On the 24th of April 2014 the Cornish were officially recognised as a minority people with all the rights and protections that went with this.
That was nearly nine years ago. And what has improved in that time?
Here is a link to the Cornwall Council timeline of the Cornish as a national minority.
I do not wish to be churlish about this,the timeline shows that a lot of hard work has been done in that time to raise awareness of Cornish culture and I have great respect for the people involved in this but what it does not show is how they are reaching out to the communities, I would argue that a focus on language and arts is disenfranchising a section of the Cornish community and unless you follow and take a certain interest in the Cornish movement then you would not have a clue what is going on.
I have spent a lot of time over those nine years whenever the situation arises to talk to people about their view of Kernow and something I have found that is quite shocking in this time of connectivity is how few people have heard of minority status.
I will make it clear I am not talking about just a handful of people,I am talking in the hundreds across the age range. Is it wrong to suspect that something has gone wrong when Cornish people have not heard of something that is about a part of their identity?
There are a lot of people in Kernow who do not speak or study Kernewek, they do not go to the theatre or watch art house films in Cornish, they are just normal Cornish people who work and bring up families but are proud they are Cornish and want a better Duchy. What is being done to engage them? Are we just giving up on them and hoping through a school curriculum that focuses on Cornish identity that the next generation will be more engaged?
Then when people ask you what minority status actually means it becomes difficult to talk positively about culture and identity when you are standing next to a field that is about to be developed for housing that will be completely unaffordable to a local wage. As one man recently said to me “What you are saying is that the Cornish can all hold hands,dance around singing in Cornish while the developers and council carry on with business as usual”
If minority status is important as many of us feel it is then why does the council not send out a mail shot explaining what minority status is, what they are doing to raise awareness of Cornish identity ? Maybe because not much is really changing outside the Duchy. Watch television or read a national paper and you could be forgiven for thinking 2014 had never happened. Kernow is nearly always talked about as a county or the southwest of England,we are a place as far as they are concerned famed for its beauty,for top chefs and quality restaurants ,for holidays and the joys of relocating to England’s Celtic outpost.
Is it really any wonder that many people have no idea what is going on?
Why is there nothing in the council timeline for a plan to encourage more people to take an interest in local politics? Would it not make sense to draw as much attention as possible to inform the people of Kernow that as part of minority status the government and public bodies have a duty to take into account the views of Cornish people?
The last council election only had a turnout of 39%, the Conservative administration was elected on just 15% of the population of Kernow. If more of the population was aware that the Cornish had a legal right to promote and protect their unique culture and identity would there be more interest in local government and making sure a council was elected that represented the best interest of the Cornish people?
Somehow I think that is the last thing our council would want.
Maybe betrayal is too strong a word,perhaps a failing would be a better term .Promoting Cornish language, arts and music is important in showing our cultural identity.
But what about the landscape of the Duchy and that which makes it so unique ? Kernow is changing all the time with more developments on greenfield sites and coastal regions.Kernow is not just the people, it is the land that we live in that makes us unique.If that is lost to over development then what are we ?
If minority status and the protections of our unique culture and identity that it promises to protect are to be realised then a way has to be found to maximise the potential of this opportunity to all who live in Kernow.
KernowCalling 