One day there will be no nations and no flags

I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you. Elsie Owusu is threatening to return her OBE:

Unless I am persuaded that my OBE is a symbol of hope for young black women, I shall shortly be returning it.

She fails to leave a number though, so what are we to do? What has brought this woman to such a level of despair?

Well, two things

One is the jingoistic reaction in the press regarding the English (not British) rugby victory. The idea of a vainglorious parade is exclusive of the whole ethnic-minority population of this island and redolent of Anglo-Saxon imperialism. This rugby jolly has already cost £I0m that should have been spent on relieving poverty for the black urban underclass, or perhaps funding sports facilities for those impoverished nations forced to compete on such unfair terms. Sports such as rugby must be privately funded by the wealthy few.

Vainglorious? Redolent? Where does one learn to use such language? More to the point, how is the notion of a parade exclusive of the whole ethnic-minority of the population?

Speaking non-logistically, surely it's only exclusive of people who did not want England to win the World Cup?

Further to Elsie Owusu's troubles:

Second, I echo the sentiments of Benjamin Zepha niah, on declining an OBE, regarding the empire, a symbol of England's brutal past.

I thought the OBE was a symbol of the recipients achievements. Anyhow, the brutal past of the British Empire you seem to hate so was no less brutal when you accepted the OBE in the first place. You've changed. Or England winning the rugby has tipped you over the edge.

Either way I would agree that now is the time for you to send it back just in case you cheapen it further.

The letter is a hoax and the real Owusu is not amused. Who can blame her?

Posted by JohnJo at December 3, 2003 09:23 AM | TrackBack