Braverman: ‘Don’t make people feel guilty for being white’
Former home secretary says it is dangerous and wrong to call the countryside racist
WHITE people must not be made to feel guilty for being white, Suella Braverman has said amid a row over claims that the countryside is racist.
In an article for The Telegraph, the former home secretary says that suggesting the countryside is not welcoming to ethnic minorities because it is a “predominantly white environment” is wrong, dangerous and disempowering.
Her comments come after a group of wildlife charities, including the National Trust, RSPCA and World Wildlife Fund, said that the countryside was a “racist and colonial” space where people of colour were often framed as “out of place”. The Telegraph revealed that a report by Wildlife and Countryside Link, a charity umbrella group, said that a perception that green spaces were “dominated by white people can prevent people from ethnic minority backgrounds from using [them]”.
Mrs Braverman says: “This [view] is not just wrong but dangerous. We need to stop making white people feel guilty for being white.”
She adds: “It’s wholly disempowering for ethnic minorities to be judged by skin colour rather than by character.”
Wildlife and Countryside Link, which has 80 member organisations, made the claim last week in evidence provided to Parliament on racism and its influence on the natural world.
The report stated: “It is white British cultural values that have been embedded into the design and management of green spaces and into society’s expectations of how people should engage with them. Racist colonial legacies that frame nature as a ‘white space’ create further barriers, suggesting that people of colour are not legitimate users of green spaces.”
Mrs Braverman, 43, whose parents are of Indian origin and came to Britain in the 1960s, said that she had “not once” experienced hostility in 30 years of regular holidays camping in the British countryside.
Her comments echo her previous criticism of Left-wing politicians for being “ashamed” of Britain’s colonial past, saying that she was “proud” of the British Empire.
Many institutions have sought to reassess their work to consider race and diversity issues in recent years. Museums have reviewed and relabelled collections to reflect links to slavery and universities have been criticised for efforts to “decolonise” curriculums.
Mrs Braverman calls the wildlife groups’ claims naive and based on a Beatrix Potter vision of the countryside, when, in fact, rural communities suffered poverty and deprivation as acute as urban areas. She says: “To claim that the countryside is racist is one of the most ridiculous examples of Left-wing identity politics. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem within our society – the urge to constantly view everything through the lens of race or gender, plead victimhood and point the finger at an oppressor.”
To demonstrate her love of the countryside, Mrs Braverman shared family pictures of herself camping with her parents in the 1980s, riding horses in the Brecon Beacons and battling blizzards in the Cairngorms.
So maybe putting up a tent in gale force winds, each gust bringing another torrent of heavy rain, isn’t everyone’s idea of fun. Yes, the tent was wet on the inside. Yes, our sleeping bags were damp. But boy, did we cherish waking up to the twinkling sound of songbird and the sweet scent of petrichor to enjoy our Full English, made al fresco, in the warm Newquay sunshine.
Nor, perhaps, is it much of a laugh to lose your eight-year-old in a blizzard in the Cairngorms. A parent’s nightmare. An ordeal faced by my mum and dad, but thanks to the help of fellow hikers, they found me.
Yes, the countryside brings peculiar challenges. But racism? No way!
That’s why I was somewhat surprised to read last week that, according to the Wildlife and Countryside Link charity, the countryside is systemically racist and is an environment feared to be “dominated by white people”.
I can’t recall worrying about “colonial legacies framing nature as a white space” while riding horses in the Brecon Beacons. Nor were we fighting racism while hiking in the Lake District. We were more interested in finding the best pub lunch.
To claim that the countryside is racist is one of the most ridiculous examples of Left-wing identity politics. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem within our society – the urge to constantly view everything through the lens of race or gender, plead victimhood and point the finger at an oppressor. Whether it’s the patriarchy, or colonial masters, this desperation to divide society is ripping through our institutions, creating a culture of fear and self-censorship.
This is why it’s essential to challenge this ideology relentlessly, wherever we see it. The premise of the charity’s bonkers report is that, as a predominantly white environment, the countryside is not welcoming to ethnic minorities. Sadly, we’ve come to expect this kind of hokum from civil society and the public sector. There are several problems with this approach.
Firstly, just because there are more white people than non-white people somewhere does not make it racist. The UK is a majority-white country, so of course there will be many areas where there is very little, and sometimes no, ethnic minority participation. I do not see a problem.
People are different, they have different interests and inclinations. Ethnic minority people tend to live in urban areas. Does that make Wembley, (where I come from and which is now a majority non-white area), racist because there are fewer white people who live there? Of course not.
Secondly, my own experience tells a very different story. Since my childhood, my family and I have spent countless holidays camping, fruitpicking, hiking and getting lost in blizzards. My parents took up camping in the 1980s for practical reasons: money was tight and it was cheap, child-friendly and we could take the dog. Every summer we would pile the car boot full of sleeping bags and gas canisters and head outdoors.
It made such a refreshing change to London and we’d always come home with new friends and lots of stories. Not once in 30 years did we experience hostility. If anything, on the rare occasion that I’ve experienced racism – the crass street-level type – I’ve been in the city, never in the sticks.
Third, this is all based on a naive view of the countryside. One of Beatrix Potter and The Darling Buds of May. When poverty, vulnerability to flooding and storms and poor access to good schools and health services are some of the big issues facing rural communities. Ethnic minorities do not have a monopoly on deprivation.
Lastly, this is not just wrong but dangerous. We need to stop making white people feel guilty for being white. Critical race theory, white privilege and unconscious bias should be constantly debunked as Left-wing militancy. It’s wholly disempowering for ethnic minorities to be judged by skin colour rather than by character.
Why cast me as a victim and rob me of my agency? Why foster resentment? The truth is that so many people are terrified to challenge this groupthink which is taking over our country. They’re scared of being labelled racist and losing their job. Best just keep your head down, they think. But we cannot become self-censured identikit automatons who parrot the same Orwellian newspeak. It’s why a Labour government would be so dangerous and why we need to fight back.
The countryside is a jewel in the crown of Britain. I’m so grateful for all the lessons about nature, beauty, family and friendship it taught me. Let’s focus more on investing in our countryside so that everyone can enjoy it, regardless of skin colour or confected victimhood.
‘We cannot become selfcensured identikit automatons who parrot the same Orwellian newspeak’