Where does an English person go to see English people on TV?

UK is a multi-ethnic and diverse place. Possibly amongst the most diverse in the Old World. Obviously the New World is more diverse as its composed from "new" people imported by Capitalists to do work for them. And the New World also has the remnants of the actual natives of this land - at least the ones who survived the genocide and disease.

Much is said in UK about making immigrants feel at home and comfortable in the UK. UK is for everyone.

And in the spirit of this TV channels bend over backwards to include programming that suits the wide range of people living in the UK.

The argument goes that people of other backgrounds like African, Indian, Chinese, Russian etc need to be able to access their own people and cultures on TV. Especially the BBC which is funded by the tax payer and is supposed to represent everyone democratically.

However there is one asymmetry here. Not all people in the UK are equal.

An African or a Chinese or an Indian have 2 ways to access their culture and people. They can watch the BBC and makes demands for inclusivity and equality. Or they can buy a settop box and access programming from their native lands where they will be overwhelmed with people of their own backgrounds and culture.

The asymmetry is where can English people go to access people from their own background and culture? The answer is that there is only UK programming. But if UK programming is obsessed with meeting the demands of the diversity it means that actually people from other countries are being spoiled with choice at the expense of the people with English backgrounds.

It is certainly a complex one. If the BBC was to say that it represents the values and culture of the country in which is was set up and not the values and cultures of other countries then immigrants might say well why are we paying a licence fee.

And if the BBC said well that is okay, people who are not from an English background don't need to either watch or pay for the BBC then you start the process of ghettoisation where areas of the country descend into Little Indias and Little Chinas. This is fine for novelty and vive la differance, but a country that has a shared national identity like Britain needs people to live, vote and work together and not descend into little expat regions of their home country.

So a balance must be sort. But some ethnic minorities appear to think they own the UK and that it exists for their own future and welfare.

It must never be forgotten that at root England is the land of the English and is the place English people can come to experience their own people and culture.

Caveat that "English" is not a discrete entity. For instance the most popular food amongst the English is a cuisine invented in Birmingham by Bangladeshi immigrants. And the most popular soft drink is a leaf infusion originally invented in China but then developed by the British Empire especially in India. And the English religious community is imported from the Middle East via the Roman Empire. It is a global world and England reflects this diversity ALREADY. There is a particular tapestry of international culture that the English call English. And it is different from what other people call their own.

The proof of this is how much other cultures fight to protect their own identities. Particularly the "Black" community (whatever that means given that it amalgamates tribes and cultures from across the vast diverse continent of Africa combined with Caribbean and American Slave cultures). So say "Black" is as absurd as calling people "Asian" to mean all of Far East, Middle East, North Asia, South Asia and Europe all in one people. But if we accept "Black" means something then people who so identity are very keep to protect their identity and culture. And that is exactly the reason why they need to protect English culture.

No one can win this conflict. The more anyone pushes for their own culture, the more they must  acknowledge the identical need in other people.

But in England, the English are the most important because this is where English culture comes from. Africans can go to Africa for African culture, but there is no way they cannot acknowledge that England is the Africa for the English.