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Comment by fiftyacorn | Hacker News Reader

It's a pity some people in Britain can't accept the mongrel nature of Britain.

Look at Boris Johnson, a mix of Turkish, french and old England

... or me: A mixture of all the the four nations hereabouts, plus German (whatever that means) a dash of Spanish etc etc ... all the way back to somewhere in Africa, depending on what the archaeologists dig up tomorrow.

I dare you to define what Turkish, French and old England actually means. For starters: where/when does French stop and German start and vice versa? "Turkish" is just as complicated.

And the italians? I m french but I sure look a lot more like an Italian than a german.

The mongrel nature of Britain is common for all multi border countries... and many are even Germany or Spain.

I think we should really define countries by language, mountain and seas rather than blood, and frankly even those are shaky and changing.

Maybe the best definition of a country is the largest geographical gradient that could sustain influence from a gigantic power centre without succumbing to another (for me, Paris, for the brits, London)?

London is France's sixth largest city: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18234930 or it was in 2012!

What do you mean by this? I've never heard anyone claim that Britain hasn't been settled by various peoples over the millenia.

The only meaning they have is to push an agenda of something that doesn't really happen but makes them sound good to HN.

I don’t think it is about recognising the origin of what we now call “British” people. But that there is still some intolerance of immigrants (particularly if they aren’t white) in Britain. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was but it still exists.

Edit: downvotes suggest there’s some disagreement. I don’t think what I said is controversial or wrong, so I’d like to know the motivation

idk, after talking to a number of British people during lockdown there's a general intolerance of white immigrants too.

Yep there's a weird anti-Polish thing that popped up through the 2000s as Poland joined the EU. I never really understood it or saw anyone in my friends/family holding this belief so I hope it's not too bad.

> I don’t think it is about recognising the origin of what we now call “British” people. But that there is still some intolerance of immigrants (particularly if they aren’t white) in Britain.

As the saying goes in the old days some people could have a signs outside a shop "No dogs, no Irishmen and no blacks allowed". Was that really true for some parts of Britain or is it just tales?

If there was it was long before I was born (think segregation-era USA or earlier) but it would not surprise me. There's definitely been some anti-Catholic sentiment during my lifetime but that's largely been football related and largely confined to Glasgow I think. I know Catholic does not necessarily imply Irish, but this is the closest I can think of. I really don't know about England, they might have experienced something like this where many Irish people lived (Liverpool, maybe?).

Since we're talking weird discriminatory signs though there is a sign in a bar called the Clachaig Inn which says "No Hawkers or Campbells". This goes back to the Glencoe Massacre in 1692 where members of Clan Campbell slaughtered the Glencoe McDonalds overnight, and which some people still hold a grudge about today. I hope it's just a historical curiosity though, I don't imagine they really forbid service to anyone with the surname Campbell.

edit: come to think of it I now remember another HN'er (arethuza) talking about discrimination against Catholics in Scotland being more of a thing in recent history than I had realised. I can't remember the time period in question or whether they said it was better nowadays (again, I hope it is).

It was very true and not that long ago. I remember my mum talking about descrimination to Irish in the 60-70s and companies that wouldn't employ Irish.

I'm meaning the sense of Britishness which brexiteers and the right speak of doesn't exist

A British culture and way of life certainly does exist.

> Look at Boris Johnson, a mix of Turkish, french and old England

I don't understand, is Boris Johnson good or bad?

He's right wing, which in the UK means you're either 50+ or racist.

I meant establishment more than old England. Which id define as a mix of old families and imperialism

Indeed. Or on the other side, that at least some of that diversity cost large amounts of blood and suffering at the time.

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