It's a bit out of date now..
"I’ve been dreaming of a time
When to be English is not to be baneful
To be standing by the flag, not feeling shameful
Racist or racial?"
Yeah, well you see Morrissey, if you'd actually bother to look at British culture instead of sitting in your big sunny house saying how vile all we English are, although this quote is still relatively valid, it's not half as valid as it used to be. With the coincidence of the World Cup and the Jubilee *spit* around the same time in June, flags were everywhere. And I mean everywhere - every house, every school, every gingerbread biscuit.
So instead of thinking 'British National Party' everytime you saw the English flag, you thought 'People who like footy' - and everytime you saw the Union Jack you thought 'People who like the monarchy' (which is fair enough, I suppose). And everyone realised how lovely it was to 'be standing by the flag, not feeling shameful' (to quote him directly). And the Daily Mail absolutely loathed what they called this 'fake patriotism' (as they support the kind of patriotism the BNP does), which was fabulous. Obviously, it's died down a bit now - but when I see the English flag I don't necessarily think 'fascist', which is a massive step. This is like trying to take away the connotations that the swastika holds. The only way we can take away the racist connotations is to be as anti-racist as possible and then wave the flag - a point I don't think Morrissey has made clear enough. Stop moaning about it dear - just go out and do it!
LMC x