‘I’m British, British Asian, English’, says Rishi Sunak in riposte to racially charged debate over identity
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/06/british-rishi-sunak-riposte-racially-charged-debate-identity
8 points · 7 comments · view on lemmy.world
7 Comments
KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 227d
This feels really conflicting. Of course I agree he is English and he should not be on the receiving end of racism, nobody should.
His government, however, actively boosted racist messaging on immigration, so I can't help but feel he is at least in part to blame politically for this.
The reason this feels difficult is because I worry this feels a bit like victim blaming, although again I really do want emphasise how much the conservatives have helped boost the far right and racist views.
Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com · 3 pts · 227d
He was hoist with his own petard. Not so much victim blaming, as "I didn't think those
leopards[racists] would eat my [non-white] face."It is funny the people who would agree he is British, he is, are people who also think he's a wanker
makingrain@lemmy.world · -4 pts · 228d
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 13 pts · 228d
He's something of a bell-end, and I'm not 100% certain he's human - but he was born in England, so whatever he actually is, he's an English one of it.
makingrain@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 228d
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 228d
That sounds like a question for mid-90s Hong Kong! :)
It's an interesting question though, as "Chinese" can be used as both a Nationality and an Ethnicity (and a language and a style of food). I don't think I've ever heard of "English" being used as an Ethnicity before, but it wouldn't surprise me if people had started trying to do that.
makingrain@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d
fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 228d
Yes, I've done quite a few. From your link, it looks like they recently added "English" as a subsection of "white" in 2011 (it used to just say "British"). Anyway, as far as I would understand it, the ethnicity in the link above is "white". I don't think Sunak was saying he was ethnically white, but that his national identity was English - not that I'm defending him in any way - as mentioned above, he's a bell-end.
FloatingAlong@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 228d
He was born in England. What do you imagine he is, then, if not English?
makingrain@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 228d
makingrain@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 228d
Z3k3@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 228d
If he was born in England your in for a shock
makingrain@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 228d