If you live in England and are not white are you considering leaving the country?

[GreyingSunshine]

I'm really starting to worry about our future here now that anti immigration / nationalistic feelings are running so high. Our town is full of flags, reform is on the rise (and is pushing everyone, including the other parties further and further to the right) and every day there is news of some sort of anti immigration / anti asylum seekers / stop the boats protest. Dh has said for the first time ever that he doesn't feel safe anymore when out and about. I worry about the kids' future. They were born here and consider themselves British but what if a large proportion of the population doesn't? I feel it's just going to get worse.

I don't really want to leave. I have lived here for more than 20 years. I feel at home here. My kids are at home here. We have a massive mortgage and I don't really fancy starting all over again now that I'm in my mid forties. Also, not sure where we could go as the whole world seems to be becoming more right wing and intolerant and more importantly we obviously both would need to find new jobs first.

Is anyone else worried? Is anyone else considering emigrating? At what point would you say that we (as in anyone visibly not ethnic English or Anglo saxons or whatever, ie not white) need to get out?

He’s not pandering to the ‘far right’, whatever that actually is. He’s listening to a majority of people who have valid concerns about uncontrolled immigration. And if he listens to people with the same rhetoric as you, then Reform will definitely get in at the next election. Wouldn’t you rather Starmer look at the problem and resolve it, leading to one of the mainstream parties getting in at the next election? Or that he chooses to ignore the majority electorate and leave the door open for Reform? That’s the reality here.

Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
There are more decent people here than twats. It’s just that they are loud and visible which can make it seem like they are the majority.

I think the most concerning thing is the private sentiment of people you'd never guess were racist. It's not the types who stand outside immigration hotels or paint wobbly flags on roundabouts. I've heard educated professionals express "there goes the neighbourhood " when a non white face moves in. It's the growing number of people who think Nigel Farage is the only one who understands that we need to worry about.

The protests are against “illegal” immigration, so unless you are illegal why would you feel the need to move?

I am sure we all understand why. There are many in these right wing cabals who are not so discerning as to make the distinction between an illegal immigrant and anyone who looks different to them, regardless that they might have been born here in the UK.

I too remember worse times when anyone who was not anglo-saxon was suspect and discriminated against. I hope we are not heading back there.

But I take comfort from the fact that my GC are all very clear about where they stand on bigotry - they are warm, loving young people who care not one jot about anyone's ethnic background. People are just people to them; and in their minds Farage just sounds like a minor fringe nutter. And it is the same for their friendship group. They are the future, not these noisy flag-painters, and I hope very much that you can take comfort from that.

In my opinion no one in real life seems to care about my skin colour. Everyone is busy getting on with their own lives.

Your husband doesn’t feel safe?

The far right aren’t stabbing children.

The far right don’t roam the streets carrying machetes.

The far right aren’t 90% of MI5’s watchlist.

The far right don’t blow up trains and Pop concerts.

The far right aren’t mass grooming white girls.

The far right doesn’t exist, just people who want to preserve our culture and protect our children.

Do non white people have to go round with signs on themselves saying I am not an illegal immigrant? No people of any colour, background, religious dress should be able to walk around without fear.

In London at least, most people seem more concerned about rising prices and increasing crime. Crime has rocketed in my neighbourhood.

This....

I woke up to find our town covered with crosses on roundabouts and even zebra crossings 🙄

My little one wants to make posters saying everyone is welcome and celebrating all the wonderful people that live in this country.

These idiots do not speak for all of us and, I think we have a duty to get this message across.

This is correct, this country has a problem, and a big one with uncontrolled and unchecked immigration - concern about that is not racism.

Controlled immigration and migration re good things for a country, as is ethnic diversity, but the issues we have now are real and destructive.

The shame of the situation is that when Enoch Powell made his famous speech 60 years ago, he had a platform because we had no functional immigration system, 60 years later, successive governments and there is still huge problems, so todays right wingers get a platform too.

Solve immigration, solve these problems - and its not difficult - we have skill shortages, so rather than people rocking up in a dinghy having thrown out their paperwork there should be a facility to which they can present themselves and their documentation - checks made - if they have something to offer a fixed term visa offered, then they can catch the next P&O across.

If they muck in, work hard, stay out of trouble, at the end of the visa period they get offered permanent residency and can apply for citizenship.

What an interesting mix your children are.
And youre Welsh and arab so you must be absolutely gorgeous 😍

I don't think it is easy to set up a functional immigration and asylum system at all. There are so many opposing considerations. An aging population, NEETS, collapsing universities, war, climate change...
I wonder.how we can possibly please everyone.

I'm stuck if I'm honest. Paralysed with indecision . I'm an poc and an immigrant. My options to leave are to go to America or Canada. I have family in both and citizenship. My H and children don't but I can get the kids sorted in regards to citizenship relatively easily.

Both options are tough. America is/has been going the same way we are plus all of the other negatives mainly Trump and health care. Canada is prohibitively expensive for housing, food and has been slammed with COL more so than we have. But is much, much more inclusive.

I don't want to uproot the children, send our long planned and hard earned savings and investments down the pan and ha e to start over again in middle age. Jobs would be easy and probably much better paid.

I hat what's happening here now. We moved feom greater London where I rarely ever faced racism or anti immigration rhetoric. We currently live fairly rurally now with a commute into London and I'm seeing more and more hateful behaviour.

My H is also blind to colour and is one of the most lovely human beings and just doesn't seem understand what it means to be not white in the currently. Or he's choosing to not believe that it affects me now daily. Our children look white and have basically been raised white with a few random cultural traditions thrown in. (I'm mixed race )

I don't know how to get him to see what he can't see. I almost dont want to. He's such a generous soul. He knows it's happening and has an sympathy and anger in regards to everything going on but chooses to not believe that our family is affected by it as well. Namely me.

Watching and waiting and hopefully will know what to do before it's too late.

@GivingUpFinally I have family in the US and it's way worse than here. With added guns!
My sister has been told to go back to Mexico many times. ( We are not Mexican).

I think we have to be careful lumping everyone who has an adverse opinion to your own on immigration as racist. This is how Brexit happened!

You cannot even get into some countries with a criminal record yet we are definitely a soft touch. It does concern me that we are being seen as such and because of that, we do have criminals heading our way who never get deported again because they claim it’s breaching their human rights.

The labour party under Starmer seem to be doing their level best to push the electorate into the arms of Reform. They need to start listening and listening hard

I was driving home last night through some local villages and came across a gang of about 4 or 5 men in balaclavas with ladders putting up flags on lampposts.
If that is patriotism I am definitely not patriotic.

We are in London and not white and notice a lot more racism. We feel the UK isn’t welcoming to poc and are looking to leave. Despite politeness at a superficial level, the message is clear. We are looking at Australia.

I don't really know what to say because I'm not in your situation, but I'm so sorry you feel like this OP. Not exactly helpful I know.

What people are saying is that gangs of lumpens are not here for a nuanced discussion. Like the teens who attacked an 8-year-old Indian girl in Ireland. Or those that killed the 80-year-old man walking his dog.

I am surprised all these hardworking taxpayers have the time and energy to protest. Also, they must be so busy doing all that volunteering in the local community that they care so much about. I wonder how many UKIP supporters are net contributors.

I’m white, but of a nationality frequent stigmatised in England. I’d lived there, largely happily, for nearly 25 years and had a child there, but left in 2019 after microaggressions stopped being so micro in the wake of Brexit, and I realised I didn’t want my son growing up with that. I’m in an English city for an even this weekend and wondering what I’m going to find.

We are in London and not white and notice a lot more racism. We feel the UK isn’t welcoming to poc and are looking to leave. Despite politeness at a superficial level, the message is clear. We are looking at Australia.

Is Australia better? I assumed there was more racism there.

It feels like we're already halfway there with the amount of Reform run local councils though sadly. Including one somewhere being run by an actual child (I know technically he's only just over eighteen but still).

This is so true. I keep saying to myself "it might not happen, a lot can change in four years" like a fucking mantra at the moment. But even this far ahead it increasingly feels like I'm kidding myself.