Racism against the Welsh Puts the UK into Disrepute

 It seems that in the twenty-first century, anti-Welsh racism in the UK, and particularly in Wales itself has become so common that it’s practically part of the news landscape now.

Whether it’s Welsh speakers in their own Welsh hometowns being told by incomers to ‘stop speaking foreign muck’, to incomer staff in shops and pubs mimicking or threatening locals for speaking Welsh, to comments by leading British media figures, it’s only a few months after a slur like this before you hear of another. 

 And then at the end of last month, Guto Bebb’s resignation from the government was met with a storm of anti-Welsh comments on Twitter, some of which include the following:

‘‘I’m sorry, Guto Bebb is not a name, it’s an accident with fridge magnets.’’

“Christ, even anagrams are resigning” 

So, in other words, it’s now got to a point where a Welsh politician can’t even participate in the government of his own country, at the level of the political Union, without being mocked simply for his Welsh name. 

This is beyond insane, and the people who should be most alarmed by these trends are the Unionists, since such anti-Welsh remarks by people in or from the other nations of the UK can’t exactly be good for pan-British brotherhood and solidarity can they?

Anti-Welsh Graffiti on a beach in Tudweiliog which is one
one of Wales's last truly Welsh-Speaking communities.

                       

Racism towards the local Welsh in Barmouth,
a popular seaside resort in southern Snowdonia.

Racism towards Welsh-Speaking customers in a shop
in the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, where
Welsh-Speakers are 78% of the population.

But how should Welsh-Nationalists respond?

It seems to have become quite popular on amongst Plaid politicians and their supporters to label these actions as ‘xenophobic’.  Xenophobic, for those who don’t know, means hatred of foreigners. 

I’m sorry but that to me sounds like you’re conceding that the Welsh are somehow foreigners in their own country, and that Wales is somehow doesn't belong to the Welsh. 

And that, let’s face it, sounds just like a surrender.  So no, let’s not use the X-word.  So what shall we call this racism then?  I’ll tell you what to call it – Anti-British.  And here are a few reasons why  anti-Welsh racism is absolutely anti-British:

·       The Welsh people, language and culture are indigenous to Wales which, last time I checked, was on the island of Britain and part of the UK.

·       Not only that, but the Welsh are the descendants of the Ancient Britons, and thus their ancestors, language and culture were on the island of Great Britain long before we English turned up after the Romans left.  In short, the Welsh are British Par Excellence. 

·       By being racist towards another group of Brits, those Brit Nats must surely be doing the United Kingdom a disservice by undermining the spirit of brotherly unity and solidarity that should come with any political Union.  Thus, they are surely undermining their own British State.

And so calling them anti-British is exactly what we should do - since they're all undoubtedly Brit Nats themselves, by calling them as such we will be attacking them on their own ground and hitting them where it hurts.

And that should shut them up.