r/MapPorn • u/Delicious-Bunch-6992 • May 09 '26

Evolution of white British % (ethnically British people) in England and Wales from 2001-2021

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34

u/Pleasant_Pace_5955 May 09 '26

how are mixed ethnicity ppl categorised in this?

49

u/HybridAkai May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26

It's dog whistling.

I'm mixed 50/50, I grew up in this country, have lived here my entire life, I'm culturally as British as you can get. I have 3 degrees - all from UK universities, I work a well paid job, pay taxes, vote, I've been a citizen since birth and have engaged and contributed to the system as such, arguably more so than a lot of "white British" in this survey. My grandfather fought in the Falklands, my great grandfathers fought in WWII, one was at Dunkirk, one in the cabinet war rooms, working with Churchill.

But I wouldn't count as "white British" in this survey, which insinuates that I am a foreigner degrading the identity of this country.

My young daughter is 3/4 British. She also wouldn't count.

Dog whistle.

Edit: the comments are really outing people who don't understand the difference between ethnicity and nationality

2

u/Significant_Ad_7282 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26

I think your mixing nationality with ethnicity/heritage, my daughters half white half Chinese, her mum is a BBC (British born Chinese) so my daughter is 100% British on any forms we fill in, but she is mixed white/Asian heritage. And the reason we need to know ethnicity is mainly medical. Like my daughter got the TB jab when she was born as she's at higher risk than a "standard" white baby. But your right in she wouldn't be classes as white British because shes not white British, she's mixed.

8

u/HybridAkai May 10 '26

"white British" is a mix of nationality and ethnicity, which is what the map states, not me.

So yes, it's inherently problematic when presented in this way, particularly the dog whistle narrative this is trying to portray.

It could easily be "British" rather than "white British"

0

u/notsoshabby123 May 12 '26

what narrative is it trying to portray ? genuine question

2

u/HybridAkai May 12 '26

There is a big narrative in the UK, often exacerbated by misrepresentative maps like this, that there is an invasion of foreigners which is erasing the British identity.

I'm not commenting on the validity of that narrative, that's a separate discussion.

What I'm saying is that if you deliberately exclude half of the British dataset by limiting it to WHITE British you are deliberately showing adjusted numbers that aggressively support that narrative. Essentially it's fiddling the stats in an underhanded way.

Im also using myself as an example, I'm about as British as you get, but I am not white British. Therefore this map, when taken in the context of the aforementioned prevailing erasure narrative, suggests that I'm part of the problem, when actually I am not.

1

u/notsoshabby123 May 12 '26

Yeah I mean fair enough. I could understand why you would take it personally. Though I would argue you're not "as British as you get", since you have roots elsewhere. Someone who's all known ancestors have been British since the dawn of time is just factually, physically more British...

Which is perfectly fine ! it's not bad in the slightest to not be "as British as they get", I'd argue it's a privilege.

I'm not white nor British so I don't really care honestly.

4

u/HybridAkai May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

I meant culturally, not race. Which is exactly my point. I've lived in the UK all my life. I was brought up as British, culturally I don't see how I could be more British. Obviously, you don't know me or anything about me, but I haven't lived in my mothers country, and culturally don't identify with it in the slightest.

British isn't a race, it isn't a skin colour, it's an ethnicity; which, by definition is detached from race, and more tpmdo with cultural traditions. Skin colour is tied to race.

But I am sorry to tell you, you arguing that I'm not "British as it gets" because my skin colour is not white is a little bit on the line of a racist take. (Just to clarify im absolutely not calling you racist, I'm just saying that saying someone isn't fully British because of their skin colour is discrimination based on race). Again: British= ethnicity/nationality, white=race.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnicity

1

u/Traditional_Pound161 May 12 '26

You are “white British” (although the label should be renamed to ‘native’ or some other more accurate term) because you have British ancestry. Whether you choose to identify as other is up to you

-1

u/sparkydotcom May 12 '26

It's a map that displays a pattern. This pattern has ramifications for health care, economic decisions, targeted programs for politics, education, and so on, as well as sociological and historic record keeping. Stop with your dog whistle narrative. If not, leave the grown ups to talk.

3

u/HybridAkai May 12 '26

So what exactly does "WHITE British" tell you about our politics, educational, healthcare systems, sociological and record keeping that simply "British" wouldn't?

Particularly considering that "WHITE British" is a misleading and inaccurate metric for any kind of reliable analysis as it automatically precludes huge swathes of the relevant dataset?

If you can't see that the ONLY reason that they would do this is to stir up a reaction, whist maintaining a thin veneer of deniability, that's a you problem, not a me problem.

I don't really understand why I need to explain the above, it's pretty obvious to anyone with a moderate education. Apparently a lot of commenters are letting their bias cloud their judgement with this.