What is British culture? In case you missed it, a 12-year-old girl was told she couldn’t take part in her school’s cultural diversity day. The pupils had been asked to come dressed to “reflect your nationality or family heritage” in clothing “appropriate for a school setting”. Football kits had been explicitly excluded. She wore a Spice Girls-style union flag dress. A child dressed with a Wales flag was also stopped from participating. That seems equally unjust to me. These are just kids – cut them some slack.
The girl was sent home, and asked to wait in reception until her Dad came to collect her. She had prepared a speech, which her Dad published on social media. It’s well written, and mentions the British talking about the weather and drinking tea. Maybe she got support from her parents. That’s no bad thing – parents taking an interest in their kids’ education should be encouraged.
It’s not clear why the schoolteacher took that course, but the school has unreservedly apologised, and offered her the chance to make the speech at a charity event. In any other context, that would be the end of it.
But of course, anything to do with culture is fuel for the culture wars.
Union Jack dress school incident: fuel for the culture wars
Predictably, the Daily Mail and GB News waded in. A convicted fraudster, previously banned on YouTube for far-right hate content, set up a GoFundMe claiming the money would go to the girl’s father. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, is now championing her.
Moving on from the grim predictability of right-wing propagandists – who wail at the exploitation of children – exploiting a child for propaganda and money, there is an issue here.
There will be all kinds of false claims that grow up around this. It’s been an urban myth since the 1980’s that ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ was banned in schools. It was never banned by any school or council anywhere. But that hasn’t stopped it being used a straw man argument. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer recently reinforced this vague unsubstantiated racial division with his “island of strangers” speech. But how should progressives respond?
We should reclaim patriotism.
Reclaim patriotism through active participation in civic life
In my election acceptance speech I said:
The highest patriotism is the active participation in civic life and working to defend our fellow citizens from the chaos and oppression of poverty, insecurity and hatred.
Surely these should be the British values we aspire to. Not setting fire to hotels with kids in them. Although being hit in the head by a brick and then the groin is in the tradition of British comedy.
I was talking to a young doctor recently about British values. She said:
I’m immensely proud of the NHS.
This is the same NHS that Nigel Farage wants to privatise and dismantle. This is the same Farage who took £40,075 to promote Nomad Capitalist’s tax avoidance strategies. Instead of attending Parliament last September, which he is paid to do, he was in Kuala Lumpur selling schemes so millionaires can avoid UK tax. Some patriot.
Compare that with the Patriotic Millionaires, who campaign for a wealth tax for those with assets over £10m, including themselves.
What is British culture?
The great Scottish and British wit Samuel Johnson said:
patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Which raises another question. What exactly is British culture? Most people only know Samuel Johnson, inventor of the dictionary, from the Robbie Coltrane portrayal in Blackadder.
Culture changes. It always has, it always will. Culture is not uniform. I like Viz magazine and know the words to the Blaydon Races. I doubt whether the royal family share my taste. Chicken Tikka Masala, our national dish, was invented by Bangladeshi immigrants in Glasgow. Fish and chips was introduced by Jewish immigrants from Iberia.
And what about Christmas traditions? Do you open your presents first thing, or after Christmas dinner? Religious wars have been started for less!
Who exactly is British anyway? The direct descendants of King Arthur? Hardly, since if he ever did exist, he was an immigrant with the Roman army. We’re all descended from immigrants. As Stewart Lee put it, bloody Anglo-Saxons:
coming over here to the UK, laying down the basis of our entire future language and culture!
Let’s not forget that much of Britain’s wealth and power came from colonial exploitation. The slave trade. The Amritsar massacre. Gunboat diplomacy forcing China to buy British opium causing widespread drug addiction. And it’s hardly as if this was done to enrich the working people of Britain. Poverty and oppression was rife. That the Victorians put children in workhouses is cruel. That Dickens and others campaigned against it is inspiring. Pretty much every nation has its heroes and villains.
So when we talk about British culture, let’s avoid the balance sheet approach. Let’s instead celebrate the good, and learn never to repeat the bad.
British culture is standing on the shoulders of giants
I’m inspired by the poetry and plays of Shakespeare. The music of the Beatles. The genius of Darwin and Newton. The innovation of England’s Brunel and Scotland’s James Watt. British culture gave the world football and cricket. Steam engines and railways. Antibiotics and the World Wide Web.
I’m proud of my North Eastern heritage. The electric light invented in Gateshead by Joseph Swan. Stephenson’s railways and Armstrong’s hydro-electricity. Our famous warmth and friendliness and gallows humour.
These are not my achievements. Like a supporter in the crowd cheering a goal, I can enjoy them. But it doesn’t make me a better person than the other team’s supporters. We didn’t build our culture. We inherited it.
As Isaac Newton said:
If I have seen further than others, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.