The makings of an Englishman

The Guardian

06-03-2025

I'm not sure that I entirely agree with Nels Abbey's conclusion regarding what constitutes Englishness, although ethnicity is certainly one factor that is used by others to determine whether you pass that test (Dear Suella: I was born in London and raised in Oxfordshire. What do you reckon – can I be English?, 5 March). As someone who is white and of mixed first-generation Polish on my father's side and English/Welsh extraction on my mother's side, I have mixed feelings on this subject.
As a child, I initially had no doubt that I was English until one day in the 1970s when I was asked at school, during an important football World Cup qualifier, which team I supported. When I responded, 'Poland', I was informed by my classmates that I was therefore no longer English.
Like many people from different cultural backgrounds, this was against a backdrop of far-right anti-immigrant hatred and misunderstanding. And although my experience was not as extreme as that suffered by many others, I was still very conscious of the potential for hatred and violence, which in my case culminated in some children standing up and saying 'Sieg heil' when I entered the classroom.
Chillingly, one of my daughters had a similar experience at university, where a student scratched a swastika on the bedroom door in her dorm.
However, as a child it was at that point in my life when I started to question my own perception of Englishness and decided that, although I very much wanted to integrate into UK society, I would in future consider myself to be British and not English. British seemed more inclusive and less tribal.Mark SzrejderSolihull, West Midlands
My wife's British, I'm German. Brexit caused her to also acquire German citizenship, just in case. Her Scots father was of Ulster extraction and her English mother had southern Irish ancestors. We have three sons. The oldest was born in Dorset; the second one in South Africa. We adopted the youngest 10 years later because his (German) birth mother wasn't able to take care of him. He couldn't have become part of our family if we'd stayed in (apartheid) South Africa because of his brown skin. His biological father was most likely from England.
So here's the question: who of our family is 'English'? I am definitely not, despite my UK settled status. My wife considers herself British and 'passport-German'. She loves all her roots – English, Scots and Irish. Our sons have British and German citizenship. They regard themselves as German as well as British, with a bias on the English part when it comes to football and rugby.Hans GemmerWorthing, West Sussex
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