'What's wrong with Birmingham?'

tionalists nor the progressives. Samy Fawzy Shehata, the archbishop of Alexandria in Egypt, told the synod that ‘crossing this line of blessing same-sex unions will alienate 75 per cent of the Anglican Communion’. For progressives, this is another example of the church’s failure to recognise the dignity of LGBTQI+ members. With this refusal to recognise the equal status of marriage, the commitment and love of samesex partners is questioned. When you thought that there is a sudden shift towards progress that ugly head rears again. There were some jaw-dropping pronouncements from the Synod such as that included a bishop suggesting gay marriages would lead to polyamory and another member of the Synod likening Pride celebrations to paedophilia!

'Crossing this line of blessing same-sex unions will alienate 75 per cent of the Anglican Communion’.

Jasmine Belle discusses why there is a negative stigma around Birmingham and urges people to deconstruct the origins of their opinions

Jasmine Belle Spanish

and Italian, Second Year

Ihave experienced on many occasions at university that moment when I tell people where I am from, and a barrage of negative opinions spill out of their mouths. ‘My dad told me I could go to any university but not Birmingham’, ‘I know someone who got mugged there three times’ or (my favourite) ‘Birmingham is a fun place … don’t, get me wrong it is a sh*thole though’. When asking one of these people ‘Have you ever actually been to Birmingham?’, their response was ‘No, thank God not.’ ern. Or perhaps it is the notoriously unpopular accent (which I do not think is bad at all). When being told I am lucky I do not have this accent, it is not at all a compliment.

In my opinion, this negative attitude toward Birmingham is often an unconscious bias. We are a city of immigrants; always have been and very much still are. From the Irish immigrants who dug out the canals (the city has more than Venice), to the folk of the Windrush generation (including my grandfather from St Kitts), people from South Asia, West Africa, Eastern Europe, the list goes on.

51 per cent of Birmingham’s population are people of colour according to the 2021 census mine trust within the Anglican Communion and be seen in some of the poorest countries of the world as a new imperialism’. Stephen Kaziimba, the archbishop of Uganda, was emphatic when he said: ‘God cannot bless what he calls sin. The C of E has departed from the Anglican faith and are now false teachers’.

Birmingham is a city that is always moving, its identity constantly in flux.

To ride roughshod over the traditionally held views on marriage in Africa and to introduce progressive ideas of inclusivity and equality could be seen as expressions of new moral imperialism

Here lies the dilemma for the CoE: to ride roughshod over the traditionally held views on marriage in Africa and to introduce progressive ideas of inclusivity and equality could be seen as expressions of new moral imperialism. Even if the CoE would like to bring radical measures to address the historical injustices against LGBTQI+ people and grant them full recognition as they deserve, it could still be seen as a cavalier measure. The worst fear for the CoE at the moment is a massive exodus of African churches from the worldwide Anglican communion in order to forge their own identity based on church’s traditional teachings on marriage. The shots have already been fired and the upper echelon of CoE is pleasing neither the tradi-

The CoE still yields an enormous power over the inhabitants of this land where there are 26 bishops sitting in the Upper House of Parliament. Not only this but also it runs a quarter of all primary schools and over 200 secondary schools attended by a million children.

The church has a responsibility to be a shining beacon to those millions who may not share communion with them. Did not Jesus, the undeniable guiding light of Christians, say ‘let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’. And in another place did he not reprimand against quasi piety and say ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’?

There is an ingrained national prejudice against Birmingham

It astounds me how the people who express these opinions do not seem to show any regard for how I might feel about my own city. Do they not realise it is insulting to openly criticise where someone else is from, especially when they don’t even know the person or place? Surely, if we were talking about other aspects of my identity, such as race or religion, they would think twice.

Therefore, my only conclusion from these encounters is that there is an ingrained national prejudice against my city. Make no mistake, I was aware of this before I left for Bristol.

However, hearing the opinions of non-Brummies at university has made this crystal clear.

Birmingham is the second biggest city in the UK with a population of over 1 million. We are, also, the youngest city in Europe (with the highest fraction of people under the age of 25) and one of the greenest in the continent. Most people I speak to at uni are not even aware of this first fact (no, the second biggest city is NOT Manchester); testament to how overlooked we are.

So why is it that so many people have a prejudice against my city?

Perhaps our lack of recognition as a city comes from our geographical location. Birmingham sits in the heart of England, the Midlands. This puts us in the precarious position of being neither Northern nor South-

I think that the fact there are so many people from different ethnic backgrounds (51 per cent of Birmingham’s population are people of colour according to the 2021 census) causes people from particularly white, middle-class areas of the country to struggle to identify with the city.

Therefore, they unconsciously have a negative view of it.

This is intrinsically linked to Birmingham’s history as a working-class city and a pivotal location during the industrial revolution. It’s no wonder that the formerly named ‘Workshop of the World’ and ‘The City of a Thousand Trades’ has attracted

The industrial heritage of Birmingham may mean that the city is not conventiuonally attractive as somewhere like Bristol many immigrants over the years.

Of course, this industrial heritage may mean that the city is not as conventionally attractive as somewhere like Bristol. However, it is important to recognise that it is cities like Birmingham that have fuelled the construction of the rest of the country. It is working-class people and immigrants who have been at the forefront of this. It is concerning how this intersection of race and class seem to influence our society’s perception of a place. All in all, I hope that anyone reading this will think twice when tempted to say something disparaging about my city. Try and deconstruct where your opinions come from and why you think this. If you have never visited, please, keep your opinions to yourself!