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[Pete Burrett]

Theres some serious straw-clutching going on now. Debate the benefits and cons of a globalised world and mass-immigration as much as you want but to pretend Britain has always been some kind of melting pot of cultures is pure fantasy.

Go back less than 100 years and 99.9% of people in this country believed themselves to be "white British"

But yeah we were always a melting pot because of a roman legion who came over a thousand years ago...

What we now call Britain has always been a melting point of cultures. I repeat CULTURES, which doesn't necessarily mean people of different shades. So reference to Romans, Normans etc is entirely sensible and logical rather than straw-clutching. How many people categorise themselves as white British - either now or in the past - is irrelevant to the argument. Cultures have always mixed in this country and still are.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I suspect for some people on this thread, it is the skin colour that's the trigger.

Ah, the old people who don't share my worldview are secret racists jibe

 

[Wandering Yellow]

What we now call Britain has always been a melting point of cultures. I repeat CULTURES, which doesn't necessarily mean people of different shades. So reference to Romans, Normans etc is entirely sensible and logical rather than straw-clutching. How many people categorise themselves as white British - either now or in the past - is irrelevant to the argument. Cultures have always mixed in this country and still are.

Right Pete, because 100 years ago people definitely had different cultures because of their Roman and Norman ancestry. The truth is the majority of people then had no idea if they were from predominantly Germanic, Norman or Roman, that was just the make up of a Briton. This country was almost entirely homogenous for a very long time, and that's the truth. I'm sorry if you can't accept that.

You can recognise mass immigration and melting pot Britain is a relatively new phenomenon and still support it. If you believe this country was some sort of multi-ethnic land and always has been you are believing a myth.

Its like me claiming Japan has always been multi-ethnic because of the Mongol invasions in the 1200s. Its a total nonsense.

 

[m]

Theres some serious straw-clutching going on now. Debate the benefits and cons of a globalised world and mass-immigration as much as you want but to pretend Britain has always been some kind of melting pot of cultures is pure fantasy.

Go back less than 100 years and 99.9% of people in this country believed themselves to be "white British"

But yeah we were always a melting pot because of a roman legion who came over a thousand years ago...

I dispute your quoted figure but agree that the rate of immigration has accelerated. That's undeniable.

My point was that there's always been immigration. There have always been immigrants who wish to assimilate. There have always been immigrants who wish to keep to their own cultures. There have always been people thumping tubs and claiming that immigration and immigrants are bad. Call it what you want.

That's all. No straws. No clutching. No giving a toss how many times you tell me I'm wrong.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

So I can't tell you you're wrong but you can tell me I'm wrong?

There has always been immigration, the level of mass immigration we have seen in the last 50 or so years has never been seen before in British history.

The idea that Britain has always been a melting pot is a false one. You don't need to embrace a lie to still think a mixing of cultures is basically a good thing.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Ah, the old people who don't share my worldview are secret racists jibe

I didn't realise it was a secret, but if the cap fits...

 

[Marked Ox]

Right Pete, because 100 years ago people definitely had different cultures because of their Roman and Norman ancestry. The truth is the majority of people then had no idea if they were from predominantly Germanic, Norman or Roman, that was just the make up of a Briton. This country was almost entirely homogenous for a very long time, and that's the truth. I'm sorry if you can't accept that.

You can recognise mass immigration and melting pot Britain is a relatively new phenomenon and still support it. If you believe this country was some sort of multi-ethnic land and always has been you are believing a myth.

Its like me claiming Japan has always been multi-ethnic because of the Mongol invasions in the 1200s. Its a total nonsense.

So you are claiming for a very long time the culture in the Orkneys or Shetland Isles was pretty much identical to Oxfordshire. You are wrong.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

So you are claiming for a very long time the culture in the Orkneys or Shetland Isles was pretty much identical to Oxfordshire. You are wrong.

No. Never claimed that. Oxfordshire culture was predominantly English culture and Orkney culture was predominantly Scottish and Highlands and Islands Scottish.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Its quite frustrating the meltdown some posters on here have to counter-arguments, yet when I'm told I'm wrong you seem to just want me to accept it.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I equally don't give a toss how many times you tell me I'm wrong @Marked Ox. I'm quite happy believing that actual truth of British history. You can believe whatever the hell you like.

 

[Marked Ox]

No. Never claimed that. Oxfordshire culture was predominantly English culture and Orkney culture was predominantly Scottish and Highlands and Islands Scottish.

Different cultures then (as is North Wales or Cornwall or West Cumbria) and so not homogeneous, and therefore multicultural. Part of these cultural differences will also be down to the ancient immigration that has been part of this land's history (ie. Orkney) so that is further why they are very much relevant to this discussion.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I find myself chuckling now! Google (and other search engines) are great, but what it spews out can evidently be subject to ham-fisted interpretation.

Evidently.

 

[Marked Ox]

I equally don't give a toss how many times you tell me I'm wrong @Marked Ox. I'm quite happy believing that actual truth of British history. You can believe whatever the hell you like.

The actual truth, try reading about it. And you actually contradicted your own point in your response.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I've got a degree in History. Maybe you should do more reading.

 

[Marked Ox]

I've got a degree in History. Maybe you should do more reading.

You don't seem to have grasped what a culture is.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

You don't seem to have grasped what a culture is.

You don't seem to have grasped lots of things.

Multiculturalism implies lots of cultures co-existing in the same space. I think you'll find in 1900 Scottish culture was extremely dominant in Scotland and English culture was extremely dominant in England. Even those cultures have lots of similarities.

Like I say, if you want to believe in 1920s England you'd find all colours and creeds be my guest. It just isn't true. They were an extreme minority then.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I've got a Masters in Human Geography. What do I win?

The most condescending user on Yellows Forum award?

Edit: I think you know I mentioned my history background because I was told I needed to do more reading. I wonder how you or Marked Ox would react if I told you you needed to do more reading? You seem to want me to just accept I'm wrong. I'm not going to, believe what you want.

 

[Scotchegg]

Its quite frustrating the meltdown some posters on here have to counter-arguments, yet when I'm told I'm wrong you seem to just want me to accept it.

Sorry to jump in, but whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion, what you are presenting as facts are simply untrue. That may be down to ignorance, or inconsistencies in the data sources used, or it may be your inability to see the wood for the trees. But either way, you are wrong is so much of what you post that maybe you should accept that the problem is yours.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Sorry to jump in, but whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion, what you are presenting as facts are simply untrue. That may be down to ignorance, or inconsistencies in the data sources used, or it may be your inability to see the wood for the trees. But either way, you are wrong is so much of what you post that maybe you should accept that the problem is yours.

Ok. So provide me with evidence the UK was and always has been a cultural melting pot then. I'll wait.

 

[Essexyellows]

So I can't tell you you're wrong but you can tell me I'm wrong?

There has always been immigration, the level of mass immigration we have seen in the last 50 or so years has never been seen before in British history.

The idea that Britain has always been a melting pot is a false one. You don't need to embrace a lie to still think a mixing of cultures is basically a good thing.

Estimated number of migrants between 1800 and 1945

Migrant group	Migration 1800–1945 (145 years)	Migration 1945–2010 (65 years)
Africans	10,000	1,000,000
Americans	70,000	250,000
Arabs	10,000	290,000
Belgians	240,000	40,000
Chinese	20,000	320,000
Cypriots	2,000	80,000
French People	40,000	100,000
Germans	100,000	300,000
Hungarians	2,000	38,000
Irish	1,500,000	700,000
Italians	40,000	160,000
Jews	220,000	80,000
Poles	5,000	500,000
South Asians	20,000	1,000,000
West Indians	10,000	400,000
Others	50,000	1,000,000
Total migration	2,339,000	6,231,000
Average migration per year	16,131	95,862