Nearly 200 academics specializing in the history of the United Kingdom demanded, Wednesday, July 22, that the “history” part of the test to obtain British nationality be temporarily removed, denouncing the representations “Misleading and erroneous” that it conveys on decolonization and slavery.
To become British citizens, foreigners living in the United Kingdom must take and pass a knowledge test consisting of 24 questions on the traditions and customs of the country. It is the manual for preparing for this test, and in particular its historical chapters, that has sparked the ire of some researchers.
“The official manual published by the Ministry of the Interior is fundamentally misleading and in some cases manifestly wrong”, denounce 181 historians, who ask in an open letter the suspension of the “history” part of the test, as long as the corresponding section of the manual has not been “Rewritten and corrected”.
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has sparked a heated debate in the UK on how the country treats its colonial past, including questions about the statues or street names given to historical figures who profited from the human trafficking. slaves.
“A false version of the past”
The signatories of the open letter, specialists in British and colonial history, generally denounce a biased manual, “Filled with dates and numbers, but not giving the number of slaves transported on British vessels (3 million)”. According to them, however, this work “Recent” addresses the abolition of slavery “As if it were a British achievement in which the enslaved people played no part”.
“Silent on uprisings and movements for independence”, the manual also promotes “The deceptive idea” according to which there would have been a “Orderly transition between the Colonial Empire and the Commonwealth”, while decolonization has “Very often been a violent process”, have assailed historians, who cite India or Kenya as examples.
“For the candidates coming from former colonies which knew imperial violence, this account is offensive”, judged the signatories, among whom we find two former presidents of the British Historical Society and eleven members of the prestigious British Academy. For others, he creates “A false version of the past” British.
