Stormzy doesn't need to be 'grateful' for his upbringing as a black Londoner on a council estate – and neither do I

Amanda Platell’s recent article on Stormzy calling out Theresa May has provoked widespread discussion across social media. Platell detailed the singer’s upbringing on a council estate in Croydon and commended him for making something of himself after he “happily benefited from the healthcare, housing and education opportunities the government, whether Tory or Labour, has provided.”

“Is it asking too much,” she went on to say, “that he show a scintilla of gratitude to the country that offered his mother and him so much? Instead of trashing it.”

This article has, undoubtedly, shone a light on how the system regards people of colour who are born here but have parents who are immigrants.

I happen to be part of that group. I am the son of immigrants from Ghana. I grew up on a council estate in Gospel Oak in north-west London. I spent 19 years of my life mixing with all types of people and backgrounds. It was the best thing that ​ever ​happened to me.​

​Having neighbours who were from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Spain and other places across the world was an unimaginably enriching experience. I learned so much through contact with such a diverse range of people, and was able to understand other cultures without prejudice in my adult life.

My mum and dad struggled over the years, working hard like ordinary parents to ensure they embraced everything that is good and unique about living in Britain. My mother worked hard to ensure food was placed on the table by having three different jobs. They were diligent and proud of what Britain could give them and what they could give in return. That’s the way it should be.

I fall into the same category as Stormzy – I’m black and British. I’m so proud of that. The problem with the view that famous and affluent people like him who have succeeded in modern Britain should be “grateful” to the country for their upbringing is that it’s not just an attack on Stormzy, but on every person who was born here and who happens to have parents who are immigrants. We rarely ask people who are Australian (as Amanda Platell is) or American or northern European to show their gratitude for Britain “taking them in” or offering them a home.

We do, however, hear this sort of criticism levelled regularly against people with black and brown skin, even when they are born and bred British.​ Regardless of political affiliation, Stormzy has an opinion and he has every right to voice his opinion about an issue that concerns him​. He is, after all a Brit, and part of being British means being vocal, politically engaged and critical when necessary. The British have a proud history of calling out injustice and Stormzy continues that when he asks Theresa May about the victims of the Grenfell Tower inferno.

White privilege is something I’ve seen with my own eyes throughout my life, and there is more than a dollop of white privilege in mentioning Stormzy’s immigrant roots when he opens his mouth to criticise his own government. His parents coming from Ghana should have no bearing on whether or not he is allowed to voice his opinion on Theresa May’s response to Grenfell. To suggest otherwise is astonishingly blinkered.

Stormzy is a fantastic talent as a grime artist and British musician, one who the country should be proud of. His is the success of a hard-working guy who comes from an area renowned for gun and knife crime. He kicked all of the stereotypes about troubled British kids out of the window: he achieved fantastic exam results, he made music which spoke to millions, and he won two Brit awards last week in recognition of that. He is a shining example to his own community and beyond.

​If Eric Clapton, Adele or the Rolling Stones had called out Theresa May in the same way as Stormzy, would these discussions about gratitude be so widespread? We need to tread extremely carefully when we suggest that working class people should be more grateful to their country for being “allowed” to succeed; underlying that sort of talk is the tacit assumption that those who grow up poor have to thank the wealthier classes for letting them rise through the ranks while simultaneously acknowledging that they could have everything destroyed if they talk out of line.

Stormzy is British in every sense of the word. So don’t denigrate his contribution to British political life by suggesting his upbringing should have made him think twice about daring to speak.