The man in the image above stands dominantly over the continent of Africa. The image shows the complete persona of an Englishman with detailed attire in an exaggerated stance in attempt to fully consume the continent. Without even giving Africa more than the most simplistic outline, this image references the complete act of British imperialism. After World War II, the British empire that was created during the era of European colonialism could no longer stand and the international a long with the national identity was threatened. Even as the basic cultural aspects lived on, the empire was no longer in tact, thus causing a struggle of national British identity on the homeland and abroad – which meant the persona shown in the image slowly declined.
As the war ended, the reshaping of British citizenship made a swift transition. The reshaping was a result of both a changing population in which more black immigrants were moving to England and the economic and political influences of the United States. Essentially, a “more exclusive concept of citizenship developed after the war”(Waters 215). With a more cohesive working class and a collective urge to hold on to British values led to insecurities that rejected anything out of the norm. This rejection led to racism that rested on the basis of the “contrasting behaviors”. The English considered themselves as being reserved and having self-control. They did not want to work with or fraternize with those “who don’t know how to behave” (Waters 224). To them, these ” dark strangers” could not be trusted and hardly possessed any admirable qualities.
Not only did they reject or hold racist sentiments against these ” dark strangers”, they also felt that their territory was being taken and their domestic livelihoods were threatened by these people. On the homeland, one women mentioned that when she entered into the “colored quarter “, [she] was immediately overcome with a sense of strangeness, almost of shock.” (Waters 256). The thought of being around them could not be entertained and immediate disgust displayed a generally accepted sentiment. To some English people, their feelings were reassured by the media. In the film Simba, a British planter in Africa was killed by the Mau Mau, a local African tribe, after investigating noises during his midday meal. Many films after the war depicted this very narrative. Films like this made it easy for the British people to accept the barbaric nature of these new black immigrants especially because their English counterparts were killed in a simple domestic setting while posing no threat to anyone.
These sentiments and falsehoods lead to more exclusivity in terms of English citizenship. Because there was a major shift in the economic and political dimensions of the British Empire after the war, the people struggled with securing their identity which lead to the ill sentiments towards the “dark strangers”.
Image:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa
Did the British have a reason to be afraid of the mass migration? Playing devils advocate the mass migration of Africans and other displace peoples lead to a new sense of nationalism strengthening the white population among whites and strengthening other groups within themselves but all would label themselves as English, British.