My first instinct is to always disagree with Kemi Badenoch - and usually that instinct is right - but I have no problem with what she's saying here.
There are 2 parts to identity: what we are & what we feel. She no longer possesses a Nigerian passport. And she no longer feels Nigerian.
If we say she can't stop being Nigerian, we're silently saying she can't start being British.
In the Nigerian community it's an insult to say a person has lost their Nigerianness. We're happy she's lost hers.
Cuture is ALL Mixed now? (100% British + 20% Nigerian + Other culture levels? 🎚️🎚️🎚️ or bars 📊 )
@davidnjoku Few replies (interesting topic)...
1A/ "We're happy she's lost hers."
⬅️ who's we? You mean you / Nigerian community?
1B/ And why are you happy / what difference does it make to you?
2/ While I feel it's fine for a person to say that, the wording of the post seems to miss or avoid the kind of answer of 'both' a bit of being Nigerian and British (like 20% Nigerian and 100% British)
Depends on how she is saying it but I think you can have more cultures so the %'s can be like levels of culture and not just always 100% of 1 culture or nothing..
Being British might be just a status or State identity thing also right? Well it is mostly as you can exist without it (without being a tax number or seeing it as payment from safety from the colonial oppressor type thing)
So just maybe living British IS having other cultures mixed in IS ALWAYS NON-BRITISH NOW as it's almost never the pure sense (if that ever existed!).
British = mixed people / culture now❗
No more old British or starting to be Nigerian - you're likely mixed of every single one like the cultures you work and have a laugh with.
A passport is just a capture device / tool for arbitrary capture / membership not representing your actual culture.
Like you would have a snooker membership or English cultural lawn bowling membership - it's not all you :)
(a bit jokey but you ge the membership is not your actual culture or even reality as a symbol or logo on a small book called passport)
I think the above is quite solid -
Might be unnecessary to say:
🇳🇬 #Nigeria only gained independence from #Britain 🇬🇧 since 1960...
so
🇬🇧 🚢🚢🚢 ➡️ 🇳🇬 🔫 / 🌍 / 🔥
and then after some time...
🇳🇬 👫 🚢🚢🚢 ➡️ " 🇬🇧 " 👫 now "British"
@freeschool You're right, I don't get to speak for the whole British-Nigerian community. Speaking for myself, I've never been proud of Badenoch. She's the type of populist politician I dislike. She also bad mouths Nigeria a lot, so maybe she'll stop now.
It's 100% possible to have multiple identities. I'm 100% British *and* 100% Nigerian.
But if Badenoch feels that she's now 0% Nigerian, that's totally her right.
@davidnjoku I was so glad to hear what you thought as it sounds level headed to the extent that maybe if I disagreed with you, still the conversation could take place (which I don't think is common or short-lived), so that's why I am messaging again...
I was thinking... what if people could ask about taboo topics or sensitive race question - maybe not all - but perhaps something along these lines to give idea:
- A Nigerian point of view of other Nigerians (accepting there are many, maybe all individual but perhaps have some commonalty but your experience / logical look at things over time passed or in the past )
- Your heritage (again as you see it, not to judge but maybe a bit of your judgement)
- View of British people (riskier but again from a point of view with logic explained feels better than when it's a off-hand reply we see in arguments about money or something else in between people)
Those are just some examples... Welcome to let me know what you think... Thanks. As extra incentive I think these talks over the internet can dispel the myths a lot more about this or that section of community and should be fairly ok to say for example 'what I see mostly is Nigerians as over-working or changing their culture etc etc;...
Like at one point I saw Nigerians only as the parking inspectors or penalty ticket givers... is not a great example but it real and I guess talking would allow me to see more... even though maybe this doesn't need to be 100% focused on Nigerians or xyz since we're all getting more and more mixed as British...
So I guess coming full circle that answers some of it but I kinda liked the idea of us representing our history a bit more as far comfortable talking about it.... maybe say if the idea seems clear before anything or if better way to share about culture a bit more a bit more like Kemi Badenoch.
