Not everybody hates us!

Obviously, Biba didn't watch the 'A Small Axe' sequence of films by Steve McQueen, about the experiences of West Indian immigrants in the 50s - 70s. I recommend this as a serious eye-opener.

They're fascinating, SueDonim .

Ah. Well it’s not meant personally Casdon. Just that right now, on this thread, many people happen to disagree with biba. It happens.

You should have read some of the threads in the past when I defended my Brexit choice! Now that was a pile on.
?
I didn’t take it personally though as I just realised that on GN I was (mostly) swimming against the tide!

Ah yes biba, its been a lovely walk down memory lane with you, reminiscing about the good old days and how shit life in Britain is now in comparison.

It's been lovely

I think what’s upsetting urmstongran is when lots of people wade in, so there’s a series of posts one after the other all saying basically the same thing and criticising one person. I’m sure there’s not an intent to gang up on that person, but it does come across like that.

I don’t understand the OP. What does the article have to do with those who voted remain ? And did you mean “in spite of”. Rather than “according to..” ?

Callistemon

^How rude to make that comment about the deepest Shires as though people in such areas were unreconstructed cave dwellers^
I lived in a Shire and eh, me duck, some of us did live in caves, SueDonim
Rock Houses, based at Kinver Edge, were the last occupied troglodyte houses in England and were carved into a sandstone ridge.
^They were most recently inhabited in the 1960s^

I only learnt about the Rock Houses recently, Callistemon! It’s on my To Visit list when we’re allowed out again.

I lived in the far N of Scotland at one time, where the sea caves had also been inhabited until around WW2. They were tinkers living like gypsies did elsewhere.

The 1970s were a dismal time in the UK. Inflation, three-day week, power cuts, blackouts.

Not to mention the Great Toilet Roll Shortage of 1973.

Yes, personal experiences are all different but I find it hard to believe that anyone only ever had one type of experience, either Good or Bad.

I’ve stated a few things that were bad about the 70’s and others have added their own thought but there were lots of good things I remember too.

IME, life generally is a mix of good and not so good, never a black and white experience.

Well I dont know anyone who left work when they had a baby,no one was a stay at home mum in my part of the world.
There were several mixed race families in our street too and
they were just as much a part of the community as anyone else,my sister was best friends with one of the daughters of a Scots/Carribean couple
.I regularly took the wee girls from the corner shop home with me to play in our garden in the 70's
.And horror of horrors not only did I work with GAY people ,male and female I have some in my family,cousins and a neice .
Every experience is different and will vary greatly from area to area of the countries of the UK .Religion was always a issue here Catholic and Protestant regardless of what colour they were .
Thankfully its much better now.
I dont remember the No Irish No Blacks No Dogs on doors in my lifetime but my GGF and his brothers had a stage act and they encountered it mainly it must be said down south.That might be because of the high numbers of Irish in the West of Scotland .

We couldn't get a flat in Glasgow before we got married either ..they wanted a marriage certificate before they would rent to us....lol.

Where there is prejudice its fairly likely its been around for a long time,children live what they see and hear at home
I dont think anyone HATES us/you ,but they dont have alot of respect for the WM governments or for the St Georges flag wearing drunks on the costas ,sadly they equate that behaviour to the UK .

How rude to make that comment about the deepest Shires as though people in such areas were unreconstructed cave dwellers
I lived in a Shire and eh, me duck, some of us did live in caves, SueDonim
Rock Houses, based at Kinver Edge, were the last occupied troglodyte houses in England and were carved into a sandstone ridge.
They were most recently inhabited in the 1960s

We should indeed Casdon but biba’s ‘so so sad’ about the ‘last two years’ is plainly hyperbolic nonsense and insults our intelligence.

Every now and again we disagree with her.

That’s not ganging up so stop with the inflammatory language please. It really isn’t in the spirit of GN. As long as we are polite we are ALL entitled to an opinion, no?

The tolerance, the openess, the acceptation and joy of differences, the great SOH - and so much more.

Tolerated, but only if you were a white, British, heterosexual male. Enoch Powells' Rivers of Blood speech was still ringing in our ears and was a mantra for many white people.
Openness unless you belonged to a trade union, in which case, decisions would be taken in your name that you didn't even agree with and knew would cause widespread harm
Acceptance, but not if you were homosexual, had a baby out of wedlock or happened to have any other skin colour than white.
Great SOH, especially if you liked 1970s sit coms that were directly aimed at ridiculing black people (Rising Damp, Love Thy Neighbour), gay people (Are YouBeing Served) and Asians (Only When I Laugh, It Ain't Half Hot Mum). And the Black & White Minstrel Show was a hoot! Unless you were black.
And so much more oh yes..... And if you were female, don't even think of buying a house, car or hire purchase in your own name because you'd never earn the same as a man who did the same job as you. And no bank or building society would consider you even if you could afford it unless a man acted as guarantor for you. And I almost forgot about the perfectly acceptable sexual harassment that we dodged every day from male bosses. No such thing then as us having the right to not have our employer shove his hand up your mini skirt and his tongue down your throat. But if we didn't like, we could always just get out. And if we had the temerity to get married or pregnant whilst working.... bad move. Not allowed.

Ah yes biba, its been a lovely walk down memory lane with you, reminiscing about the good old days and how shit life in Britain is now in comparison.

Personal experiences are all different though. My sister married a Malaysian, had children, and racial prejudice wasn’t an issue for him or them, they say that they were treated the same as everybody else. I worked in the NHS and you didn’t have to leave work if you had a baby there, paid maternity leave was given. The power cuts were grim, but every decade brings challenges. I just think we should all be respectful of each other’s perspective.

Postal strikes, one of my Grandmothers did not have a phone so we corresponded by letters weekly, I can remember ringing her neighbour to let her know we were thinking of her.

The good old 70's. Regular electricity cuts. Had to leave work if you had a baby. My mum's friend was devastated when her son was beaten to death just for being gay.

I married outside my race in the 60 s and I can assure you U.K. was not a tolerant place at all I was asked if ‘my young man’ could meet me at the end of the road and not come to the front door as they had to think of the neighbours Every home we tried to rent miraculously disappeared when we went for it and was right back on the rental menu the next day
I slept on friends floors after being asked to leave my accommodation ....”I m not racist but my son says you can’t stay here” We eventually found accommodation with a gay landlord another group facing intolerant Britain
I had such hope for our relationship with Europe and feel it’s been torn from me by this intolerant right wing government

Talk about your personal experiences yes, but don’t make ridiculous sweeping statements about everything being wonderful up until 2 years ago.
It’s insulting to those of us who have experienced discrimination quite frankly.

Everybody’s view should be equally valid, but this thread is descending into Biba bashing again, we all had different experiences and hers is just as real as everybody else’s, please stop being so mean.

Could I borrow your rose-tinted glasses biba? In my profession 50 years ago it was normal for the girl to leave once she got married and I also remember the signs for no Irish, blacks or dogs on doors.

I so agree with Chewbacca and others- give it a rest biba the record has stuck.

I get it Jaberwok. Many do reciprocate but to no avail!

Thanks Kalu. I had made I my mind not to join in all this Britain bashing, but it just makes me so cross at the constant barrage of insults. Yes there is a lot wrong with most countrys,(downtown Marseilles anyone?) and the UK is no different from most, but to have it endlessly shoved down out throats when no one on here reciprocates just gets too much. We get the message, we don't have to be endlessly reminded!

Britain joined the EU in 1973, and some of us hoped that the bigoted attitudes had reduced enough by that point for tolerance to ‘difference’ in culture and race to begin to be accepted by more people.

When I read some of the posts on gransnet, and the intolerance displayed to different points of view, I honestly wonder if some of you want to head back to the 1950s.

Be careful Jaberwok. I was accused of being xenophobic on a recent thread when I questioned why those who do not live in the UK continually point out everything that is so terribly wrong with it!

How rude to make that comment about the deepest Shires as though people in such areas were unreconstructed cave dwellers.

Why do I now have the theme tune from 'Deliverance' on my brain?

Do put a sock in it, biba.