Skip to main content
Should I consider myself English?
Despite being a proud Black Country boy, ROGER McKENZIE has mixed feelings about Englishness and its all too common petty nationalism, following a lifetime of being considered inferior because of the colour of his skin
Male and female black slaves cut sugar canes in Jamaica. In the background, canes are bound together and loaded into oxcarts. Image date: 1825

THE arch-racist imperialist Cecil Rhodes once said: “To be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.”

Closer to home, in 1937, another arch-racist, Winston Churchill, displayed his own master race inclinations when he said: “I do not believe that the dog in the manger has the right to the manger, simply because he has lain there for so long. I do not believe that the Red Indian has been wronged in America, or the black man has been wronged in Australia, simply because they have been displaced by a higher, stronger race.”

To them everything other than white is inferior and to be treated that way. Sadly these were not isolated views and were and are prevalent throughout England.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
oldest library
Features / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
Public libraries are sanctuaries which facilitate the exploration of the universe of ideas for free for those curious enough. ROGER McKENZIE advocates their protection against authoritarian incursions, US style
Similar stories
RED WRITINGS: Lenin at Work, Igor Reznik, 1970
Features / 25 January 2025
25 January 2025
From intellectual heavyweights of the academy to organisers like me who have come to the role via a life on the shop floor, writing by leftists must centre communication — and if capable of it, even fun, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Bill Lucy
Features / 3 October 2024
3 October 2024
ROGER McKENZIE pays heartfelt tribute to the legendary trade unionist who championed black workers while forging powerful alliances across colour lines, reshaping the US labour movement
march 1
Features / 8 August 2024
8 August 2024
ROGER McKENZIE warns against accepting the lip service offered by politicians to the struggle against racism
Jamaicans aboard the liner Auriga
Features / 11 July 2024
11 July 2024
As the last of his family’s Windrush elders pass away, ROGER McKENZIE reflects on migration, courage and the ongoing struggle against racism in Britain, from the Rwanda plan to ‘stop the boats’