Talk:List of diasporas
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[edit] British
I've added British for the reasons explained, though someone deleted my first attempt. Some of the British who migrated were fleeing religious persecution (eg the Pilgrim Fathers); others were deported as convicts, not least to Australia; others were economic migrants, in search of a better life; and others were land grabbers.
If anyone still feels the need to delete this entry, please could they let me know why. Millbanks 20:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Be More Specific
You have confused colonialism with diaspora, the two are not the same nor even overlapping. When you cite an English "diaspora," focus on situations in which English people have been forced to leave their homes, and undergo a traumatic separation from traditional identities in order to interact as guests in a new society NOT entirely of their own choosing. This is what diaspora means. I think there are scant examples of this, if any...even the "pilgrims" we learned about as "persecuted" -- did they lose their homes and "scatter" to whatever society would take them into a new fold? (This is what diaspora is.) Or wouldn't it be more accurate to say that they had political/religious differences with their contemporaries on British soil, and so *sold* their homes for legal tender and carried their riches in planned journeys to a land where they could own land but still count themselves as citizens of their original homeland? (This is what colonialism is.) This is hardly an "uprooting" or a "scattering," I think it's a really disingenuous use of the term "diaspora." But if you can be more specific, I think that would be very helpful.
I have moved and edited your contribution to "E" for English, because Anglo- identity is broadly associated with the language and people of England who may have been displaced. Conversely the larger category of "Britain" refers to the colonizing force, i.e. the state apparatus. (There may also be a "Breton(ian)" diaspora, but I don't think that's what you mean.) But I would still appreciate it if you would be more specific about when and in what ways the English experienced diasporic trauma as entrants into an established society other than their own. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.32.146.226 (talk) 07:53, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
Benjamin Carson —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.32.146.226 (talk) 07:47, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
