The English happen to be a caucasian ethnic group. They make the argument about white / non white, but it’s not accurate.
I am ethnically Irish. But im as pale as they come. If I hypothetically had a baby with an Irish woman in England, the child would be Irish, not English. “British-Irish” we could say.
You will notice on medical and census data there is no “British-Irish” option - only “white-Irish.” Presumably because Irish people are white, we don’t have to worry about them feeling excluded, as their ethnic group has no DEI protected status in society. They also wouldn’t care.
I’ve actually met English-born ethnically Irish people in Britain who describe themselves as Irish (because they are). However, they have English accents, have never lived in Ireland, and don’t plan on moving to Ireland.
They would be “culturally English” of this moment in time. But culture obviously changes - we wouldn’t have the same outlook as an Englishman from 1500, but he was still English.
But also to add, these “British-Irish” people I meet often have biases over Ireland and would support them over England in sports. I’m unsure if you can ever fully remove allegiance to your heritage nation. I would choose Britain over Ireland, as I never felt at home there, but I think I’m an exception - not the rule.
But the English will only have the England team to support, unless they have a strange self-hating preference. Can you see the imbalance here?
Many non-white ethnic groups in the west constantly exert their racial identity and talk about “their culture”…. So it seems they get the best of both worlds. They’re English but also eg Nigerian and can complain about lack of Nigerian representation, lack of celebration of Nigerian culture, and actively create initiatives which aim to privilege their own ethnic group.
The English can barely promote their history, flag, ethnic group, without being seen as hateful. Nor can they adopt a 2nd ethnic identity.
Why do we never see white people talking about their “Nigerian culture.” Because they’re not Nigerian!
Tonight on Question Time, I debated Suella Braverman on what it means to be English. I think there’s one word for her position