In Case You Hadn’t Heard, the Term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is now Racist

I spent this summer doing something rather enjoyably nerdy – studying the Anglo-Saxons.

Aside from it being fun, it was eye-opening. The Britons, scared and weak after the withdrawal of the Romans, were invaded by the people they thought would help them – the Frisians, Angles, Saxon and Jutes, or ‘Anglo-Saxons’.

Romano-Celtic Christianity was pushed out by their arrival; through slaughter, marriage and migration, the Christianity that had emerged under Roman rule was stamped out or pushed to Celtic lands. These Celtic strongholds then maintained the faith of their founders, Saints Patrick, Columba and David and eventually returned it to England.

The Anglo-Saxons were pagans, but saints such as St Aiden brought the distinctly Celtic faith to Northumbria, whilst St Augustine and others brought a Latinised Catholicism to the Southern Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.

Over the course of several centuries, with difficulty, martyrs and prayer, Britain became a Christian nation. By the time of the Viking invasions in the mid-8th century, most Anglo-Saxons were baptised.

The saints that emerged in these decades were Anglo-Saxon too. Saints Wilfrid, Æthelthryth, and Edmund; St Bede, the first to term the people of this land, a people of Brittonic, Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon descent, ‘gens Anglorum’ or ‘English’.

So why am I telling this story?

Well, there are some who would like to see it erased or rebranded.

In case you hadn’t heard, the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is now racist, and increasingly being sidelined in favour of the new one, ‘Early English’. We therefore must all fall in line if we do not wish to be termed white supremacists.

In itself, ‘Early English’ is not particularly problematic. As mentioned, St Bede in c.730 refers to them in a similar way. However, it is the motive that causes issues.

Recently, Cambridge University Press changed the name of its Anglo-Saxon Journal to ‘Early Medieval England and its Neighbours’ with much self-righteous virtue signalling.

Nottingham university proudly announced it was removing the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ from its English curriculum in an effort to ‘decolonise it’. It is now seeking to ‘emphasise black communities’ instead – presumably because acknowledging the existence of historically distinct ethnic groups is only positive if they aren’t white.

In 2020 Jack Durand, in Cambridge University’s student news ‘Varsity’, expressed the view that the university’s prestigious ASNC (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic) Department must change its name in an effort to make the university less racist. His point is summarised in the final lines of his article:

“Just as women’s or African American studies courses inevitably attract students from corresponding backgrounds, so too will the study of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. However, while the former seeks to recover the institutionally suppressed voices of their respective communities, the latter perpetuates an image of early medieval studies as a field of racial and ethnic exclusivity.”

The message is clear. If the study is white, it’s exclusivist racist oppression. If it’s non-white, it’s an inclusivist celebration of the oppressed.

It’s once again the neo-liberal Marxist drivel of measuring everything, including the study of history, in terms of power. These Marxists-types cannot help but measure everything this way, even joy!

I study Anglo-Saxon history because it is part of my history, but I feel joy at seeing the work of God in it. Many others find joy in studying their own histories.

It is hard to imagine an academic re-educating an Egyptian for celebrating his country’s history; even though it enslaved and oppressed people. Or maligning a Mongolian who enjoyed the study Genghis Khan because he conquered and subjugated a sizeable portion of Asia, pillaging and raping as he went. Or castigating a Comanche for studying his history because his ancestors scalped and slaughtered neighbouring tribes.

We, as Brits, whether white or black, recent arrival or native, can find intrigue, joy and lessons in our past. This doesn’t mean it can’t be criticised, but we shouldn’t erase it.

Erasing parts of British history erases parts of our identity. To be specific here, by using ‘our’, I don’t mean white; I mean British.

No, there were not likely any black Anglo-Saxons (despite what Disney or Netflix may wish to reimagine!), but why should that stop someone sharing in this heritage? If we remove parts of our history because they upset a small number of academics, we remove the opportunity for unity.

This summer, British society showed us what many already knew. Under the façade of GDP, ‘Clap for the NHS’ and ‘Diversity is our Strength’, our country is crumbling. Why? Because we have lost the unity of our shared history, culture and values.

This isn’t just because of uncontrolled immigration and lack of integration, although these certainly play a role. But even those who call themselves British, some of whose families have lived here for centuries, are not sure what this means anymore.

Removing the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is just another in a long line of attacks on the British soul. Not a ‘white’ soul, but a British one.

And that brings us to a question. What is the purpose of this erasure?

I think the answer is twofold, the first being so-called ‘white culture’.

The term ‘Anglo-Saxons’ promotes a racist white culture of supremacy.

However, I remember whilst growing up being told by both Black and Asian peers that white people have no culture. This has been further emphasised by neo-liberal types that don’t want white people to have cultures.

So, which is it? Either ‘whites’ can be mocked for not having a culture, or they do have a culture, but it’s racist?

The problem is that, for many centuries, British ‘white culture’ was Christian. This is the truth that sends them into a screeching rabid rage.

And so, to our second reason for the erasure of the Anglo-Saxons. Denying our Anglo-Saxon history allows denial of our Christian origins.

As a nation, our shared values were once rooted in the Christian heritage beginning in Anglo-Saxon times. We once shared the common ideals found in the scripture that was first brought to those people. Now we chase neo-liberal ideals and self-centeredness and wonder why we cannot define Britishness beyond perhaps tea, queueing, or our historic evils.

And this brings me back to the Anglo-Saxons. These initially pagan peoples became a deeply Christian nation. Out of Anglo-Saxon England emerged a core national identity which was Christian. A nation over which God, not virtue signalling, was supreme.

By removing the Anglo-Saxons from history, you remove our Christian origins. You remove the powerful stories of God’s providence in shaping our land to conform to his will. Most of the time Britain was not perfect, often it wasn’t even good, but at its heart was Christian life.

The Anglo-Saxons are the origin of our national Christian identity, the origin of our now forgotten values. This part of our history is one of our few remaining vestiges of Christianity. If neo-liberals can hack these off through accusations of racism, they will be able to proceed more easily with other agendas – ones which are in blatant opposition to our formerly Christian Anglo-Saxon values.

Catholic Herald version - https://thecatholicherald.com/another-attack-on-britains-christian-heritage-now-you-cant-say-anglo-saxon/