: A mutinous young population forced to seek alternative methods of education.
2. The headscarf becomes a political symbol. No longer does it symbolise devotion to Islam but a symbol for old views and backward thinking in a forward thinking nation Turkey’s leaders aspire to become. Result: increasing suspicions and possible fanaticism against the political system amongst the devout. Even more shocking result: increasing suspicion that fanaticism leads to terrorism by the secularised population.
3. Hatred – re-enforcing point number 2. With a sub-section of the population rebelling against the political system, Muslim ladies are forced to wear wigs over their headscarves as they mock the political rules. Result: An openly rebellious devout community destabilising community relations and creating unease. Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attempt to lift a ban on wearing headscarves in universities was viewed as anti-secular according to the country's highest court. Shocking.

Mr Singh would not be impressed if rules like the above were enforced on a British Sikh population. Can you imagine the outrage should there be a ban on turbans for example?
For me, the turban is an outward religious symbol that identifies me by my religion. It is more important to me than being labelled as an Asian since being ‘Asian’ spans a multitude of people and races (ask Miley Cyrus: hint previous post – slant your eyes and you’re Asian-Pacific).

I have often been told that the east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved backwards. For example, the Indians in Mumbai are apparently more westernised than the Indians in London. Why? The Indians in Mumbai moved with the times, evolving at their regular speed and embracing western influences. In London, the early migrants settled into communities and were alienated by language barriers, lacking community relations and racism. As a result, they congregated, upheld their eastern values and cultures and began moving at a far slower rate. Result: The east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved on even slower.

So when I meet with ‘real Indians’ I am surprised by their liberal attitudes, approaches to dating, alcohol culture and general free-for-all temperaments. Then I compare with some of those in my community: devout individuals abstaining from hedonistic lifestyles and speaking English with ethnic twangs init. Shocking. Sometimes I prefer the Indian attempt at the English language than the English-by-birth effort even if the harsh pronunciation sends shivers down me. A right mucking fuddle indeed.

What’s more surprising about Turkey is that it seeks to become a liberal state despite being a Muslim country. It must be extremely difficult for the young people there to conform to Muslim ways and remain liberal when the two conflict so much. Go to Slough and you’ll see the same thing within many Asian communities. Go to Birmingham and you see the same thing in Handsworth, Smethwick. West Bromwich etc. Just like the headscarf is compromised in Turkey by being covered by a wig, in the UK religious symbols can also be diluted. Cutting of hair is the primary example of the desecration of a 5 K within Sikhism and I am also guilty of this. I remember being in the Punjab some years ago and witnessing the fashions centred around turbans. I didn’t know there were so many different styles and adopting one particular style of turban said a lot about you (my cousin adopted the ‘African’ turban and his love life remained far more interesting as a result. He eventually ventured out of India to marry but didn’t go to Africa which would have been fitting). Whilst in India, my aunt made me promise to her that I wouldn’t ever trim my beard. She was a devout Sikh and I had tremendous respect for her but I was uncomfortable in the fact that I couldn’t do what to me was quite normal here in the Midlands. She couldn’t understand how my environment in the UK was affecting how I wanted to portray myself. It was hard enough being brown and having a top-knot, let alone keeping facial hair so that I could be ridiculed for that too. As I got older, the patka regrettably became a fashion accessory for me, it didn’t signify much more than that. For my aunt, your religion was the most important thing in your life and your gateway to the next one – live a good life now and you will be with God upon your soul leaving this mortal life. It was deep stuff and I didn’t have time to fathom it back then. In Islam, the Hijab gets some stick. Words used to describe those wearing the hijab go deeper and I have heard first hand words such as ‘backward’, ‘suspicious’ and ‘up to something’. It makes sense in the current climate but it’s an ignorant view. We should seek to learn what the hijab means first.

So what does it all come down to then? How do we understand religious symbols and accept practices that may seem alien to us? First of all, if we educate ourselves further about what things mean to different people we would make a start. Just like Mr Singh who described the Sikh religion in my school assembly and its significance resulting in my new found popularity and acceptance, the UK can do more to understand ‘other people’. I think this is an area where Britain’s decision makers have failed in creating a more accepting environment for all citizens. Just walk down a street in South London and ask a passer by what he/she knows about immigration and asylum seekers for example. ‘They take our money don’t they and live in council (pronounced ‘caaansul’) houses that we could’ve had’. Usually that’s as far as the knowledge goes which is a shame.

Nobody has been educated about what the UK immigration policy is all about. There is nothing out there that helps us to identify what a headscarf signifies, or what a hijab represents or what the turban means to a Sikh. I remember in school reading about religion and arkwardly talking about Sikhism in my religious studies class whilst displaying a Sikh dagger carefully extracted from my mum’s wardrobe. She would have stabbed me with it if she had known I took it. Nevertheless I got two commendations (that’s a gold star to you) for my pretend-to-know-what-I’m-talking-about dialogue. You could get away with it when you were in Year 8. And how I got away with carrying a knife albeit religious I’ll never know…

This self-debate (I have them a lot) leads me to the following conclusion which again signifies the plurality of the views in question.
1. There is no way of possibly knowing everything – we must try to learn more about others and how they live their lives to truly appreciate their viewpoint and more importantly respect their wishes.
2. The conflict between religious conduct and liberalism must be difficult. Depending on who you speak to even I would be described as a sinner who doesn’t conform to my religion. The Muslim ladies in Istanbul must be disgusted to have to wear a comedic wig on top of their headscarves to merely prove a point. Their choice of dress shouldn’t deny them from a basic right: an education.
3. Its too difficult to box anything off into any significant order when you are talking about culture, religion, morality and viewpoints. What is right to one person can be wrong to another. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure right?
4. Geography makes a massive difference. We are all products of our environments to some degree. That’s why living in and being educated in Britain gives me the right to claim I am British (I was also born here but I feel that is less important). However, it can be argued that the Asian communities in the UK have evolved less than their counterparts in the east because of early segregation and subsequent ‘catching up’ since the early periods of migration.
5. (Purely personal and I think fitting for this post). I cannot stand the words init, bruv, ya get me?, intit, aint it, bled (referring to blood as in brother), blood in similar context, yaar, man dem, bredrin and waagwan. All of these have embedded themselves into the ethnic English vocabulary like a bad smell that even the best air freshener can’t get rid of (and we all know Indians are notorious for filling their homes with pot pourri). I can see Mr Muscle now, running down Southall Broadway with two of cans of Glade Jasmine omitting at full capacity – don’t bother mate, our innate ways need more work than that. How about another 20 years of British integration?

Result: there isn’t one. It’s all a matter of judgement, acceptance and understanding. And how many of us have the time to understand nowadays? We’re all too busy trying to justify what we do in the first place.

On a personal note, I will do what I can to appreciate all viewpoints, all religions and teachings init. I will not judge the cover of the book straightaway but attempt to at least read the blurb on the backside (that doesn’t sound healthy). I will attempt to delve deeper and ask wagwaan (why)? I will also educate others who may not know the answer to the ‘why’ question. I will above all attempt to live a balanced life where I abide by my religion as much as possible as well as live by the temptations of modern day life, carefully choosing my actions by their consequences ya get me? All man dem should therefore be more inclusive and accepting. Just like the headscarf wearers in Istanbul, I attempt to conform to my religion by wearing the turban. At the same time I live a British lifestyle 99% of the time.

Now I’m going for a pint, accompanied by my favourite steak. I will be joined by Harj Singh who struggles with his 40-a-day habit and predilection for strippers. See you in the pub later then? Result: a happy life, my rules, my way… Actual result: a one way ticket to hell?

‘You can not celebrate for it incites hate, forces us to segregate’ so let me exacerbate the debate with the intention to aggravate

I know I said this before, but I really am hearing so much about race nowadays... In fact it’s annoying and the more we speak about it, the more it upsets us. On the flipside, the more we challenge existing beliefs and common negative perceptions, the better we become as we progress and openly debate the issues in question.

Let’s face it, the UK is a long way from being a completely integrated multi-cultural nation and I don’t think it ever will be. If there’s not one thing it’s another. If it’s not the old adage that we took all the jobs then it’s the new asylum seeker malarkey – that they strain resources and take what doesn’t belong to them like benefits and housing… but that’s another argument. For the majority, the UK provides a better life, an income and a sustainable future where lives are not at risk or threatened by war and disease. People pay their taxes and abide by the law. Just the other day, I stood in London waiting for a bus when an old man openly spat racial insults at the many black people in the bus queue. I was disgusted. His neck brace was probably funded by my contributions. Maybe I should refuse to contribute and like the Butterfly Effect his neck brace will tighten and retract. Or like the pleasure pain principle I smile as I watch my wallet enlarge and his neck brace tightens – we can only dream. Deep rooted hatred is harmful. It reminded me of a time back in the Midlands (Wolverhampton to be precise) in the early 90’s when a coloured person could be attacked by White louts who didn’t understand democracy and a free world. Their whole existences paid for by the ‘pakis’ who were willing to fulfil their tax obligations and consequently allowed these live-off-the-state bigots to continue with their narrow-minded I-don’t-have-a-clue-but-proud-to-be-white lifestyles in a haze of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, violence, Staffy’s, pub culture and lack of education. When you were in school, there was always a kid that didn’t actually go to school but always hung about in the playground like a vagabond Oliver Twist pick pocket right? You know that kid, who never wore a school uniform and darted about on his BMX – well in this scenario he would be the offspring of these people! It all makes perfect sense… just like knowing that there was a stray dog that at one point in your primary school life infiltrated the playground and caused mayhem. So it is in my experience that people of this disposition are likely to be more racist because they lack education. ‘Edu-what?’ they ask. They push their Englishness onto ethnics and claim that this country is theirs. They frighten the old Indian lady walking home from the shops carrying her vegetables, intimidating and threatening her with half-wit insults and slurs. They post dog doo-doo into Malik’s shop letterbox, stealing goods when he turns away and laugh at the ‘paki crap’ blaring from his radio behind the counter as he continues with his day serving locals. They scratch and smash Mr Singh’s Mercedes out of envy – ‘they take all of our jobs and rub it in our faces’. A Sikh Vaisakhi celebration in the Midlands is attacked by scores of Asian Muslims who cause riots and force the celebrations to be banned indefinitely.

Talking of celebrations, the West Midlands St George’s Parade was abolished this year over fears of extremist influence. It was claimed that racial tensions were the cause of the parade to be scrapped with no funding being given to the festivities which celebrate the English patron saint in West Bromwich, Birmingham. My neck of the woods… It is farcical that a celebration of the British patron saint can be scrapped because it can incite racism and exclusion of other community groups. Somehow I don’t think the Sandwell Somalis would care too much or the Smethwick Somalis for that matter! Or maybe even the BNP (and that’s the British National Paki Facebook group to you and me!).


Another national tabloid claimed that the parade was scrapped because non-British people found the celebrations racist and pro-Britain. Yes of course they are pro-Britain! The West Midlands has a proud Black Country heritage and I for one am tremendously proud to claim it as my home (my grandfather worked in the Black Country during the manufacturing boom and jobs were aplenty). The people there and everywhere have a right to celebrate their heritage just as Sikhs celebrate Vaisakhi with lavish street processions. If the Sikh community were forced to stop their celebrations it would not go down well and I am sure Mr Singh would be challenging his local MP for an apology, threatening a boycott of some kind and pleading for a re-instatement of all Sikh cultural events on the double. These events are an institution in British-Sikh culture just like St George’s Day is for England. In Birmingham city centre, Hare Krishna followers (I should be politically correct and refer to them as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as they are known) march the streets and sing praises – does this incite social exclusion and create further segregation between community groups? How about the fanatical (is that the right word?) Christian, who stands in Nottingham city centre opposite the Town Hall (I am well travelled) and chants repeatedly about Jesus; I couldn’t for the life of me ever work out what he was saying! Does he incite or encourage segregation of any kind or is he merely practising his beliefs and encouraging others to follow his lead?

Just like an onion, this debate has multiple layers and makes us cry with confusion… I just want to live my life my way without having to worry about treading on egg shells (very fragile ones at that), without upsetting others and on my own terms... is that too much to ask? I thought Britain was a free nation, allowing all to live mutually and cohesively alongside each other in a giant melting pot. Like a huge stir fry with onions (can you tell I like them?), mushrooms, chilli, broad beans and sweet potato – each vegetable representing a different person by race, ethnicity and creed and contributing to Britain’s one of 5-a-day – the more vegetables we add the healthier Britain becomes. Can you guess which vegetable is which or is that stereotyping and politically incorrect?

By not allowing people to embrace and celebrate their heritage, we can maintain this mute culture Britain’s decision-makers are adopting by continually tightening that neck brace: not healthy…

God show me the way coz the devil trying to break me down...

Consuming a Zinger Burger and sipping on my tea, I hear faint sounds of a congregation led by a charismatic voice in the distance. It was the clinical looking building next door. A loud, masculine shout followed by cheers and chants. I sat, cold and weary looking out at the young lads standing outside KFC with nothing else to do. Their sports branded clothing, expensive trainers, baseball caps with the tags hanging off intimidating passers by and looking for something to do. Looking for something -something fulfilling to fill the void.

As I have grown up I have realised that my relationship with God has been turbulent. As a Sikh, it can be extremely tough to follow the ideals our parents expect us to abide by. In the constant conflict to do what my religion dictates and eating the last of my zinger burger I commit a sin. I look ahead thinking what life would be like if I followed the path many young people my age do. They take the Sikh baptism and follow a life more in tune with Sikh tradition – doing the prayers, following the code of conduct which involves never cutting or shaving hair, not eating meat or smoking and attending the Sikh temple to assist the congregational activities. I am guilty of not abiding – I like the odd drink on a jaunt or a tipple with friends. I am partial to a bit of barbeque on a weekend that Uncle Malkit serves up in the local desi pub.

Like the lads with no purpose who day in day out ‘hang around’, I realise that I too am missing something – Peace of Mind. An empty feeling often consumes me in times of contemplation knowing that religion can help to fill it. Language barriers enhance the confusion – How can I understand prayers and the significance of Holy Scriptures when the language is foreign to me? This is difficult. What will my children be like, when the possibility of marrying another British Asian who shares my view doesn’t pass down any religious teachings? I see a dilution of religion as time passes by. In the UK, there will be less of a ‘difference’ between white and Asian people. With the increase in mixed marriages and the new British Asian population becoming increasingly ‘western’ I see a secular society with religious groups very much a minority – no more busy Gurdwaras on a Sunday. Not like they used to be.

As I left my car, I strolled towards the building entrance with the chants louder and clearer – ‘Jesus is our Saviour’. I am intrigued and I walk in. Greeted by a friendly African lady, dressed in traditional attire she invites me in. I stand like a condemned man, confused and alone sipping on my KFC tea and scanning the crowd. Scores of black devotees sing and dance. ‘Hallelujah’ shouts the Bishop while the crowd’s hysteria deepens. Small black children, not quite understanding why they are there flitter about passing through chairs aimlessly. I am reminded of my childhood in the Gurdwara, running around looking for fun and meeting with friends. I was always aware that it was a religious place but I had guns to fire and fires to light. A young child smiles at me, his big innocent brown eyes amongst the hysteria is poignant. Who am I and why I am here? I am a Sikh Briton standing in an evangelical church wandering how my peace of mind ever evaded me… I head for the door where the African lady gives me a flyer with church opening times and makes me repeat a prayer. I oblige, tell her I am Sikh and wander back to my car in deep thought… This is the kind of experience that repeatedly forces me to work out who I am. So what am I? Where do I belong and how will I decide to live my life and under which teachings?

I guess my point is this – I am trying to work out who I am. I have an issue with my identity and I want to explore it further. No matter what, my colour or identity have no bearing on the goals I set for myself in life so for now maybe I should be concentrating on them… Any ideas?

Today, the issue for Muslims is just as significant. Are they Muslim first and British second? Many believe they are Muslim first and this view tarnishes their reputation with many believing they become fanatical. What am I first? Sikh? Indian? Punjabi? British? I don't even know anymore... My episode at the church signified to me that I had no path, no clarity about my identity and consequently no peace of mind. I search for answers.

I am a man. I was once a boy.
I am a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew.
I am brown. I am coloured. I am non-white.
I am Asian. I am Indian. I am Sikh.
I am a minority. I am ethnic.
I am a paki, a golliwog, a raghead, a nigger.
I should go back to where I come from. Where do I come from?
My home is here. We breathe the same air. We cry the same tears.

I am human.

Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our difference, our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them.

Oh Come All Ye Faithful… but go to your own assembly!

Children are one-third of our population and all of our future

I am a Sikh and I look like a Sikh. When I was at school I recited Christian hymns and learned about all religions. I was often fascinated by Christianity and I enjoyed singing ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ on a Thursday morning. I even made the choir for a short while when my pre-pubescent voice hit the high note on ‘ALL’ in All Things Bright and Beautiful’. It was only the children who were Jehovar’s Witnesses that did not attend assembly. I never questioned why I was being taught about a religion different to my own and never did I feel that I should be given individual treatment because my religion was not that of the majority. Scanning the assembly on a warm Spring morning in 1995 at my primary school, you would see children from all faiths. The token Sikh kids with their patkas and top-knots, the Muslim children with their topis and the kids with no definable features other than being brown! The next defining criteria would be looking out for a ‘kara’ which signified that he or she was Sikh. They were good days. And all this at a time when I was more likely to be called a ‘paki’ and often was.

It is sad to hear then that today a head teacher has resigned from her primary school because she abolished Muslim assemblies which were in isolation to other assemblies within her school. In her attempts to create a unified assembly, Julia Robinson quit her post at Meersbrook Bank Primary School in Sheffield after parents complained about her plans to hold one assembly for pupils of all faiths. What is the world coming to? In a day and age when we are struggling with racial scandals and the rebirth of the ‘golliwog’ how is an attempt to create an accepting and understanding multi-faith environment a negative thing? I am saddened by this.

I am sure that separate assemblies for Muslims would only help to re-enforce negative stereotypes and strengthen separatism. How can Muslims argue that they are misunderstood when they favour separatism in school? How will Islam be better understood if non-Muslim children in schools are not given the opportunity to learn about and explore Islam? Separate assemblies do nothing for community relations and in my opinion breed mistrust and tension between racial groups and communities. My fascination with “other people’s” religions enabled me to appreciate how others lived, worshipped and were guided by their morals and principles. I would not be the person I am today had I not been able to understand how others lived their lives.

Why do you have a pom-pom? I was asked once and not for the first time. The snotty kid whose name escapes me was a ruffian and if I didn’t answer correctly my pom-pom would be desecrated within minutes… (it wasn’t the female bully I alluded to in a previous post!).
‘I don’t really like it but my mom says I have to have it’ I replied embarrassingly. I used to cringe knowing that my friend John, a mixed race boy (his father was black and mum white) would often see my hair in its entirety when he would call for me on his way to school. Due to my lazy nature, he would often have to wait for me while mum tied my top-knot in haste because I had woken up late for school again.
‘Well it’s weird and you need to have a proper haircut like me and Mike. I will cut it for you, my moms a hairdresser’.

In those kinds of situations I never felt equipped to respond accordingly.

‘Hair is a gift from God and removal of hair signifies a detachment from the Almighty. Keeping your hair means that you accept God’s will….. And as a Sikh I will have a sword one day and I am gona chop you up you little shit’.. this is a mixture and what I should and shouldn't have said. Knife-crime is also very serious and I open a whole new can of super worms with these words so I stop right here…

When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world.

When Mr Singh later came in to our assembly to talk about Sikhism I was immensely proud. Not only did he look like 27 of my uncles he also smelled like them as well! With his smartly tied turban which matched the colour of his suit I was in awe. He told us that Sikhs were a warrior religion, that we lived to serve a humble life and to follow God and help others, that we had Gurdwaras that would be open to all, that we had community langar halls which fed anybody that wished to eat and that one of the 5 K’s was a dagger - I became a popular lad!

In his new found appreciation of my religion, snotty kid and his accomplice Mike found a new respect for me and my outward religious headwear. I became even cooler when I was hand-picked to be the projector boy carefully choosing which hymns to unearth unto an unexpecting congregation like a soldier with a new battle plan or a preacher with a new revelation to share. I wasn’t called a paki again or received threats to unravel my pom-pom… that was until I beat him in the sports day running race. The visual characteristics that made me who I was were accepted and that was thanks to my assembly on Sikhism.

Children learn to smile from their parents.
Shinichi Suzuki

I saw snotty kid recently and we became ‘friends’ again on Facebook. He even married a Caribbean girl… When children are children, they need to have their minds opened and filled with the right stuff; stuff that will challenge their perceptions and newly formed beliefs and will help them to live inclusively without fear and prejudice..

It is a sad day to see how an attempt to create a harmonious environment for children becomes a battleground for narrow minded parents who are threatened by religions not their own. And then Britain (well some commentators) wander why we still have a national identity crisis……

Upon our children,
how they are taught,
rests the fate, or fortune,
of tomorrow's world.
B C Forbes

The adventures of two celebrities and a golliwog

Is it me or am I hearing a lot more about race in the media nowadays? Maybe my mental satellite is tuned into the race related stories but only this week I have seen or heard many stories about race relations, race rows and media race scandals in the UK.

Take Carol Thatcher, a media celebrity who used the term 'golliwog' while filming for the BBC's The One Show on which she appears regularly as a reporter. She had referred to a tennis player as a 'golliwog' when in discussion about the Australian Open. Three guesses as to who that tennis star may have been? Claiming it was said in 'jest' I must say that I am mildly appalled at the excuse. A racial slur in jest is a poor excuse and it just goes to show that racism exists in the upper echelons of society - maybe even more so than within other circles (she is Maggie Thatcher's daughter I'll have you know - the name is a dead give away). Oh and she appeared on 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' and won it. Good for her I hear you cry. Her racial remarks recieved 2,200 complaints at the BBC. She also used the terms 'golliwog-frog' and 'half-golliwog' allegedly referring to French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, - who? I thought that too. She has refused to apologise in full, leaving the excuses to her spokeswoman. For all of that, she has of course been banned from The One Show and quite rightly so. The show is aimed at a diverse audience and she has offended many with her remarks. I wander what fellow reporter Hardeep Singh Kohli made of his colleague? Kohli who wears a turban and maintains a Sikh identity has appeared regularly on the show.

So what is a golliwog? I referred to golliwogs in a previous post when talking of my own experience of racism. They are rag dolls resembling black-faced minstrels and were apparently popular children's toys in Britain during the early part of the 20th century - way before my time then! The term however became a racist remark and was widely accepted as offensive.

Talking of golliwogs - they sell them at Royal Sandringham for £9.99!

I am sensing a them here? Racism, golliwogs and the Royals? The 20,000 acre Royal estate at Sandringham have been selling golliwog dolls for over year at their Sandringham shops. The Thatcher saga has now meant that officials at the Royal estate have been forced to remove the golliwog dolls from their shelves. Now I find this quite amusing as the dolls themselves were a toy that many older people remember fondly. In Britain the jam manufacturer Robertson adopted the golliwog as its emblem and that is where I remember it from or at least where it looks familiar. From a soft toy, a jam emblem to a malicious racist slur.. Its all a bit weird and out of proportion. Nevertheless, lets treat these current sagas as evidence that Britain is cleaning up it's racial ideologies, analogies and symbols.

Then all look round, as well they may

To see a horrid sight!

The blackest gnome

Stands there alone,

They scatter in their fright.

How the golliwog was introduced in The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg (Florence Kate Upton).

Talking of golliwogs and the affection given to them by grannies throughout the UK, how are race relations within the younger generation? Recently, teen star Miley Cyrus was accused of racism in her apparent racist gesture when pulling her eyes slanted in a photograph. This is political correctness gone mad! Maybe she was being racist and if she was, then shame on her. The laughable thing in this saga is that there was a young Asian-Pacific American in the picture (an Oriental person to you and me). Pulling the eyes into a slanted position is said to be offensive to Asian-Pacific people and rightly so. It would be the same as somebody wrapping a towel around their head and assuming to be a 'raghead'. Harry - anyone you know? Maybe this scenario is going too far and if she has offended anyone she has apologised accordingly. Lets move on and let Hannah Montana do what she does best. See the picture for yourself and make of it what you wish...

Sometimes criticism is deserved. Sometimes we have to bite our lip and let things be. The trouble is that race is a very sensitive topic and those sensitivities exist in varying proportions for everyone.... Where do we draw the line?

UK to be mixed race in 21st century

A major study has suggested that young people in London are more likely to be of mixed race as adults, raising hopes that they will not see race in the way it is seen in contemporary UK. ‘Young people are now six times as likely to be mixed race as adults and the rate is increasing by the year’ according to the Institute for Social and Economic Research. My mixed race nephew battles to understand his identity as his turban wearing grandfather and white father differ significantly. They speak different languages, eat different foods and socialise in massively contrasting circles. I hope when he’s older he can appreciate that he possesses a unique dual heritage and embraces it fully.

According to the research at Essex University, nine per cent of children in Britain are of ‘mixed or multiple heritage, meaning they are living with parents of different ethnic backgrounds or are of mixed race themselves’. Among the Indian population, this figure has risen dramatically from 3 percent to 11 percent. For Pakistanis from 1 percent to 4 percent and Chinese from 15 percent 35 percent. The number of children of Caribbean heritage with one white parent has risen from 39 percent to 49 percent over the past 14 years. Ethnicity will as a result become different to how we know it today.

Who will be ethnic in twenty years time? How will racism progress?

In an increasingly liberal UK, my concern as a second generation British-Asian Indian lies with the disowning of Indian values and culture as we become increasingly mixed race. I am all for an integrating society but I fear the decline in the influence of Indian values. With British Asians leading a western life and the older migrant generations unfortunately dying out, what is Asian Britain left with? Secular societies with less focus on religion? In my community, I see the Sikh traditions observed less than ever before. Even today, Gurdwaras are at their busiest on Diwali and Vaisakhi and for some a return visit to the Gurdwara is the following year. In this way, Asian societies will lose or at least experience a diminishing influence of eastern culture. Where will the UK Asian communities be in twenty years time? Will there even be such communities remaining?

Will we see a mixed Britain where the emphasis on colour and ethnicity declines at the cost of an increasingly westernised Asian society?

This for me is upsetting – although I do not favour separatism. A fine balance between east and west makes me the person I am. I would be disappointed if my children’s children were unaware of their roots; their Asian, Indian, Sikh, eastern heritage with only an Indian surname to prove their ethnicity.

The report commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), paints a picture of Britain where people of ethnic backgrounds are far more likely to marry and live with people of races different to their own… and their point is?

Happy (Arranged) Marriage!

Today I have received news that my thirty-something cousin over in India has become engaged to a girl who he met 30 minutes beforehand. It made me wander why this would be a preposterous situation for myself to be in… the mere fact that I am geographically in another land has meant that my whole approach to the arranged marriage situation differs from that of my cousin. Had my grandfather not travelled to the UK in the 1950’s and had my father not travelled to the UK years later to marry my mother I would not be here. It could have been me getting engaged today had I been living in my paternal home in the Punjab.

Word out in the neighbourhood that a young lad who is "so and so's" son is eligible for marriage. A local father with daughters to discharge visits my family home, greets my father, meets me and assesses my character within fifteen minutes, decides that his daughter should spend the rest of her life with me and goes on his way to make ‘further arrangements’. 2 hours later, I am donning my best suit tailored by the local master in the bazaar, tying my best turban and stepping into my Maruti to travel to the local hotel where marriage engagements are initiated. Along with my father and five other family members we are greeted by the girl’s father, five of his closest relatives and the girl herself. We exchange glances, loosely exchange words and give the nod to proceed. Within minutes we are fixed up and engaged to be married….

I am British. My heritage is Indian, Asian or whatever else can describe me. My father has learned to temper his Indian attitude and he would never impose a marriage upon me in the way that his brother has to my cousin. I presume my cousin was happy to receive news of his impending marriage from his father since he was adamant to get married when we last spoke – ‘Find me a girl yaar’. Find your bloody own… even after a long relationship, I remain unsure about my willingness to marry. Its amazing how being 4550 miles from the Punjab makes me who I am. I really am a product of my environment…

Now nuff of them are sweet and some are ugly
And some of them a marga mean she patli
And some are mampee that a moti kuri
And some too english talk no punjabi
Say the gal me like have the right figure
In she eyes have the soorma
Wear the chuni kurtha pyjama
And talk the Indian with the Patwa!

Now me done get marry say me start to worry
Me have to tell you something mon would you help me
About me arrange marriage me have a problem
When is the right time to tell me gal friend!
Becaz the time has come mon fe apache
To find one gal and to get marry
But listen ragamuffin tell everybody
Me want me arrange marriage from me mum and daddy!
Arranged Marriage – Apache Indian

'Our little Paki friend' - Princely Insults

Only recently, my attitude towards the word ‘paki’ was one of acceptance. For me it was a word that had become diluted over time and not carrying the same significance it used to. That has changed. I was tremendously hurt recently to discover that Harry the soldier prince called an Asian soldier “our little Paki friend”. It is ignorant, foolish and it sums up the extent to which racism is deeply impregnated in the UK. Feelings of bitterness, anger and pride for all that is Asian, Indian, ethnic, eastern and British about me bubble to the surface of my mind. It serves as a slap in mouth for me, I was naïve in assuming that the racist slur was diminishing in society today as the UK becomes an increasingly tolerant nation. As I walk through the streets of London on a daily basis, I am astounded by the variety and ethnicity of the people around me. Multiple foreign languages can be heard ranging from an obscure Russian dialect to the strongest patois you can imagine. It makes me proud.

I have been called a ‘raghead’ - an offensive name for an Arab or turban wearer of the Islamic world. As a third generation Sikh turban wearer, this insult repulses me. In the US, many Sikhs have been murdered – wrongly mistaken for an Arab with images of Osama Bin Laden influencing the rising trend of hate crimes towards people with turbans post 9/11. In the UK, confusion between an Arab and a Sikh is profoundly high amongst the White demographic.

“F*** me, you look like a raghead” - Prince Harry tells a fellow soldier wearing a camouflage veil.

While I am all for giving the Prince the benefit of the doubt – A 21 year old officer cadet at the time, I am saddened to think that racism and more importantly the term 'paki' has made its way to the Royal family. It must be a terrible blow for Islamic groups and Muslims still feeling the after effects of 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks. On a wider scale, it is a blow for all ethnicity groups - racism is alive and well and even the Royals are calling us names! All people of Asian ethnicity become tarnished with the same brush in the UK – we are not all terrorists in the same way that not all white people are racist. Nor can it be assumed that all westerners hate the Islamic world. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see what Prince Philip makes of it all? He himself has been accused of upsetting the 'slitty eye' Chinese people, the 'overbred' Romanians due to their many orphanages, Eastern females who 'sit around smoking pipes' and Austalian Aborigines who 'still throw spears at each other'. Perceptions, Assumptions, Ignorance.

Only 14 months before his ‘paki’ slur, the Prince was criticised for wearing a swastika on a German uniform to a fancy dress party. Prince Harry’s apology for his latest slip-up has been seen to be enough in the eyes of other servicemen. Ex Royal Marines officer and former Foreign Office minister, Rod Richards is one of many who believe Harry’s words are not racist. The poor lad at the centre of the case, Ahmed Raza Khan, a Pakistani who won the award for the best overseas cadet at Sandhurst Military College is a brave lad choosing to fight in the British service. He must be commended for undertaking a role many Asians would not ever contemplate today.

The whole scenario begs the question of whether racism is institutionalised within the Army just as racism remains current in UK society today. I am deeply saddened by the remarks made by Harry, A Royal who will be subject to scrutiny his whole life. As a highly regarded public figure, he should know better. Should Harry have been reprimanded in the same way that I would have been had I racially mocked my fellow white man? A racial attack made by a Royal in the 21st century, who would have thought it?

'I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism, that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality'

Martin Luther King

‘For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness’

On the 20th January 2009, the world watched as a black man took the reign of the world’s foremost superpower. America sees the first ever black president sworn into office. A great day for race equality. A historic moment in America's journey towards equality and justice for all its citizens.

A man who’s father ‘was black as pitch’ and ‘mother white as milk’, Barack Obama has achieved the unachievable. Martin Luther King predicted that a black person would one day take office and despite this happening later than Dr King envisaged it has happened nevertheless. In his inauguration speech, Obama barely mentioned race. The fact that he was standing before the world was enough to signify just what had happened.

Scrutiny regarding the presidency remains - that the presidential election has been glamourised by the race card. On the 20th January 2009, we all watched a black man take office. We were proud to see Obama take his oath. Believing that people should be judged by the content of their character and not their skin colour, I am somewhat unconvinced of the extent to which Dr King’s declaration was satisfied on this occasion. At that point, euphoria surrounded the black man, not the black man's policies to change America. On a deeper note however, Obama as president is monumental beyond belief. He is the American dream personified. He gives hope not just to black people but to all people, all ethnic minorities and all who hope for a better future.

Going forwards, time will tell how Obama’s presidency takes effect as the real ‘content of character’ test starts now… A man ‘whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath’ – a powerful message that inspires hope and faith. A reminder that ‘all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness’ as Obama remarked in his Race Speech.

'Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them' Martin Luther King. America has moved forward.

For me, I am sceptical that what happened in America can happen in the UK, my home. But that I will explore another time… For now let us enjoy the happenings in America as we one day may enjoy here….

Go back to where you come from

‘Go back to where you’ve come from gollywog’. Mom said that they used gollywog a lot in the 1970’s. If I was called a wog today I would probably respond with a fit of laughs, it’s just not controversial enough.

The last time I was called a paki I was probably about 14 years old. The local bully who happened to be a girl (yes a girl) was feared within my community. She had a history of violence and was the vulgar, ugly and most disillusioned person I had ever seen.
‘Next time you say something to Darren I'll rip your pom pom off’, she shouted with her halitosis and decaying teeth flashing themselves at me. ‘Paki’.

Now when you think about it, the term ‘paki’ is only offensive because of the emotion attached to it. It actually only refers to a person from Pakistan – a foreigner on British shores. But in the eyes of prejudice it becomes a malicious insult, filled with rage, a fear of the unknown and xenophobia at its core. My use of this word for the title of my blog merely reflects my acceptance of this word. In fact I haven’t heard it said for a long time and for me its not a racial term anymore. Not in the way it used to be anyway.

Those that use the word ‘paki’ are to me miscreants, ignorants who think that colour means more than the content of character as Martin Luther King so eloquently put it.

‘Go back to where you come from, you come here and take our jobs!!’.
‘I just want a bag of chips’ I exclaim peering over the steel counter staring at the vinegar.
‘They all come here in droves, this ay your country. You should all go back to where you come from. Bloody pakis’. The old lady sporting a tea cosy on her bob nods in agreement. The factory worker with his scruffy blue overalls compressing his gut looks on catatonically…

‘The jobs we do require some skill, skill that you could easily acquire with some effort and education. The taxes we pay allow you to receive your medication and treatment free of charge. The doctor that treats you was educated in India and travelled to the UK because of the demand for doctors. The shop that you buy your milk and bread from was set up by a minimum wage earning migrant who was destined to spend his life in a foreign land, working for foreign people, with no knowledge of the language of the land, no idea about western customs and values and with 3 mouths to feed. With some insight and hard work, he was able to do something better and provide groceries for his community and still you mock him, vandalise his property and call him a paki. Why don’t you accept those around you and see the good in a new diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan Britain’. That is what I should have said….

Top of the morning to you.... Sat Sri Akal, Namaste, Salaam etc etc

Keep your Coins, I want change.

I had been thinking about capturing my thoughts in some sort of weblog or online diary for quite a while. Its easy to promise yourself that you will do something and never actually do it. First of all, I had to decide about what I would write about or what my theme would be. [Pause]. I have a lot to talk about. As a young British Asian proud of his heritage and culture and pleased to possess a dual heritage, I contemplate the years ahead with religion becoming more secular in my opinion and consumerism causing all to further their greed. Even with the credit crunch and news of doom and gloom, shifting our mindsets through endless media rants about falling markets, falling property prices and increasing unemployment I remain positive. This is the bargain basement and now is the time to buy, buy buy (apparently!).

My new years resolution involves many unattainable goals such as to make a million pounds this year and to get fit – all of these things become less attainable as I decide I have the whole year to concentrate on these goals and so for now I’ll just finish this cake and go back to sleep…. I will use this page to muse and to vent my anger, frustration, optimism, confusion, dejection, positivity and overall despondency… it’s not all bad I promise….