Are non-whites considered English?

LadyCakeLadyCake Posts: 3,126
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The producer of Midsomer Murders made a comment in the Radio Times which led to him being suspended but part of the interview that jumped out to me has been ignored...

"Well, we just don't have ethnic minorities involved," ,
"We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way."

Do you think a person from an ethnic minority can be classed as English? If not , then why not?
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Comments

  • CyanidePillCyanidePill Posts: 365
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    of course they can be.
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Doh what country does a black guy whose family have lived in England for 100 years belong to????
  • dip_transferdip_transfer Posts: 2,327
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    I don't see why they can't be English, But that wasn't the point he was trying to put across
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16,275
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    English is English ethnicity has nothing to do with it. You could be blue with pink polka dots if you were born and raised in England you're English.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    Fail.

    As others have said, very obviously this is wrong.
  • 2+2=52+2=5 Posts: 24,264
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    I'm not white, have lived here since I was a 1yr old, and don't think I'm English. When asked, I respond as being British.
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    I don't see why they can't be English, But that wasn't the point he was trying to put across

    What was the point? I don't think he managed to convey it well.
  • DeniseDenise Posts: 12,961
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    LadyCake wrote: »
    The producer of Midsomer Murders made a comment in the Radio Times which led to him being suspended but part of the interview that jumped out to me has been ignored...

    "Well, we just don't have ethnic minorities involved," ,
    "We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way."

    Do you think a person from an ethnic minority can be classed as English? If not , then why not?

    Of course non white can be English, but that isn't what he was saying.
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    2+2=5 wrote: »
    I'm not white, have lived here since I was a 1yr old, and don't think I'm English. When asked, I respond as being British.

    But if you've lived in England for practially your whole life doesnt that also make you English?
  • JamesC81JamesC81 Posts: 14,792
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    there;s something that i found somewhat amusing: there was an athletics event and in the 60m sprint final there was a black guy from the uk in it. the commentators said "and this athlete is the only european participating in this final" i just found it very strange that they refered to the afro-caribbean man as 'european' because he represented the uk. ethinicity wise of course he isnt european but nationally he is
  • estrella★estrella★ Posts: 3,714
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    LadyCake wrote: »
    The producer of Midsomer Murders made a comment in the Radio Times which led to him being suspended but part of the interview that jumped out to me has been ignored...

    How was that part of the interview ignored? He was suspended for making that comment
  • stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    They are foreigners. My town considers anyone from another country or born outside the town as foreigners.

    Locally villages also count anyone from outside the village as foreign so although you could 2-3 miles away, you are still a foreigner in their eyes.

    You could be white,black,chinese or indian and still be labelled as "foreign".
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 381
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    irishguy wrote: »
    What was the point? I don't think he managed to convey it well.
    He didn't, but I understand what he was getting at. Englishness is different to British, and it's good to have the occasional show or series which represents England at its best (or worst as there are so many murders)!
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    irishguy wrote: »
    But if you've lived in England for practially your whole life doesnt that also make you English?

    If you were born in another country it does make you an immigrant.

    The Australian Primeminister was born in Wales, to a Welsh family and lived there until she was 5 before the family emigrated to Australia.

    For all intents and purposes, and legally, she's an Australian citizen - but if I was in her situation, I'd identify myself as Welsh..

    I guess in the ambiguous cases it's entirely subjective and you could be either.
  • 2+2=52+2=5 Posts: 24,264
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    irishguy wrote: »
    But if you've lived in England for practially your whole life doesnt that also make you English?

    Having spent several years up in Scotland and the rest of my life in England I might well be seen as being English by others for the time I've been here. In certain discussions one gets the feeling this might be offensive (I know that sounds bad, but what can I say?) which is part of the reason I stick to saying I'm British. To me that identity isn't a crucial attribute when connecting with someone socially and I'd like to think it's the same for the other person.
  • LadyCakeLadyCake Posts: 3,126
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    I don't see why they can't be English, But that wasn't the point he was trying to put across

    Maybe he made his point in a clumsy fashion but I was reminded of being told "You can't be black and really English" followed by some Bernard Manning comment about stables:rolleyes:
    Hypnodisc wrote: »
    Fail.

    As others have said, very obviously this is wrong.

    What do you mean by Fail:confused:?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,800
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    LadyCake wrote: »
    The producer of Midsomer Murders made a comment in the Radio Times which led to him being suspended but part of the interview that jumped out to me has been ignored...

    "Well, we just don't have ethnic minorities involved," ,
    "We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way."

    Do you think a person from an ethnic minority can be classed as English? If not , then why not?


    never watch midsomer murders,all that inane police shite bores me to tears

    it is,however disquieting that no ethnic minorities are involved
  • irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Hypnodisc wrote: »
    If you were born in another country it does make you an immigrant.

    The Australian Primeminister was born in Wales, to a Welsh family and lived there until she was 5 before the family emigrated to Australia.

    For all intents and purposes, and legally, she's an Australian citizen - but if I was in her situation, I'd identify myself as Welsh..

    I guess in the ambiguous cases it's entirely subjective and you could be either.

    Being born conveys little but to spend 99.9% of your life living in one country surely labels you as such, whether you like it or not. I could be like Ian Paisley (acutally hes a bad example - gregory camobell is better) and claim I'm not Irish but in everyone elses eyes I would be, largely down to accent and knowing where I was brought up
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,185
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    l think the op 's question is stupid and not thought out properly
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,800
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    2+2=5 wrote: »
    I'm not white, have lived here since I was a 1yr old, and don't think I'm English. When asked, I respond as being British.


    fairy snuff....if you weren't born in england then you're not english
  • LaChatteGitaneLaChatteGitane Posts: 4,184
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    I'm whiter than white and I'm NOT English,. How about that ?
  • stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    never watch midsomer murders,all that inane police shite bores me to tears

    it is,however disquieting that no ethnic minorities are involved

    You don't tend to see ethnics in the country. Locally there might be 2 or 3 in the villages but no where near as many in the towns and only in the last 5 years have they appeared. Before the local area was white. It is slowly getting more multicultural but people don't like it and they moan to the politicans like mad about the violent foreigners not speaking English and living in ghettos not mixing with the indigenous people.

    The same can be said for the theatre or the cinema.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,284
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    2+2=5 wrote: »
    I'm not white, have lived here since I was a 1yr old, and don't think I'm English. When asked, I respond as being British.

    Funny thing is, I would have classified you as white!
    As an non-white immigrant to this country, I find this curious. I think there are people who don't think of non-whites as British, especially English. Having lived in both England and Scotland, the distinction of race doesn't seem to be as big of a deal up there as it does down here. I dunno, maybe it's because Scotland has such a strong national identity. Within the English regions, there seems to be a strong identities. Perhaps it's because England doesn't really have to punch above its weight within the UK.
  • vanzandtfanvanzandtfan Posts: 8,897
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    If English is a nationality then yes, if an ethnicity then no.
  • dip_transferdip_transfer Posts: 2,327
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    irishguy wrote: »
    What was the point? I don't think he managed to convey it well.

    His point was, From how i understood it, He said, the typical English sleepy village doesn't have any residents from ethnic minorities, But i think from the T.V. company's point of view they wanted to be seen as "P.C." and culturally diverse and asked him to include characters from ethnic minorities.
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