Do Sunak and Braverman have a duty to represent British Asians, or do we hold them to unrealistic standards because of their ethnicity?
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The ascension of Sunak into the role of Prime Minister was hailed a ‘Diwali miracle’ and British-Asian immigrants across the UK rejoiced and celebrated what they considered a British-Asian win, perhaps a community success. It seems flippant and ignorant that Sunak at the Conservative party conference remarked his identity as a British-Asian Prime Minister was ‘no big deal’.
The truth is that it is a big deal and, whether he is aware of it or not, he has been automatically bestowed with the responsibility and the weight of representing an ethnic minority and millions of other people of colour. Suella Braverman recently argued in an interview with ITV that she finds it 'offensive' that people target her policies on immigration because of her ethnicity. This begs the question as to whether it is unfair to make Braverman and Sunak advocates of people of colour; a label perhaps neither of them wanted. Do we hold Sunak and Braverman to different standards because of their race?
The Australian-based point system he proposes for immigration fails to recognise the plea of migrants and refugees desperate for a better life in the UK. Not to mention, the failed and senseless Rwanda plan. Sunak and Braverman, arguably, are obsessed with this idea of 'cracking down on small boats', and whilst migration is most certainly a problem in the UK, their policies have made immigration to the UK seem an immediate danger to current UK residents. This is before we take into consideration that 'small boat' migrations make up a very small percentage of net migration. The policies and attitudes of Sunak and Braverman ostracise foreigners, alienate migrants and create a sense of xenophobia.
And why do they, as British-Asians, have more of a responsibility to prevent the rise of xenophobia and ostracisation of people of colour? The journeys made by refugees and immigrants to the UK are not that dissimilar to the journeys made by Sunak and Braverman's families, despite what they may try to argue. Sunak and Braverman have consistently argued that their families migrated to the UK legally. What this shows is a technical difference and is not an explanation for their hostile policies. It shows, more pressingly, a lack of compassion, empathy and understanding for people seeking better lives like their own predecessors.
Their policies do not reflect how society has embraced multiculturalism, or how people of colour have finally reached equality with their white counterparts. Their policies are reflective of how they have assimilated with hegemonic ideals for their own personal gain. By separating their own histories from those of current immigrants, Sunak and Braverman remove themselves from an important shared collective experience of British-Asians. The telling and re-telling of this collective history is a solution to feelings of diaspora shared amongst British-Asians and an important rubric in dismantling racism and stereotypes.
There is a contradiction in asking Sunak and Braverman to participate in these collective experiences and condemning them for having what we may perceive as inauthentic recollections of these stories. For example, Sunak often tries to relate with the British-Asian population and the working class, by relaying stories of his father as a pharmacist and his supposedly humble beginnings. The reality is that Sunak attended a fee-paying independent school. However, Sunak would benefit from acknowledging this priviledge and admitting that perhaps he is out of touch from the millions of British-Asians in this country who were not as fortunate. He would benefit from creating policies and generating change that provides equal opportunities to people of all backgrounds, rather than giving rise to hostility and discrimination.
Sunak's existing policies do nothing to reconcile years of discrimination and hostility against people of colour. Rather, Sunak and Braverman have created policies that create hostility, encourage ostracization and promote xenophobia. Whether they like it or not, Braverman and Sunak are representatives of people of colour, of British-Asians. They have a responsibility and a duty to protect future generations of British-Asians and people of colour, because their success would not be possible without the discrimination, racism and alienation endured by their ancestors. The very same discrimination, racism and ostracization that they are encouraging and promoting through their hostile policies. It is not a question of whether immigration is legal or not, it is a fact that hostile immigration policies create xenophobic and discriminatory attitudes.
To see the full Conservative party conference, you can watch it here, courtesy of The Telegraph: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya7INY7R9rU