National Multiculturalism Day

 National Multiculturalism Day. 

So here's the way it should be but at frequent periods throughout the decades, this has never really been the case. Humanity, at times, has often found it almost impossible to get on with each other, always fighting, battling, arguing, waging war with almost horrendous regularity and then leaving nothing but death, destruction and carnage in its wake. What is it about the human race that the cultures and religions of the world find it so difficult to find common ground? So we just blame each other. And that's that. 

Today, National Multiculturalism Day should be a vigorous celebration of contented communities, peace and harmony at its richest, linking arms and hands across the globe. We should have nothing but the utmost respect for the African, Asian, Jewish, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Danish and all of those vitally important islands, dominions, states, suburbs, villages, towns and cities that comprise the whole landscape of our precious universe. 

It seems appropriate that the Sabbath should be one of the most powerful expressions of gratitude for what we have. As a proud Jew, this is a day for quiet reflection, counting our blessings and praying for a good and healthy life which perhaps we take for granted. And yet Shabbat is our conference table, the gathering place for families, friends, loved ones, mums, dads, cousins, aunties and those who you adore. Children and grandchildren are the people who we embrace with unashamed tenderness, feeling, heart and soul.

But surely National Multiculturalism Day should be much more about identity and eating the indigenous foods we've always feasted on during our childhood days. The vast numbers of international restaurants available on the high street can often be too mouth watering for words. For instance Indian foods have always whetted ravenous appetites, with its hot spicy food such as onion bhajis, nan bread, plenty of chicken tika masala, rice by the paddy field, chicken korma, curry in hugely impressive varieties and so much more. 

This is the day we should be putting aside all of our differences and animosities, burying the hatchet, dancing the day away, wearing the most strikingly colourful costumes, completely abandoning grudges and resentments that may have been simmering under the surface. The summer music festival is a classic case in point. Here is the perfect platform for friendship, a mutual liking and appreciation of who we are rather than others would like us to be. 

In a world riven by strife, hardship, squalor and terrible poverty, today would seem the ideal day for just sharing an amusing story, a whimsical anecdote about your milkman or postman who just wants to be a brief friend on your doorstep. Summer revelries are now upon us and wherever you are in the world, there is always room for a Retro music festival, a glorious array of singers and bands from the 1970s and 80s who converge on regional parks and remind us of who we were and still are. 

And yet more often than not, we fall out with each other because your a Catholic and your neighbours with the vivid lace curtains are Protestant. At the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, when the IRA were bombing and killing each other with a daily savagery, it may have seemed an impossible task to find an effective solution that would bring the war to an end. And yet it did eventually. At the end of the 1990s, Tony Blair's Labour government, in collaboration with Mo Mowlam's heroic bravado, found a peaceful and permanent truce that was the Good Friday agreement. 

Now of course Ireland, although still divided at times, can still play Gaelic football and hurling with nothing more than simple friendship and a wonderful sense of reconciliation in the air. Life should be all about exchanging pleasantries, playing cricket during the summer together and then playing neat, concise football and hockey. Now more than ever, the Notting Hill Carnival in London should still be about beating out the Caribbean rhythms on steel drums, devouring jerk chicken and blasting out strident ska and reggae on those distinctive ghetto blasters. 

And then there are those wonderfully lavish Greek and Jewish weddings where the bride and bridegrooms spend most of their special evenings either lifting the bridegrooms up to the ceiling on a chair or planting money on the bride or bridegroom. It is the music that leaves us totally reinvigorated, the songs that we've sung since childhood, the hymns we've chanted since time immemorial in churches, shul(synagogue) and the solemn prayers and blessings that have wafted out resonantly from mosques.

More so than ever before, football's Premier League has embraced Brazilians, Argentinians, Mexicans, Nigerians, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Senegal, Central Africa, France, Germany, Ukraine and a kaleidoscopic variety of touch players, flamboyant individuals with a touch of genius about them and then a collection of the eccentric and unpredictable who light up the game like the Blackpool illuminations.

We always think of a society that promotes multiculturalism is one that totally inclusive, tolerant and compassionate to their fellow man or woman. It is a society that never looks down on the colour of skin  always abhors any kind of bigotry and prejudice. Maybe the raging war between Russia and Ukraine will remain unabated and just rumble on until common sense does one day prevail. But surely as humans we owe it to future generations that multiculturalism does have a vitally important role to play in the future. Oh and we mustn't forget about those beautiful Chinese lanterns in London's West End, its special fried and egg fried rice and noodles and those charming Chinese New Year's dances with dragons and lions. Multiculturalism is, undoubtedly an enduring force for good.