Guy Hewitt God can help us repair our disunited Kingdom

Guy Hewitt of the Church of England reflects on Windrush75 and the issues the country faces

THE FOREBODING that I felt five years ago during the commemoration of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, the symbol of modern, diverse Britain, has returned.

In 2018, the Windrush anniversary was overshadowed by the scandal and impacts of the ill-conceived ‘Hostile Environment’ policy, this year it is the “morally unacceptable” Illegal Migration Bill.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, emphasised that the legislation would “damage the UK’s interests and reputation at home and abroad” and could break the system of international cooperation for those confronted by or fleeing war, famine and conflict.

The Government’s recent walk back on some of the commitments that it made following the Windrush Lessons Learned Review along with the failure of the Windrush Compensation Scheme, due to its slow progress in offering pay-outs to victims, may vindicate those sceptics who in 2018 dismissed Windrush Day as political spin and a means to push the call for racial justice onto the political backburner.

In order to receive compensation, victims of the scandal are required to prove their case ‘beyond reasonable doubt,’ the standard of proof normally required to convict defendants in criminal courts rather than ‘on the balance of probabilities’ as is usually required in civil cases.

Nonetheless, Windrush Day is significant to the history of Britain. Many West Indians heeded the post-Second World War call from Britain to her then colonies for workers to migrate to England to address critical labour shortages.

Approximately 550,000 West Indians (nearly 15 percent of the Commonwealth Caribbean population) migrated. West Indians often did the low-pay, long-hour, shift jobs that White Britons rejected all the while paid discriminatory wages. Many faced immense hostility including the signs that read “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs”, the infamous Teddy Boys, and the race riots.

Notwithstanding these challenges, they persevered and out of their efforts helped to build institutions like the National Health Service and London Transport.

The most telling indication of the West Indian resolve is the Notting Hill Carnival.

This two-day event takes place on the same streets of Notting Hill where the 1958 race riots occurred. With some blood and much toil, sweat and tears, they played a pivotal role in building a modern Britain.

It has been a trying journey to Windrush 75. The observance of Stephen Lawrence Day and the 30th anniversary of the murder occurred in the shadow of the Casey report which confirmed the perpetuation of “institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism” in the Metropolitan Police Service. Similarly, notwithstanding the proclamation by King Charles III, that our nation’s diversity is its greatest strength, this latent power is yet to be realised as the Kingdom is disu- nited ethnically. Desmond Tutu, a titan of Anglicanism, noted that reconciliation isn’t easy as it is rooted in acknowledging wrongdoing and as such demands truth-telling. Britain still struggles to confront its racist history.

Tutelage

Even today, some try to suggest that Empire and colonialism were benevolent – a system of ‘benign tutelage’ founded on Christian principals while providing ‘civility’ and ‘modernisation.’ However, the reality was quite different, There was no greater corruption of the Gospel that the odious comingling of religion, politics and wealth accumulation to the institutionalisation of transatlantic slavery.

This great crime against humanity that enriched nations and individuals alike and provided the financial and organisational means to develop our modern world, was devised politically, constructed legally, justified scripturally, and accepted socially.

Britain’s domination of the seas, the slave trade and plantation slavery economies allowed it to become an economic superpower.

This historic reality was linked contemporarily at the

Lambeth Palace Library exhibition Enslavement: Voices from the Archives. The exhibit formed part of the Church’s truth-telling and the beginning of a journey of reconciliation with historic links to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

Such a journey of reconciliation will neither be swift nor easy. Generations of injustice cannot be healed overnight.

At the opening, the archbishops of Canterbury, West Africa, and the West Indies gathered symbolising a transformation of the historically abhorrent ‘triangle-trade’ into a modernday triangle of hope, including the £100 million investment fund to create better futures, including for those who suffered the legacies of slavery.

Following that event, the Archbishop of Canterbury invited Dr Howard Gregory, the Archbishop of the West Indies and Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to lead a group of bishops from the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI) to visit dioceses across England and participate in the national service on June 22 at Southwark cathedral to celebrate the 75th anniversary.

I have dedicated my life to proclaiming a social gospel rooted in justice, equality and inclusion including advocacy around the Windrush scandal.

Aware of the walking back on commitments previously and the persistent struggle for persons to access compensation – I am not naïve to the fact that we are still a long way off from a point where the colour of a person’s skin is of no more significance that the colour of their eyes.

However, I continue to labour to honour the lives and legacies of Kelso Cochrane, Stephen Lawrence, Paulette Wilson, George Floyd and other victims of racism, pressing on with the struggle for justice for all by faith, in hope and with love.

Racism is not a stain to be washed away but a gaping wound that needs to be cleansed by truth-telling and reconciliation in order to heal. However, rather than being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task, we should go forward keeping faith that God’s peace, justice and love are with us.

With God’s help and the many blessings offered to us by being true to the Gospel, we shall overcome. Let’s keep hope alive and continue our walk of faith.