• Awoo [she/her]
    hexagon
    ·
    2 years ago

    but you can’t do it by calling the people who use them racist when they only use them because it represents their country and they’re not even thinking of the bad things it might symbolize

    I don't think you quite understand how thoroughly the English flag is used to represent "England for the English" type of rhetoric. Outside of the sports context (the only justified use of it today) the people waving the English flag rather than the union jack are doing so to intentionally make a statement about being white, it is utilised in all cases as a dogwhistle for anglo-white English racism.

    This is why "Who do you define as English?" is such an important question here. I guarantee you that someone with afro-caribbean ethnicity (quite common in the UK) or indian or pakistan ethnicity, but born in England, is not considered "real English" to the people who fly this flag. I stress the outside of sports part here.