Wendy

Just watching a documentary about my home town - Bradford. The show has put people from different ethnicities together to see if they can find common ground on what makes them British.

A little bit about the show here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...4-7469019.html

So, I'm interested in people's view on what exactly British is?

Kooky.

No idea but I could murder a Mumtaz curry

The most popular name in Britain now is said to be Mohammed - I think it would be very hard indeed to define "Britishness".

Pomster

It was a sort of bigoted Big Brother (having never seen big brother though!)

They were all pretty bigoted and saw nothing wrong with 'knowing' everyone else was wrong....from the Muslim guy who insisted he could only pray at a particular mosque 5 times a day (and nothing could get in the way) to the ex policeman who saw nothing wrong with using the term 'paki-bashing'.

There is one youngish Muslim girl who seems quite nice and easy going, but she is not given much camera time as I guess it is not good viewing!

Kooky.

Yes, from what I read the programme was set up to be car crash TV and nothing more.

Wendy

Seems you're right since no-one has answered

I actually found it quite thought provoking.

Especially when the young girl got emotional about the treatment her parents got. I guess you never really look at it from all sides all the time.

I do think that the policeman didn't really see anything wrong with what he said...until now.

Isn't it a good thing that people are made to question the beliefs and thoughts that are ingrained into them from birth? especially when they are inherently racist?
I am looking forward to the next one.

roaringmouse

The Daily Mail reported that it is Mohammed in 2009 (if spelling variants were combined), yet the Guardian reported Mohammed (if spelling variants were combined) to be 4th most popular in 2010.

However if the variants aren't combined then both years it was Oliver that was the most popular boys name for a baby.

AlliF

ABC Diamond is that you in disguise??!

Bermudashorts

I don't know, I just don't think about it. I am British because I was born and brought up in Britain.

I have taken this test and failed it dismally. My score was 10 the first time and 14 the next time (still a fail).

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/m...tizenship-test

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Bradford was probably the least 'British' city I ever visited in Britain. I remember being somewhere near the hospital and I could have been in a foreign land. Quite bizarre place.

Kooky.

A lot of the people living in that area will have been born in the UK, which is why I think the definition of "British" needs to be re-evaluated.

That said, I know it can be very hard for them. I lived in Leeds - which is also very multicultural - but I've worked both in Bradford city centre and on the outskirts (Saltaire/Shipley, for those that know it) and I know a lot of young people in effect have two lives. They study and work in western environments (I worked somewhere with an in-house electronics manufacturing facility, and a lot of the factory workers were S.Asian) but at home they are expected to be thoroughly Asian - especially the young women.

chris955

It seems to be part and parcel of today's world, go to any western country and you will see the same thing.

chris955

If you are born in Britain or have taken out British citizenship then you are British, it really is that simple. What needs to be reevaluated ?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Maybe... but not many to the level of Bradford.
I was visting someone in a hospital there, not sure which one, and went for some cigs... after wandering in to some back streets near the hospital, I found a little corner shop. Nobody spoke English, which I didn't find that odd, as I could find the same, in parts of Manchester where I lived at the time.
What I did find odd, was that nobody and I realy do mean nobody, in the streets in the area was white, and that a recording was being blasted out of a nearby mosque calling people to prayer.... and this was around 1982.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Boy are you in for a shock !

chris955

In for a shock in what way ? What I said applies to any country.