I recently saw a picture of a man wearing a T-shirt with the words, ”we won now send them back.” You might imagine I was shocked yet if anything I was shocked at not being shocked. Sadness could probably best describe my initial reaction immediately followed by a sense of curiosity shrouded in incredibility. Contrary to my usual rather flippantly dismissive attitude to discomfort I paused to think why this picture had that effect on me. Of course I realized that it was the usual case of ”we and them” or in this particular instance ”him and them.” As he must have bought that T-shirt somewhere it can be assumed he has companions sharing his views or rather more unlikely his T-shirt maker’s market analysis is for the dogs. So this man thinks ”they” should be sent back. He makes no reference to who ”they” are and expects us all to understand. Sounds a little bit like the one question on the referendum, all including you choose the details. As usual in this kind of sound bite messaging there is no way of exactly knowing who or what is meant which of course is the intention thus freeing the messenger from any sort of well thought through or well founded argument. Instead this vagueness puts the onus to define ”them” on the recipient of the message.
Sending someone back is pre-determined by someone actually having come here. For reasons of logic that even our friend with the T-shirt would both understand and subscribe to, being born here may comfortably be excluded from this category. His ”we won” would seem to refer to the referendum so I suppose that in that case he would, in any logical context, only be referring to EU citizens who had utilized their freedom of movement although I feel tempted to suggest he is unwittingly exercising a little poetic licence. Whatever message he feels he is communicating, the T-shirt says so much more about its owner than anything else. The words are provocative and hurtful, they could apply to any one of millions of people whose only common denominator is that they were not born in the UK. There is complete disregard for any other factors negative or positive that might be considered, they should just be sent back.
So should this happen, does T-shirt man think his life will improve? I don´t think he gives it much thought either way. His message, his provocative attitude have given him something he rarely experiences in daily life, attention and respect which is what he would call the fear he raises in many breasts. T-shirt man is not a new phenomenon. Insecure, small minded individuals spouting nationalistic and other rubbish with great self confidence. The greater that self confidence the more we had better watch out.