Tottenham shall turn French
Being a father to a young daughter of just under two years was hard enough. The addition of an even younger two month old son seems to have more than doubled the workload. I'm not complaining as joyous is the one word fitting enough to describe the experience of bringing up your own children. The only disadvantage is the complete lack of spare time for anything else, although as routines slowly fall into place tiny periods of freedom are appearing.
Such is the way of life that it seems inevitable that when something good comes along something bad is never far behind following in it's tracks. So the aforementioned joy, at becoming a father to a boy for the first time, has been tempered and dulled this month after finding out that my own father has cancer.
Trying as ever to be the dutiful son I have increased my visits to my parents and started to telephone every day to make sure that things are as well as can be expected. They, my parents, are now both into their seventies, living in the same house they have lived in since the early 1960s, in a traditional working class part of Tottenham.
During one of these recent telephone conversation with my mother she revealed a disturbing story that reflects, in my opnion, the pernicious effects of immigration into this country.
Although she is over seventy, and her bones and legs are not as young as they used to be, she makes the effort to go out every day to shop, even now with my father being so unwell. On the day that it snowed last week I rang to check that she had stayed in, but she had not. I was surprised when she told me that she had not gone to the local shops just around the corner from her, but had traipsed an extra half mile to some shops further on.
She continued to explain, after I asked why, that she didn't like using the nearest shops anymore because the people there were rude, nasty and horrible to her. The 'owners' being Turkish or "...something like that...".
The fact was that the local shops my mother has been using for over forty years since the early 1960s were no longer an option for her, simply because the current owners were making her life so unpleasant she felt too unhappy to shop their anymore.
Who knows the motivation for their behaviour. Perhaps they prefer to serve their own kind, and other ethnic-immigrants, rather than the grey haired old lady who pops in a few times every week.
News like this incenses and angers me. Additionally I always have to almost drag the information from my parents who never ever want to volunteer anything that could be considered bad news.
This is not the first time my parents have experienced such anti-Englishness.
A year or two ago an african man knocked at the front door of their council house and then proceeded to ask them to prove who they were. This to my parents who had been living in the same house since the early 1960s. Whether this gentleman really was from Haringey council as he claimed to be I do not know. They them asked him to prove who he was. After this things became 'heated' with my parents being 'accused' of being 'racist' and threats of the police being called by the said 'gentleman'. They them simply told him that if he wanted to call the police he could and then shut the door firmly in his face.
Another incident happened a few years after my father retired. One day as he was walking past a nearby primary school he came across a black/african boy beating an English boy with a stick. He told the boy to stop it and took the stick away. Almost immediately a black/african woman, who seemed to be a teacher, emerged from the school swearing and shouting hysterically at my father calling him a 'racist' amongst other things. Although the details from my father about this little display of stupidity are sketchy I have seen enough of this type of behaviour in the past to imagine the scene in it's full 'glory'.
Even further back before he retired my father faced some instances of nastiness at his place of work. The educational establishment he was employed by had decided to introduce an 'access scheme' for those who had previously been unable to gain entry by normal means. This had lead to a new 'diversity', the 'benefits' of which my fathers life was 'enriched' by. One of these was being called a "...evil blue eyed devil...", along with other insults, by some of the more duskily hued newcomers.
I didn't believe my fathers story as this was back in my left-wing days when I was under the impression that black people were never 'racist', this being something only white people were capable of. Therefore I argued with my father saying that he had either misunderstood the comments or had made them up.
The reaction of my parents in adverse situations such as this is always the same, one of stoicism.
Not so much the main dictionary definition of the word. Not a fatalism, but more an ability to accept what has happened with good grace and to look forward to the possibility that things may well get better. They have a simple bravery and good heartedness about life and everything it has to offer whether it be good or bad, and the ever traditional ability of the English to find humour in any situation.
This particular type of stoicism, to me at least, is one of the main characteristics of the English working class, and perhaps the English in general. Something which seems to have been forgotten in the current media debate over Britishness [1: Guardian 2007 Jan 29] (or more precisely Englishness as the debate never seems to apply to the Welsh, Scottish, or Irish as pointed out [2: Laban Tall 2007 Jan 25th] by Laban Tall on his blog).
A recent Times article commenting on the full publication of the last letter of Captain Scott [3: Times 2007 Jan 11] of the Antarctic may have suggested that reading it was:
Not so.
From my experience honour, stoicism, and bravery are alive and well amongst the older generations of the English, having never gone away in the first place.
Where then does my mother go for help with the problem facing her?
Perhaps she should contact the Commission for Racial Equality, if of course they are not too busy telling a 'reality' TV show how to show reality [5: CRE 2007 Jan 19]
Alternatively perhaps she could ask for help from Haringey Council, when the council is of course not sending, as mentioned above, black africans to harass my parents in their own home.
Or as a last resort perhaps she might try informing the police, when they in turn are not too busy arresting an English schoolgirl who didn't want to be part of a science discussion group which consisted of indian-subcontinent immigrants who could not speak English [6: Salford Advertiser 2006 Oct 15], or when they are arrest and hold an man for two days for 'racistly' revving his car engine [7: Sunday Mail 2006 Sep 17], or when they send two men for a £250,000 trial for eating jelly babies in a 'racist' manner [8: Daily Mail 2006 Nov 3].
Somehow I doubt any of them would want to help her with her problem.
Before writing this I re-checked with my parents this weekend to find out exactly how they were being treated at the shops nearest them. They told me that when they tried to be served they were either ignored totally or served right at the very end when every other non-English person had been served. They said it was like that 'all around here' with all the 'anti-English racism'.
Didn't I know, hadn't I heard?
Despite all this my parents just get on with their life. My mother knitting jumpers for her new grandson. My father, even though his body is weak and worn from the cancer wracking his body, and tired from the medication he takes to fight off it's effects, is ever keen to make the cups of tea when we visit.
It is hard to convey here what it feels like in their presence. I'll just leave it the words my wife uttered to me a few days ago as we were discussing their situation: "...when your mum and dad are here, or we visit them, it always feels just like Christmas...".
If I had the financial resources I'd probably try to help them to move. But somehow I doubt they would move from the home they have lived in for so long, from the garden they have tended over so many years, and from the allotments they have both cultivated for over forty odd years.
Sometimes when I think of their predicament, and the way the Tottenham has changed so much over the years since I was young, it feels as though someone has ripped to shreds every golden memory of the Tottenham of my childhood.
Lastly if anyone should wonder why this post is titled 'Tottenham shall turn French' then the answer is that it is an historical English saying along the lines of 'When hell freezes over' or 'When pigs fly'.
I found a reference to this at the British History Online website in the article Tottenham - Growth before 1850
Although whether it is still a place in England that can be considered English, and where the English can live in peace is another question.
The current continuing experience of my parents points to the answer of no, and to the unhappy fact that it has been lost for the English to other new invaders who seem to be increasing relentlessly [10: Telegraph 2006 Aug 6].
A small footnote
The BBC article Schools 'must teach Britishness' [11: BBC 2007 Jan 25] originally included the wording "...by 2010 one in five pupils in our schools will be from an ethnic minority..." which is now missing from the current version of the article.
News Sniffer is a useful, though left-wing, website which has a utility called Revisionista that tracks such stealth editing by the BBC as can be seen here.
A previous post about my parents: 'Christmas Eve 1940'.
Referenced in this post:
[1] Guardian 2007 January 29th
The battle of Britishness
[2] Laban Tall 2007 January 25th
British Lessons For English Children
[3] Times 2007 January 11th
Great Scott
[4] Times 2007 January 11th
In full - Captain Scott's final letter to his wife
[5] Commission for Racial Equality 2007 January 19th
CRE statement on Celebrity Big Brother
[6] Salford Advertiser 2006 October 15th
Mum’s anger over daughter’s arrest
Daily Mail 2006 October 13th
Schoolgirl arrested for refusing to study with non-English pupils
[7] Sunday Mail 2006 September 17th
Racist Rev Row
[8] Daily Mail 2006 November 3rd
Fury as 'Jellybaby Two' cleared of all charges
[9] British History Online 1976
Tottenham - Growth before 1850
[10] Telegraph 2006 August 6th
Growing lack of English in schools
[11] BBC 2007 January 25th
Schools 'must teach Britishness'
News Sniffer
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk
Revisionista
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk/articles/list
Such is the way of life that it seems inevitable that when something good comes along something bad is never far behind following in it's tracks. So the aforementioned joy, at becoming a father to a boy for the first time, has been tempered and dulled this month after finding out that my own father has cancer.
Trying as ever to be the dutiful son I have increased my visits to my parents and started to telephone every day to make sure that things are as well as can be expected. They, my parents, are now both into their seventies, living in the same house they have lived in since the early 1960s, in a traditional working class part of Tottenham.
During one of these recent telephone conversation with my mother she revealed a disturbing story that reflects, in my opnion, the pernicious effects of immigration into this country.
Although she is over seventy, and her bones and legs are not as young as they used to be, she makes the effort to go out every day to shop, even now with my father being so unwell. On the day that it snowed last week I rang to check that she had stayed in, but she had not. I was surprised when she told me that she had not gone to the local shops just around the corner from her, but had traipsed an extra half mile to some shops further on.
She continued to explain, after I asked why, that she didn't like using the nearest shops anymore because the people there were rude, nasty and horrible to her. The 'owners' being Turkish or "...something like that...".
The fact was that the local shops my mother has been using for over forty years since the early 1960s were no longer an option for her, simply because the current owners were making her life so unpleasant she felt too unhappy to shop their anymore.
Who knows the motivation for their behaviour. Perhaps they prefer to serve their own kind, and other ethnic-immigrants, rather than the grey haired old lady who pops in a few times every week.
News like this incenses and angers me. Additionally I always have to almost drag the information from my parents who never ever want to volunteer anything that could be considered bad news.
This is not the first time my parents have experienced such anti-Englishness.
A year or two ago an african man knocked at the front door of their council house and then proceeded to ask them to prove who they were. This to my parents who had been living in the same house since the early 1960s. Whether this gentleman really was from Haringey council as he claimed to be I do not know. They them asked him to prove who he was. After this things became 'heated' with my parents being 'accused' of being 'racist' and threats of the police being called by the said 'gentleman'. They them simply told him that if he wanted to call the police he could and then shut the door firmly in his face.
Another incident happened a few years after my father retired. One day as he was walking past a nearby primary school he came across a black/african boy beating an English boy with a stick. He told the boy to stop it and took the stick away. Almost immediately a black/african woman, who seemed to be a teacher, emerged from the school swearing and shouting hysterically at my father calling him a 'racist' amongst other things. Although the details from my father about this little display of stupidity are sketchy I have seen enough of this type of behaviour in the past to imagine the scene in it's full 'glory'.
Even further back before he retired my father faced some instances of nastiness at his place of work. The educational establishment he was employed by had decided to introduce an 'access scheme' for those who had previously been unable to gain entry by normal means. This had lead to a new 'diversity', the 'benefits' of which my fathers life was 'enriched' by. One of these was being called a "...evil blue eyed devil...", along with other insults, by some of the more duskily hued newcomers.
I didn't believe my fathers story as this was back in my left-wing days when I was under the impression that black people were never 'racist', this being something only white people were capable of. Therefore I argued with my father saying that he had either misunderstood the comments or had made them up.
The reaction of my parents in adverse situations such as this is always the same, one of stoicism.
Not so much the main dictionary definition of the word. Not a fatalism, but more an ability to accept what has happened with good grace and to look forward to the possibility that things may well get better. They have a simple bravery and good heartedness about life and everything it has to offer whether it be good or bad, and the ever traditional ability of the English to find humour in any situation.
This particular type of stoicism, to me at least, is one of the main characteristics of the English working class, and perhaps the English in general. Something which seems to have been forgotten in the current media debate over Britishness [1: Guardian 2007 Jan 29] (or more precisely Englishness as the debate never seems to apply to the Welsh, Scottish, or Irish as pointed out [2: Laban Tall 2007 Jan 25th] by Laban Tall on his blog).
A recent Times article commenting on the full publication of the last letter of Captain Scott [3: Times 2007 Jan 11] of the Antarctic may have suggested that reading it was:
"...like being catapulted back to a humbling age where honour, stoicism and bravery were virtues hailed every bit as highly as a command of reading, writing and arithmetic..." [4: Times 2007 Jan 11].
Not so.
From my experience honour, stoicism, and bravery are alive and well amongst the older generations of the English, having never gone away in the first place.
Where then does my mother go for help with the problem facing her?
Perhaps she should contact the Commission for Racial Equality, if of course they are not too busy telling a 'reality' TV show how to show reality [5: CRE 2007 Jan 19]
Alternatively perhaps she could ask for help from Haringey Council, when the council is of course not sending, as mentioned above, black africans to harass my parents in their own home.
Or as a last resort perhaps she might try informing the police, when they in turn are not too busy arresting an English schoolgirl who didn't want to be part of a science discussion group which consisted of indian-subcontinent immigrants who could not speak English [6: Salford Advertiser 2006 Oct 15], or when they are arrest and hold an man for two days for 'racistly' revving his car engine [7: Sunday Mail 2006 Sep 17], or when they send two men for a £250,000 trial for eating jelly babies in a 'racist' manner [8: Daily Mail 2006 Nov 3].
Somehow I doubt any of them would want to help her with her problem.
Before writing this I re-checked with my parents this weekend to find out exactly how they were being treated at the shops nearest them. They told me that when they tried to be served they were either ignored totally or served right at the very end when every other non-English person had been served. They said it was like that 'all around here' with all the 'anti-English racism'.
Didn't I know, hadn't I heard?
Despite all this my parents just get on with their life. My mother knitting jumpers for her new grandson. My father, even though his body is weak and worn from the cancer wracking his body, and tired from the medication he takes to fight off it's effects, is ever keen to make the cups of tea when we visit.
It is hard to convey here what it feels like in their presence. I'll just leave it the words my wife uttered to me a few days ago as we were discussing their situation: "...when your mum and dad are here, or we visit them, it always feels just like Christmas...".
If I had the financial resources I'd probably try to help them to move. But somehow I doubt they would move from the home they have lived in for so long, from the garden they have tended over so many years, and from the allotments they have both cultivated for over forty odd years.
Sometimes when I think of their predicament, and the way the Tottenham has changed so much over the years since I was young, it feels as though someone has ripped to shreds every golden memory of the Tottenham of my childhood.
Lastly if anyone should wonder why this post is titled 'Tottenham shall turn French' then the answer is that it is an historical English saying along the lines of 'When hell freezes over' or 'When pigs fly'.
I found a reference to this at the British History Online website in the article Tottenham - Growth before 1850
"...The expression `Tottenham shall turn French', signifying something that could not possibly happen, was quoted by many local historians from the time of William Bedwell but used as early as 1536 by Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, when assuring Thomas Cromwell of his loyalty..." [9: British History Online 1976]The saying, used as an oath, held true: Tottenham never turned French.
Although whether it is still a place in England that can be considered English, and where the English can live in peace is another question.
The current continuing experience of my parents points to the answer of no, and to the unhappy fact that it has been lost for the English to other new invaders who seem to be increasing relentlessly [10: Telegraph 2006 Aug 6].
A small footnote
The BBC article Schools 'must teach Britishness' [11: BBC 2007 Jan 25] originally included the wording "...by 2010 one in five pupils in our schools will be from an ethnic minority..." which is now missing from the current version of the article.
News Sniffer is a useful, though left-wing, website which has a utility called Revisionista that tracks such stealth editing by the BBC as can be seen here.
A previous post about my parents: 'Christmas Eve 1940'.
Referenced in this post:
[1] Guardian 2007 January 29th
The battle of Britishness
[2] Laban Tall 2007 January 25th
British Lessons For English Children
[3] Times 2007 January 11th
Great Scott
[4] Times 2007 January 11th
In full - Captain Scott's final letter to his wife
[5] Commission for Racial Equality 2007 January 19th
CRE statement on Celebrity Big Brother
[6] Salford Advertiser 2006 October 15th
Mum’s anger over daughter’s arrest
Daily Mail 2006 October 13th
Schoolgirl arrested for refusing to study with non-English pupils
[7] Sunday Mail 2006 September 17th
Racist Rev Row
[8] Daily Mail 2006 November 3rd
Fury as 'Jellybaby Two' cleared of all charges
[9] British History Online 1976
Tottenham - Growth before 1850
[10] Telegraph 2006 August 6th
Growing lack of English in schools
[11] BBC 2007 January 25th
Schools 'must teach Britishness'
News Sniffer
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk
Revisionista
http://newssniffer.newworldodour.co.uk/articles/list
Labels: Anti-English, English, History, Parents, Tottenham
posted by TottenhamLad at 11:27 PM
18 Comments:
All the best to your parents, Tottenham Lad.
Living in Slough, I can empathise with your feelings about Tottenham. Slough has never been the prettiest place in the world and has had a large immigrant population for as long as I can recall - but it was also, primarily, a British working class area where the people shareed the typical working class characteristics you mention - along with such things as belief in the dignity of work, self-reliance and respect for the law.
Much of this has gone. The large immigrant minority is now a majority. My kids are subject to racist bullying on a frequent basis - complaints to the school are treated earnestly, but nothing is ever done. They tell me the children responsible have been given a "good talking to" (they always seemn to know who the children are) and are "ever so sorry" - then two weeks later they are at it again.
Despite Slough's reputation, it was great place to grow up. Now it's a place where you lock yourself in and hope no one bothers you.
This sort of thing is happening all over the country. A neighbour of ours has just had his parents move from East London to be close by. They were typical and proper Eastenders - living close to West Ham's Upton Park stadium for the last 40 years. Their family have lived in that area for generations. They were the last to leave.
No prizes for guessing why.
How the world changes. I'm almost certain the reason the phrase is 'Tottenham shall turn French' and not 'Tottenham shall turn barbaric' is because the latter wasn't even thinkable. Now, though...
My sympathies on your and your parents' situation, TL. I'll keep you in my prayers.
Hey, good to have you back TL. I dont know what to say about your dads cancer, except that my mum had cancer too. I hope your dad gets better of course, but do make the most of your time with him. Its too late to ask my mum anything now. But i have to say, my memories of her arnt fading like i was afraid they might.
Stan, ive just read a story about another chap from slough in the daily mail! you can read about it here on my blog, here;
http://bnpandme.blogspot.com/2007/02/british-man-who-shot-3-burglars-praised.html
I'm so sorry to hear about your parents plight. I wish I could say something to give you hope. My parents are in their 70's and living in the "Shires" but this doesn't mean they fare any better. My mother was taken away to a nursing home when her Alzheimer's got worse and the council decided there was no money to care for her at home. Since being taken away she has been assaulted by another patient, fallen out of bed (several times) and often we find her bruised. Recently we have discovered the home are now employing Eastern European men as carers and she is bathed and dressed by them. Telephoning to ask how she is gets us nowhere, the person who answers is impossible to understand.
Good to see you back, TL. My thoughts are with you in this difficult time. Despite the fact that it seems as if we are losing England a bit every day, I believe we are the very beginning of something new. More and more people feel the way we do. People are starting to talk, and are getting fed up with our traditions and traditions being taken away. Things must change. Keep the faith.
My prayers are for your father TL. I remember the christmas story about your parents and I was truly moved, they are the salt of the earth.
Hope for the best but expect the worst, that's what I was told in the same situation.
I feel like heading for London and seeing to the ethnics who insult your mother, who do they think they are?
At least little TL will grow up as an Englishman. God bless you.
I'm very sorry to hear about your dad. I'm sure your parents story is mirrored up and down the country. It's people like them who have borne the brunt of the multicultural experiment, whether they wanted it or not. Not only that, they weren't allowed to complain about it either. It was my realisation that people like your parents had been the unsung victims of the liberal left's enthusiasm for mass immigration, that began my 'apostasy' from that same liberal left mindset.
First off hope yr dad gets well soon, liked the article.
Sad to say but these days I think the whole UK is turning French, Asian, African, Polish, Croat, Bulgarian...etc etc
Good to have you back TL. I think the estimates for ethnics is optimistic, whenever TV news goes into a London school, there is a lack of white faces, it might as well be Africa.
For over 40 years we have been told (but not permitted to discuss) that ethnics were only around 2-3% of total populations. My guess is over 15% and rising.
Best Wishes for you & your family from a scouse git
Malthebof
The problem is its people like TL and Guardian apostate supporting liberal leftism for 25 years + that have destroyed this country.
Its too fkin late to complain now.
-
ethnics did only make up 2-3% of the general population but thats irrelavant, whats important is the proportion of certain age groups, such as under 5, under 18s etc.
The movement of large amounts of young foreigners into Britain coincided with the massive drop in the English birth-rates, and thats the figures the government is much more coy about.
Good to see you blogging again -I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. Make the most of your time with him - they both sound like good people.
Enjoy your son - the good news is that two's about as hard as it gets - three are no more trouble, hint hint.
I wish I'd a
Was wondering if and when you would return. Very glad to see you back, and moved by what you wrote.
Blogging must some time feel like pleading to be heard - only for those who can hear you to affect sympathy but nothing more.
The slow but sure seepage of fairness and trust - the classic English characteristics - from what we call England may be replaced by something very nasty indeed.
Along with others it's good to welcome you back. As I live a couple of miles from your parents and unfortunately am obliged to visit Tottenham regularly I have every sympathy with the problems they face.
My own father was diagnosed & operated on for cancer 6 years ago but thankfully is still able to enjoy a reasonably full life. Luckily my parents got out of London some years ago. Strangely, when I walk around their peaceful Sussex town I'm starting to feel like a foreigner. All those blond people and the staff in shops being so helpful & polite. OK, the crime levels have risen like everywhere and they have their yobs when the pubs close but compared with the menace of Tottenham High Road of a night-time it's paradise.
Like your parents my parents lived through the war. My father did the Normandy excursion and enjoyed it so much he had a ticket for the invasion of the Japanese home islands when the Yanks dropped the nukes and the organisers called it off. He finished his service in Palestine & then Cyprus and often comments that he was only shot at by his allies. The French in France c/o enlistees in the Wehrmacht, a British aircraft on a straffing run in Belgium, the Jews & the Greeks. My mother had a more personal relationship with the Germans as she lived near the London Docks and they were determinedly trying to kill her from her 15th birthday in '40 till mid '45 first with bombs and, when that didn't work, rockets. They did manage to account for her brother whose Wellington 'failed to return' from a sightseeing trip over Tobruk. It's difficult to explain to her that English is no longer the language of choice in the streets where she grew up and that so many relatives and friends gave up their lives or limbs to defend.
Good. Now you know how it feels to be treadted differntly because of yor colour AND have your country invaded. You are all racists and should be recognised as such.
You idiot! (anon above)When Britain colonised or invaded it left a legacy of law and order and education second to none with people desperate for enlightenment.......why do you think they'd sell a granny to get here?By contrast an invasion of Third Worlders is contributing nothing of note to society as a whole, merely destroying a nation which evolved over centuries.
Racist is a hackneyed word now, daft little Lefties like you have overused it you see. Its now seen as a very patriotic thing to be and probably copying a little more of your little ethnic mates racism is just what we need to do?
Stop visiting their shops, let them get by on "asylum vouchers" and weekly slates, only patronise white premises even if you have to travel. Dont use ethnic services like taxi's or fast food joints. Let them cater for their high spending high rolling (sic) own kind, see how long they last?
Tottenham Lad, cant you arrange for your mums weekly shopping to be delivered to her door, this is something your local BNP group could organise, perhaps good for BNP youth to do something good for a proud old lady? Then any strolls she takes will be for her own exercise and pleasure, not to be insulted by refugees from the more backward parts of the world.
Helena makes an excellent point. I only wish I knew were to start boycotting them. I mean, how many of us are there offering the necessary services?
I go into shops all over Tottenham and have never been treated with hostility, despite being white and English - I've been out and about at night in Tottenham High Road for the past 20 years and yet have felt more threatened by the yobs being chucked out of the pubs on a weekend evening in Enfield.
Just thought I'd add some balance.
To add to Enfieldlad's comments as a Tottenham resident of 2 years I'd like to say I only feel anxious when the overwhelmingly white football fans are in the area! I do not consider myself racist, and have lived in many areas of the UK. Yes I do not choose to have my haircut at any of the primarily African/West Indian community hairdressers in the area, perhaps that is just a small prejudice on my part. However I've never had bad treatment in any shop on the high street and generally feel safe on the streets.
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