Posted on 09/25/2007 6:41:35 PM PDT by blam
'Rewrite British history to reflect other cultures'
By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:48pm BST 25/09/2007
Parts of British history need to be rewritten to emphasise the roles played by other races and religions like Muslims, a prominent race relations campaigner has said.
Trevor Philips, the chairman of the new Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, said the history of Britain did not properly reflect the contribution of other cultures.
Rewriting the country’s history would demonstrate to Britons in the 21st century how other groups apart from Anglo Saxons shaped the nation.
He told a fringe meeting at the Labour conference: "We may need to revisit our national story – we want to rewrite that story to tell the whole story."
The rewriting should start with the story of how the English fleet led by Sir Francis Drake fought off the Spanish Armada in 1588, he said.
The important role played by the Muslim Turks, who delayed the sailing of the Spanish fleet so that the English ships were better prepared, had been airbrushed out of the story however.
Mr Phillips said: "When we talk about the Armada, it was the Turks who saved us because they held up the Armada after a request from Elizabeth I.
"Let’s rewrite that, so we have an ideal that brings us together so that it can bind us together in stormy times ahead in the next century."
Mr Phillips, the former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, declined to offer any other examples of parts of British history that should be rewritten.
He also said that he supported a campaign by the musician Billy Bragg for a new written constitution to define what it means to be British in the 21st century.
"We have to have an expression that is native and right for us," he said.
"We have to have a more explicit set of understandings under which we can all live together."
Mr Phillips, who was educated at Queen’s College Boys School in Guyana, also suggested that there should be a set celebration for when people were given British nationality.
Nationality lessons were necessary because people were moving around the country more than ever before, providing less opportunities to integrate. Last year 6.5 million people moved house, he said.
Earlier this week Mr Phillips said that economic migrants could be forced to make a bigger contribution to the cost of public services.
Mr Phillips said that some migrants who stay in the UK only for a short time should pay more for the use of schools and hospitals.
And how would this weenie go about re-writing the account of Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732?
Will this be accompanied by other countries rewriting their histories to reflect the contributions of the British?
With the right Ad agency, anything is possible. /s
Someone needs to take a cricket bat to that guy’s head.
Easy: If it wasn't for curry fries, tikka masala and donner kabobs, the British would starve to death.
rewritting history. The favorite pastime of liberals.
Yes, but only using terms like "oppressor", "hegemonist", "imperialist", "colonializer", "tyrant", "overlords" and the like.
The equation works like this: West = bad. All else = good. Or, more simply, everything you know or have ever been taught = wrong. Revisionist lies, claptrap, and propaganda = right.
Comprende?
But if it keeps them from sawing our heads off, isn't it all worth it?
In Mark Steyn’s book “America Alone” he says if you ever doubt Great Britain’s contribution to the world ask yourself one question. “Would you rather do business in a country that was once a British Colony or one that wasn’t?” The answer of course is a no brainer.
I believe that's simply absurd. As far as I am aware, that unsupported hypothesis has only been around for only a few years, and there is virtually no evidence for it that I am aware of save for one very questionable article.
Since we are talking about very well-known events from 1588, surely some historian earlier than 2004 would have made some mention of any significant Turkish participation.
I am sure that we Americans can help. We have already rewritten American history to make it politically correct.
“1066 and All That” is the only text needed to fully integrate diverse people into the United Kingdom.
http://www.amazon.com/1066-All-That-W-Sellar/dp/0750917164
Once they can laugh at this, they’re Brits!
And it disgusts me no less than the tripe at the top of this page.
It is incumbent upon us to teach our children and grandchildren the oral history of our nation and others...which cannot be rewritten...so that charlatans such as Mr. Trevor Phillips can be recognized and ridiculed for the fools they are.
Well, I guess the time had to come for the Brits to accept the truth about so many unpleasant realities of history.
You heard it hear first.
Prince Charles is really Bat Boy!
Let’s see. Muslim history= killings killings killings. There, not too much to add.
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