not in my name: a statement against the silence

A statement against the silence by Dutch poet Joke Kaviaar

Not in my name
Deportations, torture
Do in my name
Resist, disobey

Not in my name
Smooth talk, invalid guarantees
Do in my name
All that it takes

read the rest of Joke's poem, and article, here

I read this only after I'd started this blog and named it 'not in my name' (although I have altered the date on this post so that is now the first post in the blog).

It makes me so angry when politicians speak about protecting 'our' culture, of not being 'swamped', of the need not to alienate the 'indigenous' or 'host' communities. Well I am a member of that 'host' community, I'm white and British and so are all my family as far back as we know. I reject your right to assume you speak or act on my behalf when you deport, detain and dehumanise migrants and refugees. I reject your assumptions about what it is to be British. I reject false notions of 'bogus' and 'genuine', 'deserving' or 'undeserving'. What you do to them, is not done in my name.