Identity

By the start of the seventies, West Indians were a familiar and established part of the British population, and they had achieved more than mere survival. One indication of their effect on British life is the Notting Hill Carnival. the carnival took place in the same streets where West Indians had been attacked and pursued by baying crowds, but it began as a celebration, a joyous all-inclusive testimony to the pleasure of being alive. As it developed, it became clear that here was a British festival where everyone was welcome, and everyone who wished to had a part to play.

Throughout the seventies, the children of the first wave of post-war Caribbean migrants began to develop a 'black culture' which is now part of a black British style shared by Africans, Asians and white young people alike. The people of the Windrush, their children and grandchildren have played a vital role in creating a new concept of what it means to be British. To be British in the present day implies a person who might have their origins in Africa, the Caribbean, China, India, Greece, Turkey or anywhere else in the spectrum of nations. The now-familiar debate about identity and citizenship was sparked off when the first Caribbeans stepped off the Windrush. Alongside that debate came the development of arguments about the regions within the United Kingdom - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The British national self-image has been thoroughly remodelled in a very short time. Seen against the deadly agonies associated with ethnic conflicts in other European countries, Britain offers the example of a nation, which can live comfortably with a new and inclusive concept of citizenship. In a sense the journey of the Windrush has never ended.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/windrush_01.shtml)

10). The Channel Tunnel* and the Eurostar

Task 20. What do you know about the following places or things: Normandy, island mentality?

Task 21. Who are the following people: Napoleon, F.Mitterand?

Task 22. Answer the following questions:

1. Who was the first to suggest the idea of the Cross-the-Channel tunnel?

2. What was the initial British reaction to the idea?

3. When did the British change their minds about the project of the Tunnel?

4. What were the main steps in realisation of the project?

5. What are the main advantages of using the Tunnel?