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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Anti immigration and England being 'racist'

242 replies

AngryBird6122 · 10/09/2025 10:59

Do people know that this is not just a UK thing? I see so many people saying they are ashamed to be british etc but this is happening the world over. And it can work both ways! I have close family in Japan and there are protests there too and they are being treated very differently - yes, white english! The right are gaining traction there too. Are the Japanese allowed to be proud of their country and fly their flags? What's people's thoughts on this?

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AngryBird6122 · 10/09/2025 11:26

@PandoraSocks im saying we should be allowed to discuss things - without those with concerns being called nazis and the like

OP posts:
AngryBird6122 · 10/09/2025 11:28

@Idinnaenah ill be back later if you want to continue the convo - going out but didn't want you thinking i've run off even though I don't understand what you're on about. But the discussion isn't very interesting for me, probably you as well.

OP posts:
PandoraSocks · 10/09/2025 11:29

AngryBird6122 · 10/09/2025 11:25

No!

I'm a little scared by what is happening here really. DH works in canary wharf where there has been quite a lot of protesting and he is brown. He has had no issues so far though, but yes it makes me a little nervous.

BUT

I do think we have an issue with immigration. And I get why people are doing things to be noticed. I also think most of those protesting want to do it peacefully.

I get why Japan would want to protect their culture - is this racist? I don't think so. I don't know. But this is not a British problem. It's a wider issue.

The protests in Japan seem tiny. The information about them is being spread by a far right account and cheered on by Musk. That tells you a lot.

Musk voices support for anti-immigration rally in Japan - The Japan Times https://share.google/G9GT1JZgQkNBG6XbA

Musk voices support for anti-immigration rally in Japan

Commenting on Monday on a video of the rally posted on X by an account called The British Patriot, the Tesla and SpaceX chief said, 'Good.'

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/02/japan/anti-immigration-support-musk/

SatsumaDog · 10/09/2025 11:30

Racism is rooted in fear. Fear of losing your identify, but also the drive to survive, competition for resources. In the UK people have their backs against the wall
financially. Costs are spiralling and they feel there’s no control. Thousands of people flooding the country and taking valuable resources. It’s a scenario replayed throughout history. Of course we are now bound by law, but that doesn’t change human nature.

Push anyone far enough into a corner and eventually the line will be crossed.

CaroleLandis · 10/09/2025 11:32

Wanting to preserve your culture and customs is not racist.

Wanting to stop boatloads of fighting age men who’s identity we do not know and who are from a different culture and are not escaping persecution in their homeland, who hold different views about the welfare of women and children coming to the UK illegally and then being given priority treatment over people born here, is also not racist.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:32

Musk really is a scumbag.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:33

CaroleLandis · 10/09/2025 11:32

Wanting to preserve your culture and customs is not racist.

Wanting to stop boatloads of fighting age men who’s identity we do not know and who are from a different culture and are not escaping persecution in their homeland, who hold different views about the welfare of women and children coming to the UK illegally and then being given priority treatment over people born here, is also not racist.

And pasting English flags on lampposts is doing what exactly to stop people arriving in small boats??

PandoraSocks · 10/09/2025 11:35

CaroleLandis · 10/09/2025 11:32

Wanting to preserve your culture and customs is not racist.

Wanting to stop boatloads of fighting age men who’s identity we do not know and who are from a different culture and are not escaping persecution in their homeland, who hold different views about the welfare of women and children coming to the UK illegally and then being given priority treatment over people born here, is also not racist.

"Fighting age men" gives you away.

Bumblebee72 · 10/09/2025 11:37

Many people seem to consider it racist not to let anyone who wants to come to your country live there. It is nonsense. Protesting about level of immigrant is any more racist than protesting any other area of economic policy.

ilovesooty · 10/09/2025 11:41

Well this will be a nice thread for some of the people who were so very vocal on the thread that filled up yesterday.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:43

CaroleLandis · 10/09/2025 11:32

Wanting to preserve your culture and customs is not racist.

Wanting to stop boatloads of fighting age men who’s identity we do not know and who are from a different culture and are not escaping persecution in their homeland, who hold different views about the welfare of women and children coming to the UK illegally and then being given priority treatment over people born here, is also not racist.

As a non-English person I’d be really interested to know what English customs and culture are. Morris dancing? Maypoles? Colonising other countries??
’Fighting-age’ is an interesting choice of words - are you worried that some of the small boat arrivals are actually enemy soldiers planning a very slow, piecemeal invasion of some kind?

Arafina · 10/09/2025 11:46

I think things have been heading in this direction globally for quite some time now, I remember talking to my other half probably about 10 years ago while watching the news, can't remember what the programme was about but I remember saying to him that if unrest breaks out it won't be East v West or religion it will be right v left and from what I see this is what's happening. Right wing movements around the world are whipping up emotions left right and centre, I suspect there's a lot of money behind this and a lot of ulterior motive

Whatafustercluck · 10/09/2025 11:47

Surely the debate is far more nuanced than being simply a binary anti or pro stance, and this continued attempt to force people to take sides is both disingenuous and dangerous.

i think there are large swathes of people who feel emboldened to display their inherent racism/ xenophobia by piggy backing on the immigration bandwagon - and yes, I think this is the case with the Raise the Colours furore. And I think that grifters like Farage sew discontent and division in order to further their own political and financial ambitions while everyone else is distracted by squabbling among themselves.

I don't understand how anyone can be completely, 100% against any form of immigration and not be racist. Most rational people can see the benefits of immigration in terms of the country's income, but may also question the perceived drawbacks. Nobody is stopping them from engaging in the debate constructively. Equally, on a human level, it is obscene that traffickers predominantly benefit from other people's misery. I don't want to read any more news stories about people drowning in the English Channel - but I firmly believe in their right to legally seek asylum here, and that we need appropriate procedures in place to deal with them quickly and fairly.

This flag waving obsession has nothing to do with national pride and patriotism. And it has very little to do with the nuances of immigration policy because the people painting roundabouts are the people who make no effort to understand the nuances. It is simply an excuse to make people feel excluded and unwelcome - and that can never be right.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:50

The problem is we - British/USA/Western Europeans - helped set the world on fire ( Afghanistan etc) then get pissed off when the people fleeing the consequences of those conflicts flee towards us.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:53

The Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan summed up the English for me when he said ‘ The English have a fierce reputation for conquering the world… invading loads of different countries and then getting upset when those people follow them home’ … amen brother!

MrsSkylerWhite · 10/09/2025 11:56

MiddleAgedMusings · 10/09/2025 11:12

What specific examples do they have of their culture being eroded?
Foreign residents in Japan make up 3% of the population

This and it’s not terribly easy to secure naturalisation as requirements are stringent.

2dogsandabudgie · 10/09/2025 12:02

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:43

As a non-English person I’d be really interested to know what English customs and culture are. Morris dancing? Maypoles? Colonising other countries??
’Fighting-age’ is an interesting choice of words - are you worried that some of the small boat arrivals are actually enemy soldiers planning a very slow, piecemeal invasion of some kind?

English culture and traditions - Drinking tea, afternoon tea, queuing in an orderly fashion, moaning about the weather too hot or too cold, love of football and cricket, our pubs, Sunday roast, trooping of the colour, changing of the guards, red London buses, black cabs, celebrating Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, November 5th and Guy Fawkes, to name a few.

I'm sure I've missed out loads of others but these were just off the top of my head.

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 12:11

2dogsandabudgie · 10/09/2025 12:02

English culture and traditions - Drinking tea, afternoon tea, queuing in an orderly fashion, moaning about the weather too hot or too cold, love of football and cricket, our pubs, Sunday roast, trooping of the colour, changing of the guards, red London buses, black cabs, celebrating Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, November 5th and Guy Fawkes, to name a few.

I'm sure I've missed out loads of others but these were just off the top of my head.

Unless I’ve gone mad ALL those things still exist?

JHound · 10/09/2025 12:12

Why is it relevant that it is “happening the world over”?

People can he ashamed of what is happening in their country even if other countries are experiencing the same.

JHound · 10/09/2025 12:12

Idinnaenah · 10/09/2025 11:53

The Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan summed up the English for me when he said ‘ The English have a fierce reputation for conquering the world… invading loads of different countries and then getting upset when those people follow them home’ … amen brother!

Spot on!

ScholesPanda · 10/09/2025 12:12

Of course there is racism everywhere.

Japan is a very closed country, which doesn't tolerate much in the way of immigration. It has a long history of ultra nationalism. If you'd like to read more about it then maybe look up Unit 731 and the way they treated Chinese people as inferior.

Or just watch some re-runs of Tenko.

MaidOfSteel · 10/09/2025 12:14

Yes, I’m aware that our situation is mirrored around much of the world and I understand the concerns.

As soon as migration is mentioned here, even if it’s not immediately negative, you get jumped on by the ‘do-gooders’ and called a bigot.

JHound · 10/09/2025 12:16

PandoraSocks · 10/09/2025 11:29

The protests in Japan seem tiny. The information about them is being spread by a far right account and cheered on by Musk. That tells you a lot.

Musk voices support for anti-immigration rally in Japan - The Japan Times https://share.google/G9GT1JZgQkNBG6XbA

White Supremacists are obsessed with Japan.

Hence Musk’s interest.

He is a weirdo: supporting anti-immigrant protests in a country with almost no immigrants but not too long ago protesting that it should be easier to bring H1B visa holders to the USA and being an immigrant himself.

What a weirdo.

HarperStern · 10/09/2025 12:17

Culturally, the biggest influence on us here by a million miles has been the US from film/TV. Nobody seems to ever protest about that though.

JHound · 10/09/2025 12:17

AngryBird6122 · 10/09/2025 11:08

It doesn't. But they have really serious concerns there about immigration and in particualr about the Japanese culture disappearing

Well that’s because they’re thick.

Immigrants are under 3% of their population and Japanese culture is going nowhere.