Driscoll, Britain, CH4 Identity p 3
The ąuestion of identity in Northern Ireland is a much morę complex issne and is dealt wich at die end of this chapter.
As for English identity, most people who describe themselves as English usually make no distincuon in their minds between ‘English’ and ‘British’. There is plenty of evidence of this. For example, at Internationa! football or rugby matches, when the players stand to attention to hear their national anthems, the Scottish, Irish and Welsh have their own songs, wliile the English one is just ‘God Save die Queen’ — the same as die British national anthem.
Edmic identity: the non-native British
The long centuries of contact between the peoples of the four nations of die British Tsles means that there is a limit to their significant differences. With minor variations, they look the same, speak the same language, eat the same food, have the same religious heritage (Christianity) and have the same attitudes to the roles of men and women.
The situation for the several million people in Brilain whose family roots he in the Caribbean or in south Asia or elsewhere in the world is different. Eor them, ethnic identity is morę than a ąuestion of dedding which sports team to support. Non-whites (about 6% of the total British populadon) cannot, as white non-English groups can, choose when to advertise their ethnic identity and when not to.
Most non-whites, although themselyes bom in Britain, have parents who were born outside it. The great wave of immigration from the Caribbean and south Asia took place between 19^0 and 1 96^. These immigrants, especially diose from south Asia, brought with them different languages, different religions (Hindu and Muslim) and everyday habits and attitudes that were sometimes radically different from traditional British ones. As they usually married among themselves, these habits and customs have, to some extent, been preserved. For some young people brought up in Britain, this mixed cultural background can create problems. For example, many young Asians resent die fact that their parents expect to have morę control over them than most black or white parents expect to bave over dieir children. Neverdieless, they cannot avoid these experiences, which therefore make up part of their identity.
As well as this ‘given ’ identity, non-white people in Britain often take pride in their cultural roots. This pride seems to be inereasing as their cultural practices, their everyday habits and attitudes, gradually bccome less distinctive. Most of the country ’s non-whites are British cidzens. Pardy because of this, they are on the way to developing the same kind of drasion of loyalties and identity that exists for many Irish, Scottish and Welsh people. Pride can incrcase as a de.fensive reaedon to racial discrimination. There is quite a lot of this in Britain. There are tens of thousands of racially motivated attacks on people every year, .including one or two murders. Ali in all, however, overt racism is not as common as it is in many other parts of Europę.
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