#Linton_Kwesi_Johnson: ‘It was a myth that immigrants didn’t want to fit into British society. We weren’t allowed’
As the Jamaican-born dub poet reflects on decades of race relations in the UK, from the Brixton riots to #Windrush, he says young black men carry knives out of fear, and questions how much progress we have made since his time as a teenage Black Panther
Linton was born in rural Jamaica in 1952, and arrived in London 11 years later to join his mother. “I remember when I was a youngster, there was always this myth that we were finding it difficult to integrate ourselves into British society. Or that there was a reluctance on our part to fit in with British society.” Most of the time. he speaks slowly, as if carefully measuring each word before committing it to speech, but occasionally they come firing out, and do now as he goes on: “And that was really a nonsense, because we are British! We were created by the British, for God’s sake.” The more deliberate rhythm resuming, he adds quietly: “The fact of the matter is we wanted desperately to integrate. But they wouldn’t allow us.”
▻https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/27/linton-kwesi-johnson-brixton-windrush-myth-immigrants-didnt-want-fit-br
#intégration #mythe #préjugés #migration #UK #Angleterre
