Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart

This morning Word Magazine withdrew support for an article they published repeating and agreeing with NME's claims that Morrissey is racist:

It has been drawn to the Defendants’ attention that the closing paragraphs of Mr Quantick’s article could have been construed to suggest that Mr Morrissey was a racist, held racist opinions or that (as the child of migrant parents) he was a hypocrite. The article suggested that Mr Morrissey has in the past paid lip service only to anti-racism.

The Defendants never intended the article to have the meanings suggested above and wish to make absolutely clear that they disassociate themselves entirely from any such inferences that might be drawn from the article. The Defendants accept that it would be absurd to accuse Mr Morrissey of being a racist or of espousing racist views. They equally accept that Mr Morrissey is not a hypocrite, in relation in particular to the views he has expressed in the past in relation to British cultural identity.

The Defendants accept that Mr Morrissey is well known as a keen supporter of anti-racist groups and the Defendants wish to make absolutely clear that they never intended the article to suggest that Mr Morrissey was anything other than a sincere supporter of anti-racism initiatives.

The Defendants wish to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr Morrissey for any offence or distress that he may have been caused by the closing paragraphs of the article and are happy to make the position clear. [reproduced from Morrissey's website]

I don't claim to know everything about Morrissey, having only really started paying much attention to him and The Smiths in the last couple of years. I haven't heard every track he's ever written or paid attention to every comment he's ever made so I can't claim to be arguing from a completely informed position - though no-one can truly claim that. But I don't think that Morrissey is motivated by hatred of anything foreign. The thing that sparked the current row was Morrissey saying in the NME:

with the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.

What clearly motivates Morrissey here is a nostalgia for a past, and lost, England and English identity. And I think that a lot of people can sympathise with that - though not what it leads to. I can sympathise in the sense that I am totally charmed by the world described in Jeeves and Wooster. I have an affection for Britain in the same way that one loves ones slightly barmy but well-meaning granny. But I am not so attached to "British identity" that I'll be sad to see it go (though I will be sad to see my granny go!); in fact I find myself excited about the possibilities that immigration and travel brings. The sheer volume of foreign students in Oxford, and the number of languages you could hear just wandering around was just fascinating. So I don't disagree with Morrissey's nostalgia for the past, but I question where it might lead if it is taken to it's extreme. When he writes in Irish Blood, English Heart:

I've been dreaming of a time when
To be English is not to be baneful
To be standing by the flag not feeling
Shameful, racist or partial

I know what he means. People shouldn't be criticised purely for saying that they love aspects of the British identity. It's ridiculous to criticise people for loving something when it is fundamentally positive emotion. And that's why I think it was perhaps a little stupid and ill-thought-out for the NME to have such a go at Morrissey for performing a concert wrapped in a British flag. Wrapping yourself in your country's flag isn't necessarily saying that everything that doesn't belong to the country is inferior. But I hope Morrissey never forgets that a fundamental British characteristic is tolerance. I am proud of what Britain is (especially how liberal it is), but I want it to change, to evolve, to keep improving. People shouldn't be afraid of change. It's exciting!

Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart

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Now playing: The Smiths - William, It Was Really Nothing