For most people, Notting Hill Carnival, London’s annual Caribbean-inspired street festival, is an opportunity to relax, dance, grab delicious food and partake in wholesome fun or less healthy. But rather than simply enjoying the holiday, identitarians on both left and right have sought to join it in Britain’s endless culture wars.
An identity clash has followed several scenes of violence at this year’s event over the bank holiday weekend. One such outburst culminated when 21-year-old Takayo Nembhard was stabbed to death, while six others were injured in other incidents. That such violence has been allowed to occur once again at such a long public event raises serious questions.
Indeed, this is not the first time that the festivities have been marred by violence. Carnival has long developed an unfortunate reputation for lax security.
This should not be an insurmountable problem. But, alas, it has become increasingly difficult to talk openly about it. Any criticism of the Carnival and its organization will be quickly dismissed as ‘racist’. For example, according to the words of an article in Vice magazine, Notting Hill Carnival is ‘being disproportionately scrutinized and scrutinized for bad behaviour, both on the ground and in reporting afterwards’. Why? “Because Britain is racist”, apparently.
Is this really fair? It is true that race plays an important role in the history of carnival. What would become the Notting Hill Carnival first appeared in the mid-1960s as an attempt to repair the broken race relations in London at the time (there had been race riots in Notting Hill in 1958). So it cannot be denied that Carnival itself and the reaction to it have sometimes been framed in racial terms.
But to see public revulsion at knife violence simply as a sign of racism is absurd. What happened over the bank holiday weekend was violent criminal behaviour. However, savvy identitarians seem to think that we should just look the other way, whether the alleged perpetrators, or indeed the victims, are black. That’s how much black lives matter.
But it’s not just leftists who have used this year’s carnival to push their identity narrative. Some on the right have also cynically used violence at this year’s event to oppose multiculturalism and immigration. Indeed, one commentator even called the violence and stabbings ‘the cost of diversity‘.
The best thing about Notting Hill Carnival is that it’s really diverse, in that it really brings together people from all classes, backgrounds and races. It’s a living, breathing experiment in cultural mixing. In this sense, it is the exact opposite of the top-down version of ‘diversity’ pushed by our clever structure, which seeks to divide people along racial lines. So it is worrying that some see an event like Carnival as a potential threat to society or as an inherent source of conflict.
Amid the fury of the culture war, the Met are now calling for the future of Notting Hill Carnival to be ‘reviewed’. There are suggestions it could be moved to Hyde Park, or even canceled altogether. That would be a real tragedy.
There is no doubt that the safety and security of Notting Hill Carnival needs to be improved. People have lost their lives. And that’s why we need to talk openly about the problem – so it can be fixed and the Carnival can continue. If not, the state can step in to end everyone’s fun.
The fact is that Notting Hill Carnival remains a fantastic experience, bringing together millions of people from across London and the world – and it’s worth protecting. We cannot allow something as joyous as Carnival to become another victim of the culture wars.
Inaya Folarin Iman Is one with spikes columnist, GB News presenter and founder of the Equiano Project.
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