‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’

Oscar Wilde

There is a class of people that have positioned themselves atop the mass of black people in the United Kingdom. They are, self-proclaimed, ‘people of colour’, (seemingly anyone with at least one parent who is not fully white). This is the first requirement of entry for a place in the class. They are detached from the majority of other ‘people of colour’ by their upbringing, education, social status, wealth, outlook and rank. These differences are not considered disqualifying qualities for the role, but qualifying characteristics. Attainment of at least one of these is the second requirement. Having a prestigious platform and using it to disseminate assimilationist opinions on racial issues is the third requirement. When merged, the three prerequisites become authentication marks for members of a unified class.

Chuka Umunna, a ‘person of colour’ (one African parent), qualifies with the position of a politician (prestige), coupled with his education, wealth, outlook and rank (qualifying characteristics). His misuse of his prestigious platform concerning racial issues has been documented by The Ebony Muse.[1]  Mrs Afua Hirsh, ‘a mixed-race, black girl’[2] (in her own confusing words) eligible under the dubious ‘people of colour’ classification, has the prestige of being a writer in the vaunted left-wing media outlet The Guardian. As an Oxford Graduate, former barrister and author, Mrs Hirsh ‘with an African name and a middle-class upbringing’[3] is the darling of this class. Her misuse of her prestigious platform has also been well documented.[4] Gina Miller, born to the Singh’s, ‘parents of Indian descent’[5], in the South American Island of Guyana, was named ‘UK’s most influential black person in 2017.’[6] ‘I’m a woman, a woman of colour’[7], Miller stated in The Times, and who can doubt her eligibility with such a wonderfully liberal racial classification system evidently in existence. As ‘founding partner of wealth manager SCM Direct’[8] and anti-Brexit campaigner, she qualifies with both her colour and prestige. When her boarding school education is merged with the fact that she is ‘the daughter of a top QC and the former Attorney General of Guyana’[9], Miller begins to resemble a patrician of the baleful class. Kamala Harris, a ‘person of colour’ (one Caribbean & one Indian parent), and politician, merges this with her upbringing, education, wealth and outlook to qualify for what is starting to resemble a trans-Atlantic class. As ever, sportsmen and women hold a place of particular prominence in communities bereft of true political power and therefore hold a place in this malefic class. People such as MBE Raheem Sterling, ‘the England football star who took on the racists’[10] and MBE Lewis Hamilton, ‘who led Formula 1’s pre-race demonstrations promoting equality last year’[11] meet each pitiful criterion for entry.

Gina Singh Miller

Crucially, each member aspires to what is considered the highest honour within the class, white recognition manifested in receiving an appointment to the Order of the British Empire from the Queen. The OBE class have a shared political and social outlook. With unwavering uniformity, they are firm believers in the greatness of metropolitan England, considering its burgeoning diversity the source of her pre-eminence. Those who challenge the idea of an increasingly diverse England being the foundation of contemporary British greatness are the unrivalled bête noire of the OBE class. For the class, the idea that their own entry into English society was a catalyst to a, hitherto absent, elevated form of benevolent pre-eminence is a founding and enduring notion. The class is of the compassionate left ideologically, the safe space in British politics in which the class can articulate its tenets without the threat of reason. They subscribe to the British left’s principles of European unity, the global post-war bilateral order, ever-increasing aid to African nations, inflated social welfare systems, large scale immigration and a plethora of other left-wing staples. They are, in essence, little more than liberals of colour.

The members of the OBE class, as stated above, hold elevated vocational status and thus have access to their white liberal counterparts, who have a similar outlook and provide access to areas within the corridors of power. The platforms provided reinforce their position as members of a class that speak for black masses. In an age of mass media, members of the OBE class utilize the power of popular platforms to disseminate the ideas, beliefs, and grievances of the class. They are in the vanguard of contemporary debates on domestic race relations, issuing regular lamentations at what they consider painfully slow progress toward their aims. From the class emanate a cascade of outraged statements, articles, interviews, posts, and videos whenever there is a viral act of racism. Their indignant voices are used to shame their white counterparts into using their own power to initiate change and to pressurise conservatives into partaking. They, unlike the black masses, are able to articulate tangible examples of the impact of racism, a plethora of articles and books have been published to ensure the world is aware. The rapacious members of the class have thus monetized their sorrow, coupling their scholarly enterprise with a lucrative circuit of speaking events before hundreds of misguided listeners.

MBE Lewis Hamilton

As a class, race-based slights from other English nationals, regarding their status as truly English, is considered a casus belli like no other. No questions will be brooked by the class, from their white counterparts, about how their status as ‘people of colour’ impacts their Englishness. The class believe that its ‘true’ legacy and contribution to England has been suppressed by the British right (bête noire) and work zealously to promote what they deem a true reflection of the enduring impact on British society by ‘people of colour’. Everything from dark-skinned soldiers garrisoning Ancient Roman fortresses in Britain, to barefooted soldiers hauled forcibly from Africa to the firing line of European wars, is used to bolster their claim to have contributed to English greatness. Even moping the floors of hospitals and driving buses through London is now highlighted as part of a wider claim to participation in progress toward national greatness. The OBE haut bourgeoise, eager to weave themselves into the tapestry of English History, extoll the contribution of ‘people of colour’ to the British Empire, an entity which they also decry as the source of their long mournful list of sorrows.

The role played by the British Empire in forging the identity of the OBE class is considered the defining historical interaction in the annals of the black race and the class. All triumphs and failures have their source in the British Empire, a peculiar outlook that allows the class to accept Orders of the British Empire while hailing the removal of statues honouring historical figures of Imperial Britain. The ideological contradictions and racial equivocations which characterize the class are epitomised by David Olusoga. After receiving the ‘exhilarating and humbling news’, the historian declared himself ‘pleased’[1] to accept the Order of The British Empire from the Queen. ‘Is the acceptance of an honour linked to the empire a betrayal of those ancestors and that history?’[2] Olusoga pondered disgracefully, knowing well by any historical standard, to accept such an honour is at best ignoble. During Olusoga’s apparent ‘soul-searching’, he reached the conclusion that members of the OBE class are soulless and concluded that ‘What convinced me that the right thing was to accept the honour was thinking about one of the tangible downsides of declining it.’[3] Prestige is seductive.

Barack Obama & David Olusoga

The class excel in finding imaginary success in the dishonourable subjugation of Africa, his book Black and British: A Forgotten History is at best a distasteful attempt to glorify an oppressed people subjected to both servitude and racism solely to embellish his class. The Ebony Muse has highlighted the revisionist history of the class before, its betrayal of historical facts, and the raison d’état which is behind the redrafting of the black experience in imperial history.[1]

The class seek to enhance their own position within the country with an attempt to present their ancestors as integral contributors to Britain. Adroitly weaving their own ambitions with a movement in the United States, which has engulfed the United Kingdom. The class accepts imperial honours while calling for an all-encompassing revision of British history, in which their contribution is further recognised. While the masses march for the hope of inhabiting a society in which their colour is not a contributing factor toward their oppression, the class which already live bereft of crippling racism engage in a war of attrition for prestige with their wealthy white counterparts. They condemn white England when a report is released or BLM march, all the while quietly accepting honours and accumulating wealth due to their membership of the class.

Born in Lagos, to a Nigerian father and a British mother; Olusoga’s credentials as a member of the class, when coupled with that below, are unquestionable. He is a historian and member of the board of the Scott Trust. A single African parent and detachment from the black masses via rank, wealth, upbringing, education, social status, and outlook, Olusoga meets all requirements. The Guardian reported that: ‘Olusoga, a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which publishes the Guardian, has written extensively on the development of empire and the history of black people in Britain, including their involvement in the British military. He picked up his medal from the palace in January, when the Queen handed out her new year honours. He was cited for his services to history and community integration.’[2] Beneath the elaborate blandishment, the key phrase is ‘community integration’, better known as assimilation.

It is beneficial to societal harmony, when governing a country with migrants, to integrate those on the fringes of society into the dominant culture. It is a prudent political strategy for any government. The prominent members of the migrant communities, who are already usually partially integrated, are then faced with the choice of encouraging the masses to integrate completely with the dominant culture or retreat into their own migrant culture. Migrant communities with strong cultures are able to resist fully assimilating and thus retain essential cultural aspects which breathe continued life into generations. The OBE class, with a history based upon Olusoga’s dubious works, has no strong culture to withstand the strength of the dominant British culture and there is no will to do so. Assimilation grants the members a lofty position atop the mass of blacks and allows the retention of their privilege, prestige and qualifying characteristics. Therefore, the class have a vested interest in the continued assimilation of ‘people of colour’.

OBE David Olusoga

The weaving of this revisionist history is, we now see, central to the rising stock of the class. ‘We must teach black history’, Olusoga states unashamedly in The Guardian, knowing well that his revisionism will be at the forefront of the ‘black history’ being taught and that it is the class who will most benefit from this re-education of the masses. Olusoga observes that ‘this great wave of demonstrations (BLM) has achieved something comparable when it comes to race and racism. It has created, or perhaps uncovered, a previously unknown willingness on the part of millions to at least try to better understand the issues and engage in a process of self-education.’[1] Those who marched simply in the name of justice and looked for answers were met by a class waiting for such a moment. In such moments of societal rage and racial tensions one can truly earn their commendations from the Queen for ‘community integration’; up stepped the sinister class. With their lofty positions in British society already secure, they were able to speak from upon high about the tragedies befalling ‘people of colour’, articulate its impact to their white colleagues, and lead the charge back toward the beaten track of integration.  

Waiting in the wings with their stratagems, the class has reignited the beggarly calls for a diversified English History curriculum. Olusoga claims that ‘our (English) education system has, for decades, rejected pleas and requests made by two generations of black British people for black history to be made a core part of the national curriculum.’

The primary reasons the class are determined to see ‘black history’ as a core part of the curriculum are twofold. Firstly, the revisionist history that would be used to educate the masses would promote a glorification of the role of ‘black British people’ within the British Empire (mentioned above as what the class consider the defining historical interaction). This would allow for, in the estimation of the class, a shift in the perception by other racial groups in England (primarily white) that ‘people of colour’ should be held in higher national esteem. Again, we return to the dogged pursuit of the class to increase its prestige. In simple terms, if black British people as a whole gain prestige through a revision of the curriculum, the class which sits atop the masses will themselves be the greatest beneficiaries, particularly as they will be writing the history.

Secondly, the educational reform would progress the assimilation programme which the class are wedded to both ideologically and emotionally. As Olusoga claims, the reform would cover ‘a national blind spot, a gap in our collective knowledge that affects us all – black and white.’[1] We return to the greatest loathing of the class, its casus belli; questions over their status as truly English. There is a belief within the class that if the white population is properly educated, in revisionist history, that they will be so overwhelmed by the integral role played by the forebears of black British people that racism will dissipate. There is also a hope that they will be riven with guilt when made fully aware of the oppressive nature of the British Empire and the horrors suffered by ‘people of colour’. The war efforts of the First and Second World Wars are treasured moments of English history, which continue to encapsulate the national identity, and are still celebrated with reverence and ceremony. The class have identified these periods as the most effective way of endearing ‘people of colour’ to the white populous. In short, if generations of white children are taught that white and black fought side by side in the trenches for imperial England then the discrimination of the previous generations will be absent in those of the future.

This is a class with all-pervasive stratagems for ‘community integration’ and the subsequent prestige that will be conferred upon them. Why then, one must wonder, do the OBE class make no mention of establishing an institution of their own? Surely, with such esteemed academics within the class, the OBE class could pool their publishing profits and existing wealth and establish an educational institution. If there was truly a desire to take the lead in uplifting a race via intellectual and cultural independence, the obvious solution would be to build numerous institutions in which black British people would be able to progress free of oppression. However, as always, the aim is not liberation but assimilation, and the motivation is self-serving not benevolent.

Another series of defeats for the Labour Party, in the 2021 By-Elections, has further reinforced the fact that a detached and delusional left-wing elite have been presiding ineptly over masses in regions once considered party heartlands. The Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood said, ‘A London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors, has effectively captured the party. They mean well, of course, but their politics – obsessed with identity, division and even tech utopianism – have more in common with those of Californian high society than the kind of people who voted in Hartlepool yesterday.’[1] In describing the white liberal friends of the OBE class, Mahmood has also defined our own haut bourgeois of colour. They are little more than poor imitations of their white liberal colleagues.

To chart a course alone, where vaunted ‘blackness’ is the sole qualifying characteristic and those with influence wielded it in its name alone, is beyond the OBE class. Those who sit atop the mass of ‘black British people’, speaking and acting on their behalf, have no ambition to be independent in any arena. England has granted the OBE class rank, wealth, prestige and a platform; the war of attrition to attain a more secure place in British society is their sole aim. ‘The OBE, CBE and MBE are among the ways Britain honours its citizens for their contribution to national life,’ Olusoga mused while attempting to justify his galling lack of substance. ‘The only options on the table therefore are to accept or decline,’ he concludes, providing a timely reminder that historically our elites have never had enough honour to decline base offerings from Europeans.

‘I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon than such a Roman,[1] Shakespeare’s Marcus Brutus pronounces, separating himself from the dishonourable beings around him which also bore the name ‘Roman’. In our direful age, with the loathsome OBE class and its ‘black British’ members the acknowledged leaders of the masses, the words of Brutus are poignant. The masses alas, who hope simply to be stopped and searched less, to not be overlooked at work because of their colour and to have their children learn in schools free of racism are caught in the centre of a larger game. The OBE class have grander ambitions and play for higher stakes, the distant masses being disposable pawns in their war of attrition. While the mass of blacks remain in the gutter, the OBE class look to the lofty stars and howl aimlessly at the moon.  

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://ahseptimius.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/the-blundering-generals-leading-negrodom-to-death-part-ii-chuka-umunna/

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://ahseptimius.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/the-blundering-generals-leading-negrodom-to-death-part-one-afua-hirsch/

Benson, A. (2021, Feb 26). Lewis Hamilton pledges to ‘keep pushing’ in fight against racism. Retrieved from bbc.com: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56207491

Burden, E. (2019, March 2). Gina Miller: ‘Many people think I must have slept my way to the top’. Retrieved from thetimes.com: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gina-miller-many-people-think-i-must-have-slept-my-way-to-the-top-dnkwxrp8j

Carrick, A. (2020, July 10). ‘I was mistaken for a cleaner’, says Gina Miller. Retrieved from cityam.com : https://www.cityam.com/i-was-mistaken-for-a-cleaner-says-gina-miller/

Gayle, D. (2019, April 2). Word ’empire’ made accepting OBE difficult, says David Olusoga. Retrieved from theguardian.com : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/02/word-empire-made-accepting-obe-difficult-says-david-olusoga

HIRSCH, A. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from http://www.afuahirsch.com: https://www.afuahirsch.com/about/

Labour’s Khalid Mahmood says party has become ‘London-centric’. (2021, May 8). Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/08/labours-khalid-mahmood-says-party-has-become-london-centric

Mance, H. (2019, May 30). Raheem Sterling: the England football star who took on the racists. Retrieved from ft.com: https://www.ft.com/content/4822b158-819c-11e9-9935-ad75bb96c849

Miller, G. (n.d.). Gina Miller: My Battle Against Brexit. Retrieved from law.ac.uk: https://www.law.ac.uk/resources/blog/gina-miller-my-battle-against-brexit/

Olusoga, D. (2019, Jan 6). I dislike the link to empire, but it felt wrong to turn down an OBE. Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/06/i-dislike-the-link-to-empire-but-it-felt-wrong-to-reject-an-obe

Olusoga, D. (2020, June 15). Britain can no longer ignore its darkest chapters – we must teach black history. Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/15/britain-can-no-longer-ignore-its-darkest-chapters-we-must-teach-black-history

Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://shakespeare.mit.edu/julius_caesar/full.html

Siddique, H. (2019, Sep 24). Gina Miller: the woman who took on the UK government and won – twice. Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/24/gina-miller-the-woman-who-took-on-the-uk-government-and-won-twice

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