If you have spoken to a white Brit over the past six months, you will no doubt be aware that their enthusiasm about the upcoming 2012 London Olympics is about as high as their interest in the musical offerings of Chris Martin. By this stage, it is too much of a cliché to even sigh anymore at the mention the ‘O’ word.
White Brits have come to terms with, and almost even accept, the inevitable onslaught of Olympic branding, relentless sponsorship, bafflingly Big Brother-esque mascots, inexplicably huge spend of tax money, and the temporary re-appropriation of the Union Jack from BNP members. They can currently be seen sulking around, crying into their locally brewed organic lagers.
In anticipation of the worldwide embarrassment that is sure to follow the Opening Ceremony (which will presumably include horrors such as Boris Johnson, the Middletons and Cheryl Cole), many white Brits will simply leave the country for the duration of the Games. The few left behind will do what they can to sabotage the event, by sticking witty banners to their windows or affixing the #keephackneyshit hashtag to the end of their tweets.
Seeing as many white Brits reside in the affected area (East London), they whine and whine about how the Olympics will disrupt their travel into work and put them at risk of terrorist attacks, or of being engulfed by the hordes of tourists. Ironically, however, without the added resources and investment in the East End occasioned by the Olympics, very few white Brits would actually inhabit these now-rather-gentrified areas, with their organic delis, arthouse cinemas and pop-up art galleries.
* N.B. Following the ‘multiculturalist leftist propaganda’ of the Opening Ceremony which celebrated nurses, immigrants and young people, white Brits have shaken off their initial misgivings and started to quite like the Olympics.
