Quote:
Originally Posted by jonaos
"English" would be better for everyone born in England to view themselves as. It would hamper the BNP types with their nationalism at the very least. Also there is no good reason as to why someone whose parents are from Bangladesh/Pakistan/Nigeria etc but is born in England [or Scotland] cant view themselves as such. "English" denotes more than being just British [which is a generic term], English means you are native to the area and has cultural history along with it. People of immigrant backgrounds born in England effect the culture so they should view themselves as de'facto Englishmen or Englishwomen.
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That won't happen for many generations. In Europe, terms like English, Scottish, Norwegian, German, Italian also denote an ethnicity which was forged by thousands of years of "steeping" in that area. The last great wave of foreigners to hit the British shores was almost a thousand years ago (not counting the Huguenots and 19th century Irish). There have never been a large scale immigration by non-white peoples. For the foreseeable future there'll be a distinct difference between the citizenship and ethnicity. About the only way I can see the various immigrant nationalities using "English" to identify themselves is if the UK dissolves.
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