Osmosing to Britishness
From Stephen Mendes Sir: David Lovibond is wrong to claim that 'the burgeoning ethnic minorities cleave to their languages, dress, way of life and, most importantly, their religions' (The Real Racists', 10 April). The original immigrant generation may try to, but their children and grandchildren almost to a man do not. The Indian and Pakistani communities in the UK, for example, are riven by strife and tension over oldand new-country values — increasingly so as UK-born generations adopt British attitudes and modes of behaviour towards alcohol, gender roles, dress, the family, religious observance and a host of other issues. His fear of immigrants' divided loyalties and of Islam pulling the strings is remarkably similar to the antiCatholic paranoia that gripped England for so many centuries (have the papists taken over yet?). Despite the ghettoisation of many immigrant communities (by choice, circumstances or otherwise), there has been and will continue to be a process of cultural osmosis between hosts and immigrants — that's how Britain has always been and will continue to be.
Stephen Mendes
St Vincent and the Grenadines
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