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From: poll Category: Art Date: 28 May 2008 Time: 05:53 AM Review: I suppose the underlying premise of a lot of "too many immigrants" feeling is that if there are more of an ethnic/national/cultural group you belong to where you live it is better. But actually if you think about it that is not always the case. You get white Brits moving to spain or france or africa or india and they do so to live in a different culture, you get people moving to "better areas" so they can be with people of a different social class, you get artists living in poorer/more ethnic areas because it's cheaper and they are inspired by diversity, you got colonialists who went where there were more opportunities, and you get modern immigrants who often go to areas where they are in a small minority presumably also for a better life. Difference is also not always seen as a problem when viewed under the name variety. Maybe OAPS find it hard to accept when the place where they live changes, even if it is for the better. But unless you believe that whites are somehow inherently superior what is the big problem with many non-whites living in "your" area, what harm does it do you for other people to do different things from you, speak different languages, or eat different food. The problem is in your head and it's called racism for there is no evidence to suggest that non-whites are less law abiding or respectful or whatever you want than whites of equivalent wealth. You cannot really feel annoyed, and only humanly disturbed and fearful of change, that people, the often exceptionally hard working and ambitious people who make it to Britain, are living in "your" country. Firstly why shouldn't things change, during colonialism and slavery there was not huge sympathy for the idea of leaving cultures undisturbed, secondly the change is only negative if you are stuck with a nostalgic view of pre-immigration England, actually a place with extreme class divisions and poverty and large numbers of unemployed. Thirdly why are the views and needs of the indigenous population more important than the immigrants (what do they think?), we're all human with a god given right to pursue our happiness. You'd now still be more likely to marry a black woman than a posh one if you are a white working class man. And the Drimples of this world, with their articles presenting not a shred of statistical evidence, in their phony reasonable tones are quiet about the lack of social mobility for white working class people and prefer to stir up resentment against brown folk.