Despite all the hype about "multicultural Britain", modern Albion remains as overwhelmingly white as the Latin roots of its name suggest.
Living in London or any sizeable city, it's easy to forget just how racially homogenous England is, not to mention Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Although roughly one out of every four people in Greater London is black or Asian, for the UK as a whole—including the capital—that ratio plunges to 8%, most of whom are Asians. Afro-Caribbeans number just one million out of the country's total population of 59 million—around 2%.
Meanwhile, in north Cornwall, minorities make up just 1% of the inhabitants, though barely one person in 1,000 is of African descent—just 0.1% of all locals.
I first visited Padstow with my ex-wife and our first daughter a few days before New Year's. At first, I'd had my doubts about taking them to see Darkie Day. She is Latin and often mistaken for being Asian, while our daughter is decidedly mixed, a cross between a German-Swedish-American and a Spanish-Italian-Inca.
However, I happened to know a couple of people (like Anita and Ian) who had seen Darkie Day, and they assured me there wouldn't be a problem.
We'd also visited Padstow the previous summer, and the locals couldn't have been more welcoming.
Small towns are often portrayed as bigoted backwaters, but in my experience, that ain't necessarily so.
Having lived in Smalltown USA as well as half a dozen world capitals, I've found that city-dwellers can be just as bigoted as villagers, if not more so. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I was called "cracker"—a drive-by insult from a carload of strangers—and I don't remember ever hearing anyone talk about "coloured" people until I came to London—from a freshly-minted Oxford graduate who called himself a liberal (and later worked in Asia).
As for the term "darkie", well, it's like something out of the 19th century. You never hear it nowadays—unless you go to Padstow. Then, boy do you hear it: like stage pirates, the Cornish give r's their full value and then some, so when they say "darrrkie", "colourrred" or "niggerrr", it's all the more jarrrring.
For many Padstonians, "coloured" is still an accepted synonym for "black", while "Negro" also occasionally pops into conversation; "nigger" is only ever used in the context of the Darkie Day songs (at least that I've heard). The first time I witnessed the tradition—not long after the media storm—I managed to interview only one local.
"Because of this—this word, niggerrr, I'm sensitive even talkin' to you about it," he said. "You're arriving at a time when any stranger who asks questions will be viewed with a little bit of suspicion. For all they know, you're writing for The Black Power Journal, and next year, there'll be a hundred heavy guys down here. That's what everyone feared… people waving banners."
Living in London or any sizeable city, it's easy to forget just how racially homogenous England is, not to mention Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Although roughly one out of every four people in Greater London is black or Asian, for the UK as a whole—including the capital—that ratio plunges to 8%, most of whom are Asians. Afro-Caribbeans number just one million out of the country's total population of 59 million—around 2%.
 |
| BBC map of people born outside the UK
Map on right shows country as if areas with roughly equal populations were the same size. So, densely populated London takes up much more space than sparsely populated Scottish Highlands.
|
I first visited Padstow with my ex-wife and our first daughter a few days before New Year's. At first, I'd had my doubts about taking them to see Darkie Day. She is Latin and often mistaken for being Asian, while our daughter is decidedly mixed, a cross between a German-Swedish-American and a Spanish-Italian-Inca.
However, I happened to know a couple of people (like Anita and Ian) who had seen Darkie Day, and they assured me there wouldn't be a problem.
We'd also visited Padstow the previous summer, and the locals couldn't have been more welcoming.
Small towns are often portrayed as bigoted backwaters, but in my experience, that ain't necessarily so.
Having lived in Smalltown USA as well as half a dozen world capitals, I've found that city-dwellers can be just as bigoted as villagers, if not more so. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I was called "cracker"—a drive-by insult from a carload of strangers—and I don't remember ever hearing anyone talk about "coloured" people until I came to London—from a freshly-minted Oxford graduate who called himself a liberal (and later worked in Asia).
As for the term "darkie", well, it's like something out of the 19th century. You never hear it nowadays—unless you go to Padstow. Then, boy do you hear it: like stage pirates, the Cornish give r's their full value and then some, so when they say "darrrkie", "colourrred" or "niggerrr", it's all the more jarrrring.
For many Padstonians, "coloured" is still an accepted synonym for "black", while "Negro" also occasionally pops into conversation; "nigger" is only ever used in the context of the Darkie Day songs (at least that I've heard). The first time I witnessed the tradition—not long after the media storm—I managed to interview only one local.
"Because of this—this word, niggerrr, I'm sensitive even talkin' to you about it," he said. "You're arriving at a time when any stranger who asks questions will be viewed with a little bit of suspicion. For all they know, you're writing for The Black Power Journal, and next year, there'll be a hundred heavy guys down here. That's what everyone feared… people waving banners."
No comments:
Post a Comment