Why do immigrants regard England as a state rather than as an inheritance?

Why should I give a flying toss what someone's skin colour is? Why does that matter?

You shouldn't personally, but if someone is for example black that means they have very little, if any English ancestry in them so calling them English ethnically is misleading

You're vastly understating the degree of immigration and vastly overstating how much control the state had back then. The modern state's border controls are a relatively recent thing.

And it didn't stop all undesirable immigration. For much of the 19th century, the main complaint was about Irish immigrants, who were considered the scum of the earth, but there were also part of the United Kingdom.

Why should I care if they have English ethnicity?

If over 10,000 years the most we've had in this country is a few bursts of European immigrants in the tens of thousands I don't think it is understating

Well you're the one who got into a debate over whether English people are white or not (they are) so I assume you care for some reason

Up until the 18th century the population of this country was tiny so proportionally it mattered a great deal.

And ten thousand years? Try 1,500 - the English themselves are immigrants who stole the land from the Welsh! Time we gave it back.

I care that someone has made an arbitrary and pointless declaration that English people can only be white. I'd rather be inclusive and allow anyone to be English if they live here and get citizenship. I care not for ethnicity.

You shouldn't personally, but if someone is for example black that means they have very little, if any English ancestry in them so calling them English ethnically is misleading

But that black person could have a mixed race mother and then paterbal

I know that better than anyone, I am Welsh

Anybody can be British, the discussion is on the English ethnicity which is white, thats the reality of it.

I know that better than anyone, I am Welsh


Anybody can be British, the discussion is on the English ethnicity which is white, thats the reality of it.

I just don't care about ethnicity. It's a defunct concept from the age of tribes and forest gods. We can move on now.

I agree in legal terms it doesn't matter, but socially it will never disappear

but to be white could be iranian/ saudi arabian or french- does it mean english= white= all over the world all that are white are english
I think not

Oh I think it will, and is. As far as I'm concerned, someone who looks Thai on the outside is as English as I am if they live and work in England.

Iranians consider themselves Persians and Saudis Arabic, I don't think they consider themselves white, not white in the sense of English at least

Presumably then you would expect Thais to view an Englishman working in Thailand as a Thai? I think we both know this is not going to be the case.