剛剛在BBC2看完一個節目：This OBE is Not for Me。這個節目是詩人Benjamin Zephaniah自述他為什麼拒絕領受英國女王所頒發的「帝國騎士團」(OBE)勳章，並且透過他的成長經驗還有他在印度的訪問來突顯「帝國」這概念的餘毒與可笑。
Zephaniah說：
I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised. It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters. It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture.
這樣的態度，對照我們這些看到「大英帝國」這名號就會痴痴笑的人，無疑是一記重擊阿！！
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