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{"source_url": "https://www.forbes.com", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/freylindsay/2020/04/15/viral-video-targets-anti-immigration-sentiment-in-the-uk/", "title": "Viral Video Targets Anti-Immigration Sentiment In The U.K.", "top_image": "https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200x0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a%2F0x0.jpg", "meta_img": "https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200x0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a%2F0x0.jpg", "images": ["https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a/960x0.jpg?cropX1=547&cropX2=4032&cropY1=0&cropY2=3024", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/91310a95b6850ad5e5b8639af84f59e9?s=400&d=mm&r=g", "https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200x0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a%2F0x0.jpg"], "movies": [], "text": "Tez Ilyas's Twitter upload of the video for \"You Clap For Me Now\" Tez Ilyas/Twitter\n\n\u201cSo it\u2019s finally happened. That thing you were afraid of. Something\u2019s come from overseas and taken your jobs, made it unsafe to walk the streets\u2026\u201d\n\nThese are the opening lines of You Clap for Me Now, a poem and video that has gone viral in the U.K. The video, conceived of by creative director Sachini Imbuldeniya and comedian Tez Ilyas, shows a group of people, both immigrants to the U.K. and Britons with immigrant heritage, reciting the poem written by poet and artist Darren James Smith.\n\nThe poem takes aim at anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.K. by highlighting the contributions made by immigrants at a time when the nation is vulnerable.\n\n\"To every carer, key worker, volunteer and neighbour from Britain or overseas\" reads the video's end cards, \"who put their lives on the line to help beat coronavirus, we say: thank you. And we promise ... we will remember.\"\n\nThe title You Clap for Me Now refers to the applause given out from windows and front gardens nightly at 8pm to those still working in essential jobs during the crisis. Originally meant just for healthcare workers in the National Health Service, #clapforourcarers now includes \"emergency services, armed services, delivery drivers, shop workers, teachers, waste collectors, manufacturers, postal workers, cleaners, vets, (and) engineers,\" according to the event's website. It's become something of a ritual, with certain groups even trying, rather unsuccessfully, to hijack it to celebrate the British Prime Minister.\n\nBy saying \"You clap for me now\" the immigrants and non-White British people in the video are reminding the British public that many of the people they are applauding as heroes are people who have been vilified in the public discourse about immigration.\n\nAnd indeed those with an immigration background or heritage are highly represented in many of the key sectors being celebrated. To take just one example, in the National Health Service over 13% of staff are from a non-British background, and that number jumps to nearly 30% if you're talking just about doctors.\n\nImmigration has long been a contentious issue in the U.K., the country's vote to leave the European Union and subsequent clampdown on EU citizens' immigration rights being only the most visible recent manifestation of this.\n\nNow, with coronavirus immobilizing the country and immigrant workers being more visibly relied upon to keep the U.K. going, those hoping for a more inclusive Britain are using the moment to highlight that contribution.\n\n\"The big thing I'd want people to take from the film is that we should continue to be open and inclusive and tolerant,\" said co-creator Darren Smith to the BBC. And the video has been very widely praised, with nearly seven million views at time of writing. Many people have taken to Twitter to express admiration, contrasting its message of hope and inclusion with those parts of British society still trying to demonize immigrants:\n\nOthers are a bit more reserved in their praise. Sunder Katwala is the director of British Future, an independent think-tank focusing on matters of immigration and identity in the U.K.\n\nHe says public attitude to immigration has softened in the country since the Brexit referendum: \"There has been the cathartic effect of a more open debate. Some people anticipate more control (in the post-Brexit immigration regime) and want to use it pragmatically, to welcome those who can make a positive contribution. Others regret that the migration issue drove a decision to leave the EU when they wanted to remain.\"\n\nHe says that while You Clap For Me Now has tapped into some of these issues, he thinks it misses the mark by being too accusatory to those people assumed to have had harder anti-immigration sentiments. Instead of \"let us remember how inclusive we are at our best,\" Katwala thinks the message of the video comes across more as \"when you applaud, remember you are worse than that.\u201d\n\nHe says for this reason the video will more likely just preach to the converted rather than win over the people its aiming at, the ones who \"simply won't recognise (themselves) in the caricature of a public that were hostile to all migrants as a virus, yet now, somewhat hypocritically, applaud them.\"\n\nKatwala is also concerned the video perpetuates an \"us and them\" narrative, even as it tries to turn it on its head. \"The further step would (be to) more confidently assert how migrants and ethnic minorities are part of the broader 'us' now, part of how we all clap, together, to thank all of those we depend upon, from Britain and around the world.\"\n\nNonetheless, the enthusaistic reception to the video is encouraging to those hoping for a more inclusive Britain, and Katwala says those still clinging to anti-immigrant sentiment are fading into the political background.\n\n\"Those with xenophobic and racist views will be angry at (the video). But they may also have to pipe down, because it is clear that the vast majority of the public are recognising and applauding the contribution that those who have come to Britain make to our NHS and other essential services.\"", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": ["Brexit", "EU", "Immigration", "NHS", "Coronavirus"], "tags": [], "authors": ["Frey Lindsay", "Senior Contributor"], "publish_date": "Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "\"You Clap for Me Now\" has pro-immigration Brits applauding, but will it win over anyone else?", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://i.forbesimg.com/favicon.ico", "meta_data": {"referrer": "no-referrer-when-downgrade", "viewport": "width=device-width,initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=5,minimum-scale=1,user-scalable=yes", "description": "\"You Clap for Me Now\" has pro-immigration Brits applauding, but will it win over anyone else?", "keywords": "Brexit,EU,Immigration,NHS,Coronavirus", "news_keywords": "Brexit,EU,Immigration,NHS,Coronavirus", "author": "Frey Lindsay", "article": {"section": "Leadership", "section_url": "https://www.forbes.com/diversity-inclusion/", "id": "blogAndPostId/blog/post/6182-5e97674012d5510006bf7f95", "published": "2020-04-15", "modified": "2020-04-15", "publisher": "https://www.facebook.com/forbes", "author": "Frey Lindsay"}, "og": {"title": "Viral Video Targets Anti-Immigration Sentiment In The U.K.", "site_name": "Forbes", "type": "article", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/freylindsay/2020/04/15/viral-video-targets-anti-immigration-sentiment-in-the-uk/", "image": "https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200x0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a%2F0x0.jpg", "description": "\"You Clap for Me Now\" has pro-immigration Brits applauding, but will it win over anyone else?", "updated_time": "2020-04-15T20:27:41.762-04:00"}, "fb": {"app_id": 123694841080850}, "apple-itunes-app": "app-id=588647136", "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "site": "@forbes", "creator": "@@FreyLindsayMCP", "title": "Viral Video Targets Anti-Immigration Sentiment In The U.K.", "description": "\"You Clap for Me Now\" has pro-immigration Brits applauding, but will it win over anyone else?", "image": "https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/fit-in/1200x0/filters%3Aformat%28jpg%29/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F5e97a32f9a76ac00066b854a%2F0x0.jpg"}}, "canonical_link": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/freylindsay/2020/04/15/viral-video-targets-anti-immigration-sentiment-in-the-uk/"} |
