This is a guest post by Raziq
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“You are not British, Pakistani, Indian, Bengali, Arab or African. These are colonial identities, you are only a Muslim and that’s what god wants you to be” (Member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir)
After the Second World War issues of national identity began to change. The introduction of foreign cheap labour (from former colonies) brought with it foreign cultures and traditions. The newly arriving immigrants retained a desire to one day return to their home nations as ‘rich men of high statuses’. This mindset encouraged them to lead a non-confrontational life here in the UK. They tolerated discrimination and soft-racism mainly because they did not intend to stay in the UK permanently.
The children of these immigrants grew up with an amalgamation of identities. On the one hand they had their traditional values, influenced by the cultures and practices of their parents. On the other hand they had a social identity, which they had developed in schools, colleges and from interaction with British society. Their social identity at times clashed with their parents traditional values and this was the dilemma many of them had to live with. Many of the second generation did not feel fully accepted in British society and yet were also unable to identify with the homelands of their parents.
This perceived identity crisis led to a new form of hybrid identity being formed, with some of this hybrid generation forming their own identity by adopting what they saw as the best of both worlds. They basically learnt to adapt and create a multi-faceted identity. Those who were finding it difficult to adapt found themselves easy prey to extremist groups, groups that gave them a new identity and social status. An issue which has led to a new set of government initiatives.
With the arrival of new immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees we have the whole process repeating itself. A new generation will now have to try and understand the new multi-faceted British identity. But concepts of shared values can only be understood once we understand the perceived identity crisis that exists in Britain and prepare ourselves to deal with the new generation of identity hybrids. Identities have now become a lot more complex than they used to be in the past. National identities globally are becoming multi-faceted and we need to come to terms with this. Simplistic Islamist ideas of crude dualities are beginning to crumble and will not survive much longer in this new Britain.
7 Comments
Possibly – but in the past Islamists have been able to use the issue of identities becoming more complex and multi-faceted to their advantage – by offering a very simplistic identity of a universal Muslim brotherhood that trumps over all other racial, ideological or national identities.
Surely, if identities continue to become more complex (and therefore often more confusing), Islamists will simply find it easier than ever to persuade people to adopt their own simplistic narrative of Muslims vs The Rest?
Good point. I think they were also successful because a lot of youth were genuinely concerned about their identity. Over the last decade or so much work has been done in communities, mosques and by government initiatives on this issue. Muslims are becoming more comfortable with their identity and they see no contradiction in being British and Muslim. This is one of the reasons why the popularity of Islamist groups is waning.
What are you? — A bunch of sellouts!!!!!!
^ Eh?
Of course we are not extremist nutters so we must be sell outs, how logical.
Uz
In your opinion how should dislocated individuals be dealt with? (apart from taking them to ‘Sufi Sheikhs’)
The only identity crisis in the UK today is the one manufactured by the race relations industry and their committed cadre of ideological multiculturalists. By indulging those who seek to group themselves according to skin colour, religion and ethnicity; by emphasising superficial differences over tangible similarities; and by tolerating notions of racial supremacy and discriminatory attitudes dressed up as religious dogma, we have encouraged people with no other connection than the national origin of their parents to see themselves as distinct from the rest of society.
The real identity crisis that we should be tackling is the one where ickle girls of Maulvi Bazaari parentage growing up in Stepney are discouraged and even prevented from going out with, getting engaged to and marrying boys whose parents didn’t come from Maulvi Bazaar. Those who claim that these sorts of attitudes should obtain, as BananaBrain did on another thread (I’m sure he’ll correct me ;-]), based on religious prohibitions, are the real hinderers of a shared identity.
If we don’t marry each and have children with a shared genetic inheritance, we grow apart. And so it has been throughout history.