Monday, April 07, 2008

Rivers of blood? No. Just a divided idea of what Britishness means / Guardian, 7 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.communities?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
Madeleine Bunting
"Britain has a vibrant tradition of racism, and the quest to define our nationality is beginning to go seriously awry. Britishness is like a scab we can't stop scratching. One event after another propels it centre stage, where the subject proliferates questions: how are we to define it, teach it, feel it, promote it, be proud of it, symbolise it and celebrate it? Alongside this relentlessly upbeat, politically sponsored debate is another, far darker version that is having ample play in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech on April 20."