I guess that is the new buzz-word (at least among we cognoscenti, :>). I was reading this article in the Guardian about the continuing changes as homogenization progresses in English society (and here in the 'States). People like Vin Diesel (a poster boy for ethnical ambiguity), Christina Aguilera, and David Beckham (the first mega-star metrosexual?) have become immensely popular across all the ethnical and color lines in both nations.
My parents emigrated some 30+ years ago and when they left England was just starting to see a significant influx of peoples from their former colonies (chiefly the Caribbean at the time). Indeed, my father was just one of those colonials.
In any event, they are returning this year as they go off to visit Sardinia (a possible retirement haven because they cannot afford the cost of health care in this country) and I have assured them that they will find Britain a very, very different place than when they left. Certainly the crime is more prevalent and undoubtedly more violent and the country has lost some of the innocence that it had when I grew up there.
But in many ways, it has improved. Great new architecture, the growing culture of food and arts, and an almost complete lack of awareness of skin color (oddly enough, class barriers seem to persist though). In a lot of ways, modern Britain and France seem far more tolerant of color than America (witness the lack of miscegenation on American television).
I found this whole interplay fascinating in my brief visit last year and I'm going back this year to spend a bit more time there (especially in London). Where else can a white soccer player be termed the most well-known black man in England?
Charming.
Posted by artandscience at January 27, 2004 05:28 PM