How British are you?

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Obviously, when the "protesters" say they are protesting immigration and want "the boat people" to go home what they mean is brown people, not immigrants, but they cannot say this because they are not racist.

So, in their minds, how British do you need to be? The young man who committed the crime that triggered this was Welsh with immigrant parents, so clearly, the children of immigrants are not welcome. What about grandchildren of immigrants? Or great-grandchildren? Are you allowed to stay if you have one British parent?

I'm musing because based on the people I know the country would be empty if we went more than 2 generations back. My Grandmother was an immigrant so I assume I would have to leave, not sure about the DC but DD2 is clearly of Romanian descent so I'd not fancy her chances of being able to stay.

Would you be able to stay?

I'm Irish, from ROI living in NI. If anywhere would teach you the importance of respecting people's own views of their heritage, it's here.

Anyway, that makes me an immigrant, but The Right Sort Of Immigrant. So no not allowed stay under your rules, except that I totally would be.

Totally British, going back generations and generations.
Really boring.
Anyway, I'm not bothered by immigration and I'm definitely not racist.

Married a non British man to make a change.

Unfortunately no good will come of this line of thinking on this forum right now

Half Irish on my dad's side. DH is half German-Jewish. So no I guess not.

Indeed.

In what I generously call their 'minds', I believe that it depends if the person is white.
If you were born here and you are white and you've got a local accent then you'll do. If your parents have an accent from elsewhere that's a mark against you so you have to be extra English to compensate.

If you're brown then it doesn't matter how many generations your family has been in the UK, they will never accept you as English. Even if your family has been in the UK for more generations than theirs has.

Make no mistake, this is about colour.

I think we were mentioned in the Magna Carta, do I pass?

I'd be allowed to stay, I'm ghostly white and everyone in my family is from London for about 20 generations.

Not sure I want to stay though.

One side of my family goes right back to the Norman Conquest - I have a surname of clear Norman derivation. I guess most people would say that’s too long ago to be an immigrant in modern terms. Family has been traced back quite far by various family members and there’s plenty of people from other nations in there. I strongly believe in tolerance and don’t have any time for prejudice

They mean white.

About 15 years ago we lived in Bristol and a BNP canvasser came round and tried to talk to DH about the awful immigrants. DH asked gently if that meant him, who’d arrived from an African country (born there)…and the chap actually said ‘oh, I don’t mean people like you’ (ie white). Needless to say he was firmly ejected.

The thugs are pulling cars over and asking people if they are English. White, Muslim.

They are shouting fuck a*h.

They are attacking people of colour.

They are doing that because they are racist and Islamophobic.

.

Yep totally British, I’ve traced my family back generations and also done the DNA test. But there is a hint of the Middle East but otherwise almost exclusively north west European. I was particularly excited to have some Viking DNA though. My DSis, who has a PHd in genetics, is always a cynic concerning the DNA tests in genealogy but she was delighted that she had Viking ancestry.
Britain was invaded so many times we really can’t claim to be British. Genetically we are the sum of generations of immigration.

I am also White British going back as far as I could trace (5 generations). Mind you, if that means it's just me and Yaxley-Lennon's acolytes marooned on this godforsaken island, I'm out

I'm the daughter of immigrants. Dh came here from South Africa in his mid 20s. But as we are both white the racists probably don't care about us

My brother doesn't look white. He's subject to abuse regularly. People may have an axe to grind, but they are not judge, jury and fucking executioner. Some of those people in those little boats have walked a path we can never, ever imagine - what makes a person put their lives, their children's lives at risk like that?? For every chancer, there's a legitimate story and I would hate to be the person who stopped those who were that desperate they risked everything to get here. If we hadn't run every fucking industry into the ground in the UK, there would be jobs for all.

EU, married with a British, kids speak English only; I fully adopted all British values and am Christian also, if that makes a difference

Not sure. I am actually more worried about the three little girls who were stabbed to death and the horrific levels of knife crime in the area I live than right wing extremism. Why are we not asking question about how yet another stabbing has taken place? Fed up of people being outraged by riots and not outraged by knife crime and three kids being stabbed, I am so tired of hearing about stabbings and nothing being done about it, tired of being worried every time my teenage sons leave the house. I don't condone violence at any level but it's not on a level of children being stabbed. This country is an absolute joke.

My English dad’s side can be traced back to the 1600s (an uncle did a family tree), my mum’s side were indentured labourers who went to Guyana from India in the early 20th century and there are no records to be found there. So I’d half be allowed to stay and half be booted out 🤷🏻‍♀️

British as far back as I’ve been able to trace. Very boring. DH was born here but raised largely abroad, now lives here again, don’t know how that would be under the ‘rules’.

Sadly, these fucking yobs are not clever enough to work this one out. Statistically there must be many of these idiots who would fall into this category. No reasonable thought or compassion for anyone - selfish and ignorant. I hope the law enforcement continue to arrest them and splash their faces across the media so their families and bosses (if they have jobs, which lots of them will) can see them for who they really are. Lock them up.

I have not been able to find an ancestor from outside the central Midlands (except a gt gt grandfather from Yorkshire) on many, many lines, some back to just after 1400. I suspect there may be the odd Norman in there from the etymology of one of the names but that is 1000+ years ago.

So how English am I? As English as Lenny Henry, or my schoolfriends who came from all over, or at least their parents did, friends born here. As English as the Windrush generation, or the Sikhs who fled Uganda for their lives. As English as Lord Dubs. As English as anyone who is here and wants to be English.

I'm a bit and a bit not. But being white with a Saaf Laadon accent, no one cares about me.

DH has an accent. But he's white, built like a brick shithouse and looks like Mike Tyndall so I suspect he's not on the hit list.

I've lived in three countries and when I say, "oh you're talking about immigrants, like me?" the wankers always look confused. Because they aren't talking about me. Or DH.