Smeared Type

I went to visit an elderly cousin of mine, who lives in Wembley Park about 7 1/2 miles from the center of London.  On the way back, I got caught in major traffic congestion, possibly because that is the time that all the schools get out.  It was a hot and sweltering afternoon, and there was nothing I could do but sit and wait for the gridlock to break up and watch the world go by.

I was stuck in an area called Willesden, where there is a very ethnic mix of newer immigrants.  Sitting in the car, I saw black West African ladies in highly decorated dresses, Muslim women in black Burkas, many scarf-covered women – some of them young and in jeans – a couple coming out of a internet café – tall, slim, handsome black faces swathed in long white and blue patterned garments, strikingly beautiful – possibly Ethiopian or Somali – and many men with full beards and caps on their heads, some in long kaftans, and some with western jackets over knee-length white shirts and baggy pants.

The stores advertise their wares in many languages and the restaurants promote African, Bangladesh, Pakistani, and Indian food.  I even saw a pizza bar advertising Indian and Italian pizza.  That’s a first! There are also stores selling traditional Muslim clothing and others advertising Hallal meats.  Some cafés have low seats or cushions with Shisha Pipes. 

Recent statistics indicate that more than 50% of the population in London was not born in the United Kingdom.  Britain has always had very liberal policies with regard to immigrants.  Since the Second World War, there has been an explosion of immigrants, mostly from former British Commonwealth countries – Afro-Caribbean primarily from Jamaica who came in the 50’s, Pakistanis who came to work in the textile mills throughout the 60’s, and a large Indian population that moved from East Africa after many of those countries, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, achieved their independence and became particularly aggressive towards their Indian population that primarily ran most of the commerce and public government services.

More recently, there have been an increasing number of immigrants from other parts of Asia; and, with the expansion of the European Union, an influx of Polish and Romanian plumbers, roofers, etc.  There is also a large floating student population, particularly from countries like Poland, the Czech Republic and other Balkan states, who are employed as waiters and waitresses in most of London’s restaurants and cafés.

These liberal policies do not mean that immigrants are easily accepted by the British population.  In fact, racism and prejudice is rampant in many parts of the country.  Immigrants are tolerated but are often considered, even by the media, as “not truly Brits.”

To their eternal shame, recent elections to the European Parliament sent two representatives to Brussels from the British National Party – a right-wing neo Fascist organization that campaigned on anti-immigrant policies.  The recession, disaffection with the current government and leadership often brings out the worst of these prejudices.

After finally being released from my gridlock, I continued on my way, passing a couple of primary schools where the children were being met and being picked up by their parents. These happy screaming little kids were of all shapes and sizes, and ethnic backgrounds:  Asian, European, Middle Eastern, African – all happily mingling, screaming and shouting with glee and, I believe, totally indifferent to their ethnic backgrounds.  At that age, children are colorblind and perhaps that is a lesson and hope for us all.

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com

Tags: Immigrants, Muslim, Willesden

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Ellis Goodman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.