e-Claire

Insight on a More Personal Level

A young British woman—British born, British citizen, of Somali parents—wrote about her experience as a Somali Moslem in England.  She identifies as a Somali Moslem—not as a Brit.

I find myself having to justify who I am now on a regular basis. I used to think it was quaint, but now it’s just increasingly annoying. I am a Black British-born Muslim woman living in London. People have told me that I resemble someone Sudanese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Eritrean, and even Egyptian. I’m actually Somali, but Somali ethnicity, history, culture, and language contain threads of shared experience with the above peoples. This would add to the doubt surrounding the whole notion of exclusive “ethnicity” or “culture” in the field of social science, but that’s another story.
[emph. mine - e-C]

Touting all the while the virtues of British multiculti and cultural diversity, she admits that she has never lived outside the Somali self-imposed ghetto commuuuunity in whatever part of Britain she moved to; thus indicating that she prefers her culture to that of the surrounding native British commuuuunity.

Leaders of [Islamic revivalist movement ...the Salafi movement of my college and university days] constantly reminded us followers that the best of times for Muslims had been and gone with the Prophet… and his Companions..., and that all we could hope to achieve now was to remain “strangers” in this world ( dunya ) existing on the periphery and detached from the filth of mainstream modern society.

In that case, it’s only reasonable to live apart, no?  But…

Muslims want to be accepted as equal citizens in Britain with equal opportunities and rights,
[emph. in original]

The only thought I can come up with [other than “sod off, wankers"] is:

"How can you be
In two places at once
When you’re really
Nowhere at allllll"

1. uhhhh, sod off wankers is good.

   Posted by Paul of York  on  08/04/05  at  02:20 PM

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