Can't say I had a problem with folks being different.
I always considered my culture strong enough to accept and absorb other cultures.
Vive la difference.
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Race body snubs 'un-British' work
Trevor Phillips wants an end to the term 'multiculturalism'
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is to block grants to ethnic minority projects that fail to promote "Britishness" and integration.
A commissioner from the watchdog told the Times £5m in grants would be given out under new criteria.
Groups promoting cross-community work and tackling alienation will be supported, officials said.
Last week, CRE chairman Trevor Phillips sparked a debate when he said the term "multiculturalism" should be scrapped.
'Sense of Britishness'
CRE commissioner Khurshid Ahmed told the newspaper its grants would be awarded for promoting leadership, cross-community work and resolving perceived conflicts.
Mr Ahmed said: "We will only give money to people who fulfil these criteria.
"We want to instil a sense of Britishness. The project has to have an element of integration and an indication that it will lead to community cohesion.
"We are not funding any organisation which reinforces separatism. We will not encourage the emergence of isolationist groups."
For example, he said, a mosque applying for a grant would only be successful if its project included measures to tackle alienation.
"If a group was promoting a particular culture or religious identity and had no plans for integration, we would not fund it," Mr Ahmed said.
Public hostility
Last week, Mr Phillips said the term "multiculturalism" was of another era as the term suggested "separateness" and was no longer useful in present-day Britain.
He defended his stance, telling Saturday's Times that public hostility over immigration and fears of terrorism were creating "all kinds of dangers" for society and it was vital "we do not turn in on ourselves".
Mr Phillips also disclosed that he was preparing proposals for the government on introducing free holidays for school leavers on which teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds would learn to mix with each other.
Lord Ouseley, a former CRE chief, accused Mr Phillips of pandering to Labour's pre-election agenda.
"This is about Muslims and terrorism, immigration and asylum and New Labour rather than an agenda to challenge and eliminate discrimination," he said.
"Trevor Phillips is a part of New Labour."
(eek comment: Trevor Phillips is ambitious and short sighted.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3615379.stm
I always considered my culture strong enough to accept and absorb other cultures.
Vive la difference.
---------------------------------------
Race body snubs 'un-British' work
Trevor Phillips wants an end to the term 'multiculturalism'
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is to block grants to ethnic minority projects that fail to promote "Britishness" and integration.
A commissioner from the watchdog told the Times £5m in grants would be given out under new criteria.
Groups promoting cross-community work and tackling alienation will be supported, officials said.
Last week, CRE chairman Trevor Phillips sparked a debate when he said the term "multiculturalism" should be scrapped.
'Sense of Britishness'
CRE commissioner Khurshid Ahmed told the newspaper its grants would be awarded for promoting leadership, cross-community work and resolving perceived conflicts.
Mr Ahmed said: "We will only give money to people who fulfil these criteria.
"We want to instil a sense of Britishness. The project has to have an element of integration and an indication that it will lead to community cohesion.
"We are not funding any organisation which reinforces separatism. We will not encourage the emergence of isolationist groups."
For example, he said, a mosque applying for a grant would only be successful if its project included measures to tackle alienation.
"If a group was promoting a particular culture or religious identity and had no plans for integration, we would not fund it," Mr Ahmed said.
Public hostility
Last week, Mr Phillips said the term "multiculturalism" was of another era as the term suggested "separateness" and was no longer useful in present-day Britain.
He defended his stance, telling Saturday's Times that public hostility over immigration and fears of terrorism were creating "all kinds of dangers" for society and it was vital "we do not turn in on ourselves".
Mr Phillips also disclosed that he was preparing proposals for the government on introducing free holidays for school leavers on which teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds would learn to mix with each other.
Lord Ouseley, a former CRE chief, accused Mr Phillips of pandering to Labour's pre-election agenda.
"This is about Muslims and terrorism, immigration and asylum and New Labour rather than an agenda to challenge and eliminate discrimination," he said.
"Trevor Phillips is a part of New Labour."
(eek comment: Trevor Phillips is ambitious and short sighted.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3615379.stm
