Billy Bragg on the Beeb....

[percy toboggan]

Bragg is a well meaning bloke and I've got time for him, if not for many of his views....anyway I heard him talking about an interesting new series starting this Friday night on BBC 2. 'White' examines the white worlking class in Britain and asks if they are 'becoming invisible'

I wouldn't have thought so...marginalised perhaps but then I guess it depends how you define 'working class'
A trailer for the series can be viewed here
www.bbc.co.uk/white (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/white)

I hope it's showing in Scotland.

[Bobinovich]

Sheesh that name took me back to this gem (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HRSsLes8vE) from the 80s. Wasn't interested in the politics but the simplicity of the song caught my imagination because it was different at the time.

Strange but Percy's link isn't working just now.

[percy toboggan]

Yep - brilliant song and wonderful imagery.
Billy has mellowed with age...I wish I could.
The link is not working - strange that...I searched B.B.C's site after the ominous 'forbidden' page came up....it did reveal another link but I didn't follow it.

Maybe the p.c. lot have scuppered this before it's started. I took a look earlier and it was a promising little trailer. Before the usual suspects allege that I've made this up...I can assure you I have not.

Bragg was speaking about the series on the Simon Mayo prog this afternoon and gave out the url....I'll try again another time.

[percy toboggan]

A theory....
maybe this web-page has been pulled by the BBC.
The trailer showed an overweight white bloke having layer after layer of tatoo's applied to his face until you could only see his eyes. It was powerful imagery.
Then the shot cut away to a school playground full of children's faces, the only white one was marginal, half of it was missing. To be honest I was a little surprised by it....I'd put money on this being taken down. We may hear more about this. Stay tuned if yer interested.

[percy toboggan]

okay - if you look at
www.bbc.co.uk/bbc2 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc2)

down at the bottom right of the panel you'll see I'm not making this up. Click on the link there and 'forbidden' comes up again...curiouser and curiouser.

[Penelope Pitstop]

A theory....
maybe this web-page has been pulled by the BBC.
The trailer showed an overweight white bloke having layer after layer of tatoo's applied to his face until you could only see his eyes. It was powerful imagery.
Then the shot cut away to a school playground full of children's faces, the only white one was marginal, half of it was missing. To be honest I was a little surprised by it....I'd put money on this being taken down. We may hear more about this. Stay tuned if yer interested.

We watched that trailer a couple of nights ago on the telly too .....we were "a little surprised" by it too.....not the usual PC stuff. lol

[Bobinovich]

The trailer is on You Tube here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg54xTaJ-Kc)

[Boozeburglar]

I see nothing curious about it, the BBC update content as well as any other website, sometime pages are unavailable.

It is still in the listings. Good info available here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/02_february/14/white.shtml

[rob murray]

Bragg is a well meaning bloke and I've got time for him, if not for many of his views....anyway I heard him talking about an interesting new series starting this Friday night on BBC 2. 'White' examines the white worlking class in Britain and asks if they are 'becoming invisible'

I wouldn't have thought so...marginalised perhaps but then I guess it depends how you define 'working class'
A trailer for the series can be viewed here
www.bbc.co.uk/white (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/white)

I hope it's showing in Scotland.

Yes agreed, not invisible but becomming marginalised. I read a book last year ( cant remember the title off hand ) written by a guy who traced his familys roots, which were all essentially London based and traditional working class ( as was then ..dockworkers, costermongers etc ) Since 1950, most of his relatives have moved from the south London area they originated from ( Lambeth, Elephant and Castle, Bermondsey ), due to slum clearances and property development schemes. The vast majority of landmarks have been destroyed and entire areas have lost their idenity ie 3 / 4 old London boroughs now make up the metropolis of Southwark. The book focuses on the loss of community and identity which impacted upon the original inhabitants, who obviously were in the vast majority white traditional working class. The guy also narrates a conversation with a pensioner at a public libarary, whereby the pensioner points to a board which has information printed in over 20 languages and points out, that it is if the orginal south londoner ( and their culture ) has now been officially forgotten. I'll look the book out and post the title tomorrow, a great read on a culture that is dying out.

[percy toboggan]

..... the pensioner points to a board which has information printed in over 20 languages and points out, that it is if the orginal south londoner ( and their culture ) has now been officially forgotten. I'll look the book out and post the title tomorrow, a great read on a culture that is dying out.

Becoming extinct Rob, at a pace distorted by Government lapses, mass economic migration and illegal entrants. The old man you spoke of has been ill served. This is evolution but not as we know it. In such a small concentration pf area as east London I doubt so much immigration has ever taken place from so many different countries in such a short space of time (and I'm aware of Ellis Island) Surely , anyone with an ounce of sense might concede that needing to print community information in twenty different languages could suggest difficulties ahead.

Thanks for the confirmation Penny Pitstop - I was beginning to think I'd imagined it!! ;)

[Boozeburglar]

It is all back up now, ditch the conspiracy theories.

[rob murray]

Becoming extinct Rob, at a pace distorted by Government lapses, mass economic migration and illegal entrants. The old man you spoke of has been ill served. This is evolution but not as we know it. In such a small concentration pf area as east London I doubt so much immigration has ever taken place from so many different countries in such a short space of time (and I'm aware of Ellis Island) Surely , anyone with an ounce of sense might concede that needing to print community information in twenty different languages could suggest difficulties ahead.

Thanks for the confirmation Penny Pitstop - I was beginning to think I'd imagined it!! ;)

The book is called The Likes of us : Micheal Collins