Back in Time for Birmingham

[KingKhanWC]

This series sees the Sharma family go back in time to discover what life was like for families who came from South Asia to settle in Britain from the 1950s onwards. The city of Birmingham is now home to more than 250,000 people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan descent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0018llz/back-in-time-for-birmingham-series-1-episode-1

Fascinating series showing a family attempting to live in the 50's when immigrants from South Asia arrived.

I remember being told my dad came over when he was only 15 in the 60's. He started to work in my uncles shop on Soho Road and once he started his own family moved to a more affluent area but the struggle must have been tough. The man is my hero, he sacrificed his family, friends , childhood and his beloved country to struggle in a foreign land , starting off doing tough jobs, facing discrimination etc but his hard work and sacrifice paid off as his children do not have to suffer, neither their children.

Our parents or grandparents who arrived in the 50s,60,s and 70's to change future generations for the better have to be given the greatest respect for their courage and commitment.

Do you feel a sense of high respect and do you feel you owe your parent/grandparents for how they changed your fortunes forever?

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Decent show. The original Back In Time is excellent too

 

[KingKhanWC]

Decent show. The original Back In Time is excellent too

Yes, im looking forward to watching the episode of Brixton where the Caribbean families moved too.

How do you feel about your elders moving to the UK in those day? Do you think we appreciate them as much as we should?

 

[Pakpak]

Your Dad must have some great stories. I've heard lot of terribe racism tales from those years too from friends who have had parents go through it.

That's why I always feel terrible when I see a lot of our younger immigrant generation wasting their talent in drugs and chasing women instead of a proper education or a career plan while their older parents spent their adult life under torrid circumstances to get to where they are.

 

[Salma_T]

Your Dad must have some great stories. I've heard lot of terribe racism tales from those years too from friends who have had parents go through it.

That's why I always feel terrible when I see a lot of our younger immigrant generation wasting their talent in drugs and chasing women instead of a proper education or a career plan while their older parents spent their adult life under torrid circumstances to get to where they are.

I feel exactly the same when I see people wasting their lives. My dad use to tell us about the racism he suffered and all the hardship. Let's hope the cycle of drugs etc ends and realise that many sacrifices were made and make the most of the opportunities or find opportunities.

 

[ElRaja]

heard lots of such tales from colleagues and teachers over my time, those who moved here much earlier than my parents, who came over in the 80s.

it was tough, street fights were common, as was just racism in general daily lives, they did well for themselves and their families.

one thing i will say, however, is they did make some mistakes, moving to industrial towns a lot assumed their kids would continue in their footsteps, but the destruction of northern industry meant most of the following generations were stuck in unemployment and poverty.

a lot of these families kept their back home ways, lack of intergenerational communication and a non-willingness to let younger family members be independent played a part too.

when it comes to the lack of direction of some young Pakistanis the saying "kucch shehr dai laug wi zalam sai, kuchh assan nu maran na shauk wi sa", comes to mind.

 

[Markhor]

heard lots of such tales from colleagues and teachers over my time, those who moved here much earlier than my parents, who came over in the 80s.

it was tough, street fights were common, as was just racism in general daily lives, they did well for themselves and their families.

one thing i will say, however, is they did make some mistakes, moving to industrial towns a lot assumed their kids would continue in their footsteps, but the destruction of northern industry meant most of the following generations were stuck in unemployment and poverty.

a lot of these families kept their back home ways, lack of intergenerational communication and a non-willingness to let younger family members be independent played a part too.

when it comes to the lack of direction of some young Pakistanis the saying "kucch shehr dai laug wi zalam sai, kuchh assan nu maran na shauk wi sa", comes to mind.

My dad worked in the mills in the North like many immigrants who came over after WW2 which decimated British industry. It was a hard life - often the immigrant labourers would be non-unionised and worked long, unsocial hours. I hope the 2nd and 3rd generation British Pakistanis appreciate their parents didn't commit those sacrifices for them to fritter their lives away crashing expensive cars and idly sitting around in shisha bars.

Expanding on the bolded part - one can argue that's one reason why unfortunately Britain is still a rather segregated place even now. After 60 years the integration process is still ongoing.

I was reading a piece the other day about the difficulty of Asian cricketers in the Bradford Leagues to assimilate within largely white institutions. The opportunities to socialise and break down cultural barriers outside matches are limited for Muslim players who obviously eschew the pub crawls and afterhours drinks.

Out on the boundary I end up talking to a British Asian university administrator who says he doesn’t want his name published. “There’s no resonance between the communities,” he tells me, “they’re polarised by postcodes. The first time they come together it’s like water and oil. Watch after the game, you’ve got an all-white team and an all-Asian one but when they’ve finished playing they’ll all go their own ways.” He puts some of the blame for this on his own community. “It’s difficult because they want to be integrated, but they want to do it under their own terms and conditions. I hear this language: ‘You don’t allow us to be what you want us to be,’ but the community spends its money internally, the clothes they buy, the food they buy, the shops they go to, – it’s all in the community, there’s no need to go into town, and the town is dying on its feet.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-to-stop-looking-over-the-fence-at-each-other

On the flipside, a resurgence of racism has further polarised communities thanks to social media and far-right populism. Although a child of colour would much rather be born in this era than any other, the Windrush scandal, Yorkshire CCC controversy, and attempts to import US-style culture wars (seems "woke" has become a vague catchall insult devoid of meaning) shows more progress is still to be made.

 

[Markhor]

The best documentary I've seen on the experience of immigrants in the UK post-WW2 is BBC's Playing the Race Card. It's in three parts and still up on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tH0iY_AJlo

 

[ElRaja]

Expanding on the bolded part - one can argue that's one reason why unfortunately Britain is still a rather segregated place even now. After 60 years the integration process is still ongoing.

I was reading a piece the other day about the difficulty of Asian cricketers in the Bradford Leagues to assimilate within largely white institutions. The opportunities to socialise and break down cultural barriers outside matches are limited for Muslim players who obviously eschew the pub crawls and afterhours drinks.

this is exactly what i mean, if you let young adult family members move away and experience this stuff a lot of it would lose the mystique. but most Asian households are so scared that their kids will go native that by the age these guys and girls discover this stuff its very difficult to get ur life back on track if u mess up, as opposed to screwing up in your teens.

and whilst i appreciate the pub crawl problem given the drinking culture in certain places, its obvious its not that much of a hindrance in recent history, guys like adil rashid and moeen carved successful careers for themselves, largely because im guessing they set those boundaries with their teammates early, and the boundaries never moved.

in my expereince the proper strict religious guys have their lifestyles accepted quite a lot, its the grey area "garys" so to say, who end up neither here nor there. and again a lot of this comes down to the parents, im pretty sure none of this is communicated to kids by their parents these days, who wd rather just hope the issue never comes up imo.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Yes, im looking forward to watching the episode of Brixton where the Caribbean families moved too.

How do you feel about your elders moving to the UK in those day? Do you think we appreciate them as much as we should?

Nope. I'm of that heritage but society has closed its door where possible

 

[Saj]

The sacrifices that first generation immigrants who came to the UK should never ever be forgotten or overlooked.

They faced racism, a very hard life, tough living conditions, yet most of them didn't give up and ensured a good life for their future generations.

 

[Saj]

And for a laugh have a listen to Shaukat Ali's classic song Main Walayat Kahnoon Aa Gaya for further information on the first generation immigrants who came to the UK

 

[shaz619]

My dad worked in the mills in the North like many immigrants who came over after WW2 which decimated British industry. It was a hard life - often the immigrant labourers would be non-unionised and worked long, unsocial hours. I hope the 2nd and 3rd generation British Pakistanis appreciate their parents didn't commit those sacrifices for them to fritter their lives away crashing expensive cars and idly sitting around in shisha bars.

Expanding on the bolded part - one can argue that's one reason why unfortunately Britain is still a rather segregated place even now. After 60 years the integration process is still ongoing.

I was reading a piece the other day about the difficulty of Asian cricketers in the Bradford Leagues to assimilate within largely white institutions. The opportunities to socialise and break down cultural barriers outside matches are limited for Muslim players who obviously eschew the pub crawls and afterhours drinks.



https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-to-stop-looking-over-the-fence-at-each-other

On the flipside, a resurgence of racism has further polarised communities thanks to social media and far-right populism. Although a child of colour would much rather be born in this era than any other, the Windrush scandal, Yorkshire CCC controversy, and attempts to import US-style culture wars (seems "woke" has become a vague catchall insult devoid of meaning) shows more progress is still to be made.

Cars and shisha , you never seemed like a guy with stereotypes

 

[shaz619]

After the brutality which the empire is responsible for. Let the people have their way, the fathers and grandfathers never went through all of that so you could be a conforming coward

Have fun and live in the moment, why do people struggle with this especially those who shouldn’t really impact them

 

[ElRaja]

Cars and shisha , you never seemed like a guy with stereotypes

he said "crashing cars", so after a brief moment of worry about being judged by [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] i realised thankfully this doesn't apply to me

 

[KingKhanWC]

Your Dad must have some great stories. I've heard lot of terribe racism tales from those years too from friends who have had parents go through it.

That's why I always feel terrible when I see a lot of our younger immigrant generation wasting their talent in drugs and chasing women instead of a proper education or a career plan while their older parents spent their adult life under torrid circumstances to get to where they are.

The sacrifices that first generation immigrants who came to the UK should never ever be forgotten or overlooked.

They faced racism, a very hard life, tough living conditions, yet most of them didn't give up and ensured a good life for their future generations.

My dad was lucky as he had 5 cousins all around the same age with him. He also started off in the most mixed area of the Midlands, possibly in the whole of England but yes there is always discrimination. I think for them it was all efforts and energy to work and send money back home to not just one but maybe a few families in the village.
[MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] I doubt they had much time to play cricket but it would be interesting to know when their first asians set up their cricket team or league. I assume it would be in Yorkshire?

 

[SpiritOf1903]

My dad was lucky as he had 5 cousins all around the same age with him. He also started off in the most mixed area of the Midlands, possibly in the whole of England but yes there is always discrimination. I think for them it was all efforts and energy to work and send money back home to not just one but maybe a few families in the village.
[MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] I doubt they had much time to play cricket but it would be interesting to know when their first asians set up their cricket team or league. I assume it would be in Yorkshire?

Probably Indians, they've always been ahead of the curve.

As for the show, stopped watching when that 'comedian' came on talking about underwear with a boy. WTAF.

The original premise was based on a corner shop so only natural they had one for Indians. I always found Naveed in Still Game portrayed as a bearded Pakistanis yet played by an Indian very ironic.

 

[Saj]

@Saj I doubt they had much time to play cricket but it would be interesting to know when their first asians set up their cricket team or league. I assume it would be in Yorkshire?

I'm led to believe that some of the earliest leagues/clubs set up by Asians in the UK were in the Bradford area.