Incoming UK premier carries great task
History has been made after the Indian son of a Kenyan-born father and a Tanzanian-born mother poised to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom yesterday.
This is a significant turning point in global geopolitics given that for decades, Britain dominated both India and the two African countries — among many others — when they were part of its colony. That a child from the colony — and with a mixed heritage of African and Asian roots — could become chief executive in London speaks volumes about how far people of colour have come since the fall of colonialism.
Although racism still remains a blot on the conscience of the western world, the major strides made in politics — and other fields like academia — by people from all races should speak to the need for a major shift in attitude, perception and relationships across races.
Although the rise of the incoming British PM, Rishi Sunak, was forged at a time of political strife in his island nation, it sends a signal that indeed, change is inevitable and that a child from any background can rise to become a beacon of hope in a troubled nation like the UK is now.
His imminent declaration as PM is a signal that people of colour all over the world can now dream of ascending to leadership in any corner of the globe. Indeed, he represents a new Obama moment given, in particular, the challenges that immigrants endure while seeking to find refuge and redemption in the global north.
However, in his rare success also lies the kernel of great responsibility for he will not be representing himself alone at Number 10 Downing Street but the hopes and aspirations of millions of boys and girls who will be looking up to him and believing that they, too, can achieve whatever goal they set out for themselves. In a sense, he represents the adage that to whom much is given, much is equally expected. As such, it will be in his interest, and in the interest of citizens from the former colonies, that Sunak succeeds and stands tall and strong where others before him have stumbled.
In the same vein, even as he embarks on fixing the problems bedeviling the UK now, particularly on the economy and its relationship with the rest of Europe, he must create a new template of how London will handle immigration and its relationship with the rest of the Commonwealth at a time when the UK’s influence in its former colonies is waning and there is growing global disaffection with the monarchy as an institution that represents power and imperialism.
