https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair-british-identity.html
Group Writing: Feb 3
Members: Parker Qualls, Chinaza Hughes, Zushan Liu
Article: Why Claiming British Identity Is Complicated by The New York Times
Who is arguing? Three UK-based writers are exploring the complexities of the British Pakistani identity in 2022.
What purpose(s) is/are the writers trying to achieve? They are trying to explain the struggle faced by British Pakistanis to remain in Britain. That explanation includes analyzing the specific scandal, “The Trojan Horse Affair”, an event in which an anonymous letter was released and it outlined a plan to infiltrate public schools. The letter was revealed to be a hoax but it greatly impacted the British Pakistani population in the area because it was made out to be an intended act of Islamic extremism. The British government attempted to implement “British values” in schools in response and the writers are fighting against that because it has appeared to be more harmful than the government would like to admit. They are analyzing what qualifies as a British value and attempting to expand that idea. The writers are also looking into the source and cause of the letter in hopes to achieve some kind of understanding of this entire issue.
To whom are they directing their arguments? The authors are directing their arguments towards basically anyone, but they mainly intended to reach Islamophobic people. They are also calling out the British government for trying to implement “values” that are doing more harm than good. They wrote this to show that British people who migrated from places like Pakistan are not dangerous and the stigma around it needs to be changed.
Forensic: What happened in the past? The authors did answer the question, “what happened in the past,” because they discuss “The Trojan Horse Affair” which took place in 2014, and explain how it affects the British Pakistani population.