HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF by Lambert Pereira (Class of 59)

[Andrew George]

A few days ago, on a superbly sunny afternoon at my home in West London, I was reclining in my deck chair, poring through the daily newspaper and sipping a refreshing glass of sangria. My attention was suddenly drawn skywards to the squeaking and cawing of two birds evidently in aerial combat. To appease my curiosity I immediately went indoors to fetch a pair of binoculars. By the time I returned to my deck-chair the birds in question were perched on opposite sides of the rooftop chimney – a perch normally ‘reserved’ for cooing doves. Closer inspection of the combatants revealed a black crow and a white seagull. Seemingly they had called a ‘time-out’ on their warmongering. The thought then passed my mind ‘the black v white conflict even happens in the animal kingdom, in this case with the bird species’. This was my cue to write the following reflection of my thoughts on the oft-repeated term ‘Black Lives Matter’ in recent days, following the horrific murder of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, USA – an event that has been rightly condemned and has caused outrage worldwide.

I am a confirmed pacifist and a retired pensioner of Asian (Goan) origin, born and brought up in Kenya, a former British colony, in a traditional Catholic family. Being that I am in my late 70’s, and also one of the many forced to stay indoors as a result of a global pandemic, I am not able to participate in marches or the type of demonstrations that have taken place in various cities in the world. However, as one who has been totally repulsed by the crime upon a fellow- human being  in the USA – a crime that has been committed on numerous occasions in that country in the past – I felt that I had to give vent to my feelings of regret, disgust and aggrievement. If the event can arouse such sentiments in myself, it is not difficult to understand the feelings and reactions of black families and individuals all across the globe. It is also not difficult to sympathise with the family of George Floyd who no doubt will be deeply saddened and grieving at this time. They can, and must, take comfort in the knowledge and belief that millions the world over share their grief and pain.

The annals of history are littered with tales of terrifying wars and conflicts either between different nations, different tribes or different religions. The main ones that come to mind are World Wars 1 and 2, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Afghan War. Whatever the reason that triggered these wars, one common denominator that does characterise them is, ‘ man’s inhumanity to man’ or boiled down to just one word – HATRED - hatred based on national, tribal, religious, cultural or racial differences. As a consequence, thousands of men, women and even innocent children, have been killed or left crippled for the rest of their lives. Families have become decimated and demoralised, and all because power-hungry dictators or rulers of countries or kingdoms were hell-bent on promoting agendas of supremacy. 

Fast forward to the present, and history repeats itself, with hatred once again rearing its ugly head in racial conflicts all over the world. More pertinently, in the USA, thanks to extensive media coverage, the world witnessed the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a white policeman in Minneapolis. I daresay, if one were to dig deep into the mind of that policeman to ascertain what prompted him to commit such a gruesome and provocative act, he would most likely come up with one answer – hatred – hatred of another race, in this case the black race. There is no denying that racial prejudice is inherent in all of mankind, in different degrees of course. Why, even in biblical times, thousands were put to the sword by rival factions based on differences of caste or creed - Jews v Gentiles, Israelites v Egyptians, Greeks v Romans.

When in Kenya, I lived in a largely cosmopolitan city of Nairobi, where there was harmony and tolerance amongst all races and creeds including the local Africans – be they from the Kikuyu, Luo or Masai tribes. However, I have to confess to a subtle form of discrimination against anyone or everyone who was not of Goan origin, believing perhaps that I belonged to a superior race. The truth in fact was that at the time the white British rulers were in the ascendancy and all others were meant to bow down to their dictates. This obviously caused resentment and hatred, particularly amongst the indigenous population, and thereby led to the so-called Mau Mau rebellion under the leadership of various native ‘freedom fighters’. 

The most prominent was these was a man of Kikuyu descent, named Jomo Kenyatta, who was to become the first President of the Republic of Kenya following independence in 1963. During the foregoing period of turmoil and curfews, many were to lose their lives, locals and white farmers alike. Independence was greeted with great cries of ‘Uhuru’ (freedom) with the majority indigenous Kenyans thrilled at the prospect of better lives after years of colonial rule. Post independence, the Kenyan Government charted a course of Africanisation, which led to many other ethnic minorities being asked to choose between Kenyan citizenship or be prepared to be evicted from the country. This led to the so-called Exodus of many families, mostly Asian, who happened to have British citizenship, by virtue of being born in a British colony. There soon followed a desperate attempt by all concerned to obtain air-travel tickets and to take the first available flight out of Kenya to Great Britain. I too was on a BA flight in early 1968 and England has been my country of residence ever since.

Emigrating to a new country in the 60’s was truly a major upheaval for all concerned, with new homes and new jobs to find - that too at a time when racial prejudice against all foreigners was highly prevalent. Immigrants were treated with disdain and cold-shouldered by the locals and one had to have a hard-skin to endure the torments and racial abuse on many occasions. Thankfully, I was one with such a hard-skin, having primed myself to the notion and practice of racial prejudice, and being that I myself practised such prejudice in years gone-by. Nevertheless, by dint of perseverance, hard work and trust in God, homes were rented and jobs were obtained by the new immigrants, despite the numerous hurdles that had to be overcome.  It was very common in those times to see notices posted on front doors of some houses with the words ‘ No Blacks, No Irish , No Pakis’ .  Evidently, prior to the Asians coming to the UK from East Africa,  there had been immigration of black families from the Caribbean as well as scores of Irish families from Ireland, all seeking to eke out a living in what they reckoned was a tolerant and welcoming country. Regrettably, we all had to learn about in-tolerance the hard way. Successive UK Governments have steadily been forced to accept the ‘true face of immigration’ and then proceeded to enact laws that forbade discrimination against ethnic minorities.

However, despite such enactments, racial prejudices and tensions still persisted leading to race riots in London, and other cities like Bristol and Birmingham, areas that had become populated with various immigrant races. In 1993, there was the ghastly killing in south-east London of a black youth, Stephen Lawrence, by a gang of white youths. Regrettably, the police and legal authorities took a long time in bringing the culprits to justice.  Finally, in 2012, nineteen years later, convictions and life sentences were handed out to two members of the gang that took part in the murder.  A commission of inquiry, The Macpherson Enquiry, that was set up by the then Government to look into this crime, concluded that there was evidence of ‘institutional racism’ within the Metropolitan Police force. There is no doubt in my mind that such ‘institutional racism’ exists in other organisations like H.M Prisons, the Armed Forces and perhaps the Civil Service too.  Over the years there have been various other occasions when black and other ethnic minorities have been subjected to racial abuse. I recall that at sporting events like football matches, football authorities and stewards too, were unable or unwilling to stop the carrying of bananas which were thrown at certain footballers – black (born in the UK) or imported - even though such men were largely the ones who thrill genuine followers of the game with their skills, adaptability, admirable patience and resignation. In later years former immigrants, and their UK born children and grand-children have been educated at schools and colleges, in the ‘adopted’ country, and the indigenous British people have somewhat been compelled to accept the ‘status quo’ . Many have become more tolerant, despite the existence of covert racial bias when it comes to jobs and housing. This form of prejudice will, in my view, never change entirely.  So one just has to resign oneself to it or find other pastures to graze upon where perhaps there is a state of peaceful co-existence! 

I now turn to the race scene in the USA. Historical records suggest that right back from the times of Native Americans being the first occupants of this nation, to the hiring of black slave labour by successive white settlers in various states, racist overlords have openly exhibited racist behaviour towards the under-privileged classes – the ethnic minorities.  Many bloody battles have been waged on the open plains and high mountains between families of white settlers, largely of English origin i.e Puritans or Quakers, and the Native American tribes ( often referred to as Red Indians) like the Apache, Sioux, Cherokee and Comanche. The names of chieftains like Sitting Bull, and revolutionaries like Geronimo and Cochise were to become legendary in American history. One battle in particular, the battle at Little Big Horn, was to see the demise of the famous US army colonel, Colonel George Custer. In the 1860’s the American Civil War between the Unionists in the North and the Confederates in the South , was to claim hundreds of young lives, including many black and Native Americans, before the eventual surrender in 1865 by the Confederate General Robert E. Lee, to his Union rival, General Ulysses S.Grant. Other battles were also waged with the Mexicans in the south and the Cubans in the north, mostly for self-preservation or for land rights. Movie producers in Hollywood have made many exhilarating and gripping films, featuring famous actors like John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, James Stewart and Clint Eastwood, to name but a few. Such movies vividly captured the conflicts, savagery and deaths that occurred in those pioneering days, when guns and horses were used to barter or to settle any or every argument or right of ownership of land.

Despite the abolition of slavery in 1865, plus the elections of the first African-Americans, Adam Powell to the Congress in 1944, Condoleeza Rice, to the post of  Secretary of State and Barack Obama to the post President both in 2001,  there have been multiple incidents of riots in various US cities over the years. These riots were as a result of the acquittal of white police officers who had killed African-Americans in those cities.  In 1957 state troops were called upon to enforce the integration of a black pupil in a school at Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1968, the noted civil-rights campaigner, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, famous for his ‘I have a dream speech’, was assassinated in Memphis, Tennesse, by a white fugitive, James Ray, possibly at the instigation of extremist organisations like the Klu Klax Klan (KKK), who openly promoted racial hatred and bias against blacks and other ethnic races in those times. The self-confessed James Ray was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, despite others claiming responsibility for the crime. Conspiracy theories abounded with some alleging involvement of the FBI and the Mafia in this crime. The assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy was also blamed on his support for ethnic minorities. 

So what of the future for race relations in the USA and the rest of the world ?  Sadly, with the tendency of ‘history repeating itself’ it is hard to envisage a kind of Utopian future where all races can enjoy lives of peaceful co-existence. Granted that historically there have been positive developments in the world, like the winds of change that swept across colonial rule in Africa, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the bringing down of the Berlin Wall in Germany, and the truce between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. However, the world is still engulfed in conflicts and strife, more so in the Middle East and South East Asia. With politicians like Trump in America and Kim Juyong in North Korea, emboldened by high office, seeking to pursue dangerous agendas, peace-loving nations can only pray and hope for the best. The onset of the global pandemic has certainly curtailed the escalation of conflicts in various parts of the world. Furthermore, over-populated countries like Brazil, India and even China, where the pandemic originated, have been adversely affected. Great Britain and the USA has already suffered trying to cope with Covid-19, and economic downturn and recession has been predicted for these nations in the ensuing years.

Future conflicts, and even wars, fanned by the flames of racial prejudices and greed for power and domination of the under-dogs in society, will continue to instil fear and pessimism in humankind. I believe that there has to be a massive change of heart and mind of world leaders, either those elected or those claiming dictatorship, so that nations can come to live in peace and harmony. I also believe that the younger generation should be made aware of the fact that the world is comprised of richer and poorer nations, and one must strive to reduce the imbalance, the hunger and suffering. This can only be done through education of the children of today, by both parents and teachers. Despite differences of race, creed and culture, we are all born equal in the eyes of God in whom we trust to deliver us from evil and to bring promise, peace and prosperity to all peoples on earth. This must be the mantra of all politicians, educationalists, and administrators who, with due diligence and goodwill, could and should bring about changes so desperately needed in today’s world.  Amen! 

I welcome any comments

Written by Lambert de Lourdes Pereira  (June 2020)