Today, 22nd June, is Windrush Day. A day to celebrate and recognise the contributions by people from the Caribbean who were invited to the UK to rebuild the country after World War II. It is a day reserved to appreciate what they sacrificed and experienced, and the foundations they laid and the doors they opened for the future generations of their families that were to be born in the UK.
By Future PoetSocial Issues
Jun
22
Windrush Day
My family, who are from Jamaica and Montserrat, were a part of this movement and arrived in the UK in the 1950’s and early 1960's. One grandmother was a nurse and one was a domestic cleaner. One grandfather was a bus driver and the other a train engine mechanical engineer. They all contributed greatly to UK society for over 30 years.
When the UK government’s disgusting handling of the Windrush generation came to light. I was hurt beyond belief despite it not directly affecting any of my family members. The hurt was from the callous mistreatment and disregard for everything that this generation of people did for the UK.
It is a day reserved to appreciate what they sacrificed and experienced, and the foundations they laid and the doors they opened for the future generations of their families that were to be born in the UK.
As a descendant of four people from this movement, I personally felt somewhat disposable. At one point I even asked my parents, (even though I knew the answer), if all their papers were in order. For peace of mind I just had to ask.
I had this overwhelming empathy for the multitude of people that were being discarded by the government because it was decided through policy that they had now served their purpose. The British part of my identity became tainted once again.
The Windrush scandal brought me back to the first racial incident I experienced as a child. At age 7 I was told “Go back to where you come from!”
That statement weighed heavy on my mind and I asked my Mum “What would happen if ‘they’ sent ‘us’ all away. Dad was born in Jamaica and you in Montserrat, but I was born here. Where would I go?” I felt othered. I felt different. I felt excluded. Where did I belong?
This incident also came to light recently, when John Boyega said at the Black Lives Matter Protest in Hyde Park “Every black person realises and remembers the first time another person reminded you that you were black"
The contribution and impact the Windrush generation made to the UK is huge and has shaped so much of society as we know it today. It is British history that should be taught in schools!
During the height of the scandal, I did what poet’s do and I wrote down my feelings. The UK was also going through its’s long drawn out Brexit process and it seemed that everything was about immigration and disposing of people. The new target, Europeans.
My greatest hope is that the UK government will one day soon, realise that the UK has been held up, patched up and glued together by a plethora of nationalities and skin tones for centuries. The government needs to uncover the country’s true history its been hiding. It is no longer enough to be a tolerant country.
Instead the UK should be a country that calls itself inclusive because, without the contribution of people people from so many nations it would not be what it has become.
To find out more about the Windrush generation visit windrushfoundation.com
To have an understanding of the impact the Windrush scandal had watch this moving film called Sitting in Limbo which was recently aired.
Related Posts
