Why Remembrance Day makes me feel excluded as a person of colour

We should say 'lest we forget' for all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice

(Getty Images)

Every time 11 November comes around I feel uncomfortable about it. It’s not that I don’t support Remembrance Day, but as a person of colour I never know how to feel part of it.

I served in two cadet forces before becoming an officer in the Metropolitan Police. Yet I still struggle to fit in to the remembrance celebrations, because I – and others who look like me – are often made to feel excluded from events.

Groups like Britain First are mostly to blame. Because of their antics, there are many black, Asian and minority-ethnic Britons who are made to feel ostracised around Remembrance Day. As well as their general hatred towards all minorities, they say Muslims hate poppies, and don't believe in British values. Yet more than 400,00 Muslims fought for Britain in WW1.

I know Britain First doesn't speak for the nation, but they are at the extreme end of a worrying trend in Britain. In the past year there has been a 70 per cent spike in Islamophobia in London, and our Government has been accused of vilifying Muslims, and treating them with suspicion. I'm not saying that this makes the majority of Britain prejudiced towards Muslims – it's more to do with widespread recognition.

You don't have to be a nasty bigot to help erase BME history, you just have to continue being blind to it, and not hold to account the institutions that should be providing acknowledgment. Alarmingly, research by the think-tank British Future has shown that 22 per cent of the public are aware that Muslims fought in WWI, while only 2 per cent are familiar with the total scale (400,000 soldiers).

It's not just Muslims who have died for Britain either. Faces of all colours fought – and died – alongside one another. The total number of Commonwealth war dead during WWI was 979,498, which included many black soldiers. Yet there have been reports across the years of black veterans feeling neglected during Remembrance Day, and in some cases have said they've been snubbed at the annual ceremonies. How is this in keeping with the spirit of Remembrance?

My hope for this year and the years that follow is that all races are welcomed to honour those lost, and that no group whatever race or religion feels excluded.

You don’t even have to agree with past and current wars to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We say lest we forget for all those who died for Britain. It’s their poppy too.