Places and Exchanges: the diversity of cultures in Britain

Places and exchanges

The notion I’m going to deal with is “Places and Exchanges”. The subject of my oral presentation will be “The Diversity of Cultures in Britain”.

In my first part, I’m going to underline the fact that Britain is a multicultural country; then I’ll show that Britain is a sporting nation.

1. Britain is a multicultural country

In the 1960’s and with the massive waves of immigration in Britain, the migrants didn’t feel British. For instance, upon their arrival, Black Britons faced racism, segregation and grouped together by origin to feel safe. But nowadays, keeping their origins and traditions, they manage to feel British first and foremost and not Black as their ancestors thought.

Moreover, plenty Multi-Kulti festivals are taking place in Great Britain for example The Carnaval de Pueblo and The London Mela. This festival is the cream of the South Asian music and culture in Europe. It includes different types of Asian music from Indian classical musicians to Muslim hip-hop. But this festival not only gathers music but also traditional items like food, dances and circus acts.

The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organization of 54 independent member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire like Gambia or Canada. Member states are united by language, culture and shared values of democracy and human rights.

1. Britain is also a sporting nation.

Firstly, The Boat Race shows how sporty this nation is. Indeed, The Boat Race was launched in 1829 by two friends between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It takes place on the Thames and the Oxford team traditionally wears dark blue while the Cambridge team wears light blue.

The Six Nations Championships is the oldest rugby championship in the world. Dating back to 1882, it was launched between the four UK nations and nowadays, includes France and Italy. At the end of the games, the team who lost was awarded a wooden spoon. So this tournament is an example of the exchanges developed by Britain with other countries.

Another example of sport in Great Britain is The Ashes, created in 1882, it’s one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket. However, the winning team was awarded an urn which is supposed to hold the ashes of a cricket equipment, entailing the name of the championship.

Moreover, the Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event involving athletes exclusively from the Commonwealth; it was first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years since then. Like the Olympic Games, it functions with medals and the nation who collects the most wins the Championship.

Finally, a great number of sports have been created by the British. Golf, sailing, polo and horse-riding are well-known for that fact.

Besides, they also introduced women’s boxing for the first time in the Olympic Games in London 2012.

To conclude with, the exchanges developed over the years, with countries all over the world and particularly throughout the Commonwealth have contributes to making Britain the cosmopolitan society it now is. The multiculturalism can easily be seen in London where various ethnicities live together in harmony, keeping their own culture but truly feeling British citizens. The strength of Britain lies in the ability to welcome people from all over the word and making them feel at home.

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