Who belongs to Britain?

That seems to be a question too complex to answer, because Britain is currently fractured by resentment, unwilling to remember the reasons we all hold the same flag. Division has become wedged into our society like a rock jammed into the sole of a shoe, slowly moulding it around itself, but uncomfortably so.

Being British has been reframed by the conservative political machine as one look, one set of beliefs and one race, which denies the history of Britain and its true legacy of diversity.

During the 400 years of British Empire, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Iraq and Malta were all under British rule. Roughly 50 countries and territories were part of the imperial legacy of Britain, however today, being British comes with a lot more questioning. These countries were connected to Britain through the Empire and the Commonwealth. They shared the same Queen and were exposed to what was promoted as British values.

The British Nationalities Act 1948 created shared citizenship status across the colonies with meant Commonwealth citizens initially gained rights to enter and settle in Britain. Over 1,000 passengers came on the Empire Windrush from across the Caribbean, part of a wider generation of Commonwealth citizens who came to Britain to rebuild post-war. They came with aspirations, building a new Britain with the hands of the many.

In 1916, Britain was part of a collective of European countries that redrew borders in West Asia, displacing people like my own, the Kurds. Left without a country of their own, people became persecuted minorities within the states that emerged around them.

From supporting dictators like Saddam Hussein to its military intervention in Iraq, Britain has contributed its fair share to the destabilisation in the Middle East.

But when my mother came to this country fleeing war, she didn’t ask what the country could do for her, but what she could do for the country.

Britain has always been more than England, its impact has been felt around the world and its history of invasion and involvement has created a dysfunctional inheritance. In English towns, classrooms are filled with children of all colours, learning together.

A child from Afghanistan, sits alongside an English child and a Kenyan child.

Their judgements are reserved. The classroom is for learning.

There they grow. They learn to be empathetic, they learn about culture, they eat each other’s food, braid each other’s hair and hold a hand out when it’s needed. Because diversity may truly be the greatest legacy Britain ever left.

Keep Britain Diverse is about just that: about the Britain that belongs to me as much as it does you.

It is a refusal to hold back the beauty in difference, because being British was never about the binary. It was always a legacy of connection from around the world. Britain must be held up to the mirror to observe and accept its roots because we are the people that have been birthed from it.

Keep Britain Diverse forces you to sit in the discomfort of what Britain is. It is different walks of life, different histories, immigrants, first gen and second gen. It’s families who have been here for hundreds of years.

Britain is Black, White, it’s Asian, its Muslim, it’s Christian.

When times get tough, we don’t get less British, we don’t hide from who we are.

We are a contradiction to the hate speech and rhetoric surrounding immigration, because we are its success stories. We are proof Britain thrives when cultures and communities come together. We can wear saris to watch the football and fly the Union Jack before we go to pray. We can eat okra and fufu but have a soft spot for a cup of tea and biscuits, we can pay our taxes, work for the NHS, be teachers and lawyers.

Our existence is equally a part of the history of Britain as the Anglo Saxons, and our contributions are no less British.

Sometimes belonging requires boundaries and we choose to keep Britain diverse.

So let us not forget the reasons why we all hold the same flag.