Around two-and-a-half million coins emblazoned with the words ‘DIVERSITY BUILT BRITAIN’ will be released into circulation on Monday to celebrate the “contribution made by ethnic minority communities to Britain’s history”.
As well as the slogan, the coins also feature a geodome design, which according to the British treasury “represents a community of connection and strength, with each section working together to build something greater”.
The government-owned Royal Mint, which produces coins for Britain, said the new 50p “is one of the most significant coins produced by The Royal Mint, and signals a change in our nation’s coinage.”
“For over 1,000 years the nation’s story has been told on coins struck by The Royal Mint, but often the contribution of ethnic minority communities has been unrecognised – this marks the beginning of a new chapter with more coins to follow,” stated Anne Jessopp, CEO of the mint.
Her comments echo wider establishment efforts, ramped up in recent months, to rewrite history and claim Britain has always been multicultural, pushed despite data showing that ethnic minorities made up only around 0.2 per cent of the population of England and Wales even as late as 1951.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak reportedly commissioned the coin earlier this year after meeting with activists from ‘We Too Built Britain’, a campaign group which agitates for more black and minority ethnic (BAME) representation in Britain’s “statues, signage, artwork, civic symbols” and legal tender.
At a roundtable discussion to mark the launch of the coin, he said: “I have seen first-hand the contribution made by ethnic minority communities to Britain’s history.
“This coin, and the rest of the series, will act as a fitting tribute to the very profound impact ethnic minority communities have made on Britain, and I am grateful to the Royal Mint for turning this around at record speed.”
Zehra Zaidi, an ethnic minority identity activist who was chosen to represent the Conservative party, hailed the new coin, declaring: “Ethnic minority people, as well as all under-represented groups, need to see themselves represented in British institutions… We are a diverse, modern and global Britain – let’s show that. This coin helps bridge our nation’s past, its diverse present and its future, looking outward, positively, together.”
Zaidi did not specify in which walks of life ethnic minorities are “under-represented”. BAME people are vastly overrepresented in many fields in Britain, including prestigious jobs like doctor and lawyer, as well as in sports and on television.
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