4 ms·

The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia. I say this as a Brit. It's not better than France in any way, shape or form. France is not without it

The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia. I say this as a Brit. It's not better than France in any way, shape or form. France is not without its issues either though. Both countries need to be better.

zabzonk 7y ago
It's probably the most multi-racial and integrated country in the world. After all, the favourite British dish is curry.
- roywiggins 7y ago
  The UK population is ~87% white. The US is at 77%. As to relative degrees of integration, I don't know how you'd measure it, but the UK has its own serious struggles on that front.
  - felipelemos 7y ago
    Brazil is 47% (declared) white, and still with a lot of racism. Neither of these countries can be considered fully integrated. That is, unfortunately, still far away from everyone. And until we live in a society that separates us from them, we will not be able to achieve that.
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    Yeah, but no city I've ever been to has matched London for diversity. It truly feels like the world embedded in one city. I love it dearly. Rural Wales has always seemed a bit racially non-diverse with the resulting odd views that come from that.
- switch007 7y ago
  That is hilarious. Are you really suggesting that our favourite dish is evidence of successful multi-racialism and integration? Come to Yorkshire. Integrated is the last word I'd use to describe Bradford, Huddersfield, Dewsbury...
  - zabzonk 7y ago
    I was born in Halifax, and my brother lives there. Seems OK to me. But I speak from the perspective of someone that lives in London, in Wood Green, and you could not get anywhere more diverse and yet integrated.
    - switch007 7y ago
      Halifax is 87% white though. Much higher than Bradford and Huddersfield. I specifically mentioned Yorkshire (being not London) as I suspected you were thinking of London. At 12% of your population it’s not representative of the U.K (though neither is Yorkshire of course) I wonder what the demographic of Skirtcoat Green are compared to the western part of the town. It’s my impression that the small Asian communities live in certain parts and there is not much of a mix.
peteretep 7y ago
> The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia Sure. But where else have you lived? I'd argue the UK both has a terrible problem with racism and xenophobia, but is also one of the least racist and xenophobic countries in the world. Both the Chancellor and the Mayor of London are brown men with Muslim roots, we had a Jewish prime minister in the 1800s, nearly 15% of the population were born abroad, and London is France's 6th biggest city.
- marcus_holmes 7y ago
  totally agree Australia is ashamed of how racist it is. SE Asia is blatantly racist and sees nothing wrong with that. The USA isn't racist per se - it's just that race is a major factor in everything. the UK is pretty non-racist as countries go.
  - squiggleblaz 7y ago
    > The USA isn't racist per se - it's just that race is a major factor in everything. Doesn't that make it racist per se? I mean if the only way you're going to hear your accent and see faces like yours on tv is to listen to separately maintained tv channels, then you have apartheid, defacto or otherwise. If you have congressional divisions deliberately drawn to ensure that a person of a certain race has a viable chance of getting elected, you have a dejure apartheid. The moment you have "separate but equal", you have racism. If Americans were interested in fair equal representation for all American citizens, they could do it. But they refuse. Because racism is a big factor in everything.
    - marcus_holmes 7y ago
      I find it fascinating talking to Americans about this. I tend to agree with you, that this is racist, but apparently it's only racist if it affects the people concerned negatively. I have liberal friends who would be horrified at the thought that they were being racist. But they do factor race into decisions, usually trying to be positive about it. I don't understand it. I'm fascinated by it.
dev_north_east 7y ago
> The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia. As a Johnny foreigner, who has lived across the UK and currently is in the north east, I wholeheartedly disagree.

zabzonk 7y ago

It's probably the most multi-racial and integrated country in the world. After all, the favourite British dish is curry.

roywiggins 7y ago
The UK population is ~87% white. The US is at 77%. As to relative degrees of integration, I don't know how you'd measure it, but the UK has its own serious struggles on that front.
- felipelemos 7y ago
  Brazil is 47% (declared) white, and still with a lot of racism. Neither of these countries can be considered fully integrated. That is, unfortunately, still far away from everyone. And until we live in a society that separates us from them, we will not be able to achieve that.
- scarejunba 7y ago
  Yeah, but no city I've ever been to has matched London for diversity. It truly feels like the world embedded in one city. I love it dearly. Rural Wales has always seemed a bit racially non-diverse with the resulting odd views that come from that.
switch007 7y ago
That is hilarious. Are you really suggesting that our favourite dish is evidence of successful multi-racialism and integration? Come to Yorkshire. Integrated is the last word I'd use to describe Bradford, Huddersfield, Dewsbury...
- zabzonk 7y ago
  I was born in Halifax, and my brother lives there. Seems OK to me. But I speak from the perspective of someone that lives in London, in Wood Green, and you could not get anywhere more diverse and yet integrated.
  - switch007 7y ago
    Halifax is 87% white though. Much higher than Bradford and Huddersfield. I specifically mentioned Yorkshire (being not London) as I suspected you were thinking of London. At 12% of your population it’s not representative of the U.K (though neither is Yorkshire of course) I wonder what the demographic of Skirtcoat Green are compared to the western part of the town. It’s my impression that the small Asian communities live in certain parts and there is not much of a mix.

peteretep 7y ago

> The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia Sure. But where else have you lived? I'd argue the UK both has a terrible problem with racism and xenophobia, but is also one of the least racist and xenophobic countries in the world. Both the Chancellor and the Mayor of London are brown men with Muslim roots, we had a Jewish prime minister in the 1800s, nearly 15% of the population were born abroad, and London is France's 6th biggest city.

marcus_holmes 7y ago
totally agree Australia is ashamed of how racist it is. SE Asia is blatantly racist and sees nothing wrong with that. The USA isn't racist per se - it's just that race is a major factor in everything. the UK is pretty non-racist as countries go.
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  > The USA isn't racist per se - it's just that race is a major factor in everything. Doesn't that make it racist per se? I mean if the only way you're going to hear your accent and see faces like yours on tv is to listen to separately maintained tv channels, then you have apartheid, defacto or otherwise. If you have congressional divisions deliberately drawn to ensure that a person of a certain race has a viable chance of getting elected, you have a dejure apartheid. The moment you have "separate but equal", you have racism. If Americans were interested in fair equal representation for all American citizens, they could do it. But they refuse. Because racism is a big factor in everything.
  - marcus_holmes 7y ago
    I find it fascinating talking to Americans about this. I tend to agree with you, that this is racist, but apparently it's only racist if it affects the people concerned negatively. I have liberal friends who would be horrified at the thought that they were being racist. But they do factor race into decisions, usually trying to be positive about it. I don't understand it. I'm fascinated by it.

dev_north_east 7y ago

> The UK is a country full of hatred, racism and xenophobia. As a Johnny foreigner, who has lived across the UK and currently is in the north east, I wholeheartedly disagree.