Highlights from ‘Britain under Strain’ report + two books by Africans from very different backgrounds. 28/07/2026. # 233
Out of Many, One People
Welcome, to the last blog before I mark six years of ‘Out of Many, One People’ with a sabbatical until November (unless something emerges in that period that I feel I must blog about). Meanwhile may the joys and rest of summer thrive alongside the distressing evidence of global warming.
‘Britain under Strain’ – Report from the UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Centre.
This report from a newly established research centre is edited by Dame Sara Khan and Matthew Godwin, of University College London was based on a survey of just over 4000 adults and of focus groups, plus a survey of 1300 Muslims. In this highlighting I want to consider its outcomes as they relate to race, ethnicity and faith, with less attention to its other concerns over patriotism or civic and political involvement.
(My personal reflections on the statistics are in italics).
* ‘The Social Contract’ – defined as ‘the implicit reciprocal relationship through which citizens accept laws, pay taxes and, when necessary serve their country in return for security, rights and access to public services. Strong relationships between citizens, institutions and the state are therefore essential to a functional and healthy democracy’ (p16, footnote).
61% believed it is broken, ranging from 83% Reform Voters, down to 36% Labour. (This was one of the few topics where Reform and Green had fairly similar results). The most frequently given reasons were that the Government didn’t deliver on its promises, and that politicians can’t be trusted; followed by the failure to protect our borders.
The startling results of questions relating to conspiracy theories suggests widespread bewilderment about public life (now intensified by the rise of AI) generating both detachment and disillusionment and susceptibility to simplistic explanations. Thus 40% believe there is a secret group controlling major world decisions. 29% believe in the Great Reset theory (that global elites are exploiting crises to impose a new world order), rising to 42% of 25-34 years old. 29% believe in the Great Replacement theory (that elites are replacing the native white population by means of immigration), rising to 54% of Reform voters. 34% believed Covid-19 was exaggerated to control people.
* National Identity.
55% believe it is disappearing because of diversity - particularly on the right: Reform 87%, Conservative 64%, as opposed to Labour 28% and Green 21%.
As regards the Unite the Kingdom March, 60% saw it as nationalist and racist, as opposed to 40% seeing it a valid expression of patriotism (reflecting, I think, diverging Christian assessments of it).
41% thought our country was built on Judeo-Christian values that should be defended, whilst 59% saw Britain as an essentially secular country.
* Racism.
15% believe that some races are less intelligent than others. From one angle this suggests that outright racism is now very much a minority phenomenon. A more negative take is the distressing fact that three out of twenty people that a black person meets will consider them inferior (with a much higher concentration in some situations).
* Islam.
42% disagree that Muslims can integrate. Whereas 85% of Muslims favour integration, only 2% favour living in a separate Islamic area under Sharia law. 27% of Muslims believe the holocaust was invented or exaggerated. Does the low level of commitment to an Islamic polity suggest that a broad cultural sense rather than a defined ideology is the main generator of Muslim identity, with hostility to Israel over-riding historical evidence.
‘The Gratitude Way: Creating Common Ground in a Divided World’ by Girma Bishaw.
This is a slim book, but rich both in its pastoral implications in how we relate to each other, in its consequences for a society that is both racially diverse and beset by a sense of brokenness, and in its understanding of the nature of God and his works. The author is an Ethiopian pastor who arrived in Britain seeking asylum in 1990.
It can also be seen as a very rooted exemplar of the blessing of cultural diversity. It is ‘African’, if that means stemming from a deep-seated sense of the goodness and positivity of God’s creation, and leading to ‘a proactive engagement with life, recognising and acknowledging the good before we engage in tackling the bad’ (p 43). Such an ontology (see blog # 228 on ‘African ontology’) can be set against the particularly western ‘harm in viewing the world with a utilitarian mindset, in terms of what it can do for us or give us’ (p 42).
In that respect, perhaps partly due to being an ‘outsider’, he offers a strong antidote to current concerns about the state of our society. ‘Gratitude transcends the limits of the self, weaving a tapestry of interconnectedness and reciprocity within the social fabric’ (p 123). The result is ‘by fostering a mindset focused on abundance rather than scarcity, gratitude enables individuals to navigate life’s complexities with courage and creativity’ (p 59), rather than being hindered by a debilitating sense of entitlement (p 93).
Similarly, his book also sheds light on living in a multi-ethnic society. A fascinating opening anecdote describes how in a chance encounter with white strangers he moves the conversation away from negativity and towards his gratitude for the reception he received in Britain as an asylum seeker. He is not blind to the negatives. In what may well be autobiographical, he writes: ‘Only those who have navigated the labyrinth of identity crisis comprehend its profound anguish, powerlessness and vulnerability. Rootlessness fosters a quest for belonging and renders people susceptible to seeking solace in unhealthy alliances’ (p 95). His two-fold antidote reflects his godly positivity: ‘In response to this multifaceted challenge, we should make every effort to celebrate ethnic diversity alongside the promotion of British values’ (p 100).
The main emphasis in the book is on the transformational power of gratitude in our inner life and personal relationships. He starts by describing it as ‘a posture that aligns with our created humanity’ (p1). In a theological section, an illuminating section highlights the place of gratitude within the relationships of the trinity. He stresses the role of imagination in enabling us to foreground causes of gratitude. Speaking from his own experience as a child of feeling constantly criticised, he emphasises rather the value of welcoming other human beings and making gratitude the first move in any encounter or relationship. In that spirit, he presents a simple comparative list of eight problems that are countered by gratitude – for example ‘Undermining others’ is countered by ‘Highlighting the worthiness of others’ (p 19). We tend to use the phrase ‘calling out’ as a process of highlighting failures, Girma Bishaw would have us use it a process of identifying strengths.
The book includes quite lengthy and helpful interviews with Miroslav Volf, Harvey Kwiyani, Andy Frost, and Fuschia Sirois (Professor of Social and Health Psychology at Durham). (Are these originally from his Ph D?). Some anecdotes, as with his opening one, are illuminating; though some of the short narratives that open chapters seem artificial and stilted. A few more accounts of simple, everyday encounters would be interesting.
The book also points to possible practical outworkings:
* a ‘Gratitude Wall’ in Sheffield with people invited to post on it three things they were grateful for. (Surely easily adaptable to a church context).
* a ‘Gratitude Banquet’ in Islington to which a wide range of servants of the local community were invited.
* the value of the method of ‘Appreciative Inquiry’.
* an appendix on ‘Learning to cultivate gratitude – some ideas’.
Overall this book is a very positive offering to a society at odds with itself across many issues, but most of all I would simply recommend it as being good for my soul.
‘Not your Victim: How our Obsession with Race Entraps and Divides Us’ by Marie Kawthar Daouda.
Marie Kawthar Daouda grew up in Morocco, moved to Paris aged 18 to study, earned her doctorate and eventually moved to Oxford where she is a lecturer in French, based at the largely conservative Oriel College.
Her concern is set out in the book’s title, a heartfelt argument from a ‘BAME’, ‘majority world’ (certainly not her phrases) woman against identitarian politics that would dehumanise her and reduce her to a member of various oppressed blocs. ‘The answer I develop here is that the narrative according to which all the evil in the world is the result of the involvement of the white Western man is infantilizing, historically erroneous, and nurtures the very prejudices it claims to fight’ (p 13). Accordingly, the chapters take us through the confusions, hypocrisies and banalities that an ‘oppressor/oppressed’ binary leads us into. Headings like ‘Must Rhodes fall?’, ‘Cultural appropriation and cultural gatekeeping’, ‘The triumph of the victim and the rise of ‘empowerment’’, and ‘Equality: the tyranny of low expectations’ give an indication of the dragons to which she brings a sharp, precisely aimed sword.
The weapon is wielded by an unashamed traditionalist; unembarrassed about studying ‘dead white men’ (p 9), valuing the British ‘idiosyncrasy’ of freedom of thought (p 10). Crucially, it is a traditionalism that does not blandly assert the equality and essential sameness of all cultures, but recognition of their specificity: ‘Countries are no more interchangeable than people’ (p148). She writes this in a penultimate chapter affirming ‘A Christian Identity’, stressing (like Girma Bishaw) that ‘life is good’, and seeing identity foci as essentially a shallow substitute for religion.
Her clear mind and articulate pen lead us to enjoy, or be dismayed by, the resultant carnage:
* ‘Rhodes statue only has the emotional meaning one is willing to invest in it’ (p 71).
* ‘Acronyms such as BAME or BIPOC appear and disappear, clumsily trying to say ‘people who do not look white’. Yet all this nom nomenclature reinforces the same perception: the average, vaguely Christian, mostly liberal Caucasian is normal; all the rest can be considered ‘protected characteristics’ and deserve special treatment’ (p 83).
* ‘Since the [US] culture has shifted away from the ‘colour-blind’ approach, more people identify as Hispanic, not because of a baby-boom among people of Hispanic origins, but because those who so far benefited from ‘passing’ as white now benefit more from belonging to the ‘non-white’ category’ (p 107).
* ‘Race occupies a special category among the victimhood labels. Not only is it the most intensely moralised category in contemporary identity politics, perched at the top of the victim hierarchy; it has also seen as something immutable, in contrast to the supposed fluidity of gender and sexual orientation. For now, transracialism is still frowned upon’ (p 112).
* ‘Child-led education is based on a mystical understanding of identity, that you have a deep, true self but it is constrained and blocked by social norms, which force you to be untrue to yourself’ (p 127).
But, like many a cavalier, she can be unaware of the collateral damage in her approach.
Lack of awareness of those who really are victims.
Whilst she is right to throw off the cloak that marks all members of certain categories as victims; thus ignoring that within those categories there are people with considerable advantages, sometimes at the front of the queue to gain the recompenses. Nonetheless there is little in the book that shows awareness, let alone empathy, for the countless number who really are victims of racism and injustice in our world. What is it like for your childhood to be constantly marred by the poverty and anger of a father experiencing the rejection and humiliation of racism at work?
It is right, too, that readers enjoy her unabashed delight in the blessings and beauty of Oxford, and her elegantly expressed appreciation of Britain; there is, however, a lack of similar connection to those who have never experienced the privileges she has enjoyed.
Polemic not evidence.
‘Children as young as three are now taught that if they are white, they are evil oppressors; that if they are black they are victims of racism. . . .If you happen to be brown, black or, or whatever label is now allowed, the first thing you learn in school is that any white person you encounter only exists to oppress you’ (p 128). Really! How many white three-year olds are taught this? Is this the ‘first thing’ that the British education system teaches brown or black children? (My son wasn’t). Ungrounded claims like this run far too freely through the book for it to be strongly recommended.
The book is superbly written, acute, deeply engaged and widely informed but it is a polemic – a particular cri de couer from a moment – rather than a substantial encounter with the causes and strengths of the views it opposes. (A dusting of Girma Bishaw’s attitude may have been helpful). I enjoyed it and found that it rang very many bells; but I was also dismayed by its failure to engage seriously with the experiences and arguments of those whose strong sense of identity was forged in the furnace of deprivation and suffering.