I am English.
I’m old enough to remember when considering yourself to be English meant that broadly speaking you’d been born here, grown up here, went to school here, lived here, followed English cultural customs and to all intents and purposes, were English.
It wasn’t controversial.
Most normal people who describe themselves as English mean this, in much the same way as they would describe themselves as a Londoner, or a Mancunian or a Brummie.; They aren’t referring to their ethnicity or trying to erase yours.
It���s not complicated.
The racists and grifters desperately trying to carve out careers as political commentators or angling to be Restore Britain candidates are redefining it exclusively as “ethnically English” because, much like the Black Lives Matter activists, their racial identity is their entire grift. They need to shift the Overton Window on the idea.
Given most people would struggle to name their great-great-grandparents the idea that you should be able to trace your lineage back to the Domesday book is ridiculous.
English is my national identity. It’s taken until I was middle-aged for it to suddenly be questioned. I’m not about to stop being English, supporting the England team or start having to justify my Englishness to satisfy anybody’s “papers please” witch hunt.
I’ll die on this hill.
First they came for anyone who wasn’t ethnically English…
A refund should not take 8 days. You took my money in 2 seconds, so don’t tell me you need 8 days to return it. If you can take my money instantly, you can return it instantly.