Multiculturalism in Birmingham, Part 2

         The dismay of the working class people in Birmingham is visible in the political voting patterns of recent years. The most notable thing that can be seen from this is the fact that the BNP gained a seat in Birmingham in 2006. The fact that such an extremist group gained so many votes only serves to demonstrate how bad the segregation issue actually is in Birmingham, http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2007/06/27/the_race_feature.shtml.   This article explores multiculturalism in Birmingham and how it has given rise to extreme political parties in the city. The opinions of ex-councillor Sharon Ebanks are expressed in this article. She formed her own political party, and her views are highly controversial. She believes that immigration is always bad, and that it is making ‘British’ people become extinct. But I do not understand how she can have this opinion when it is very hard to define what ‘Britishness’ actually is.

The history and traditions of a country are very important, but why should it only be people whose families have lived in Britain for a long time that should be defined as British. The future is just as, if not more, important than the past, as human beings we should always be aiming to better ourselves. One of the ways Birmingham and Britain as a whole will progress is by allowing people from different cultures to settle in our country, if they have the right intentions and are willing to work hard. Some people, including myself, believe that Birmingham’s diversity is a good thing. In the last few years Birmingham has narrowly missed out on two impressive titles, European capital of culture and the UK’s city of culture. These titles would have generated a lot of money for the city’s economy. 

The following article, http://birminghamcentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/birmingham-multicultural-welcome-to-uk.html, shows that Birmingham has the highest amount of people from different countries gaining British Citizenships. In my opinion Birmingham’s diversity is the reason that Birmingham’s future is bright. The combination of fresh new ideas from different cultures and the ambition of the Big City plan (http://bigcityplan.birmingham.gov.uk/), will ensure that  Birmingham will go on to become one of the world’s leading cities, due to its innovative creativity. People who visit the city will find the experience very enjoyable as they will be enriched by a furore of different cultural experiences; this is why multiculturalism must exist in Birmingham.