Written by Ibrahim Alom
Illustrated by Vivika Sahajpal
Racism is resurfacing in Britain. Far-right rhetoric has returned to the streets and screens, but the story it tells about immigrants refusing to belong has never been further from the truth.
In September, more than 100,000 people gathered in central London for a far-right rally led by Tommy Robinson. Anti-Muslim chants filled the streets, and police officers were assaulted. Among the speakers was Valentina Gomez, a US Republican candidate known for burning a copy of the Quran during her campaign. Her presence showed how hate now crosses borders, linking British and American movements in the same cause.
These rallies rely on the claim that immigrants refuse to adapt to British life. The claim is false. Walk through any city and you will see how people from many backgrounds live, work, and raise families here. They go to the same schools, take the same buses, and work in the same offices. They keep parts of their heritage and add them to the life we share.
Adaptation is not the same as assimilation. Adaptation means learning the language, following the law, joining local life, and keeping your culture. Assimilation means erasing difference. Britain does not need erasure. It needs fairness, shared rules, and respect.
I am British Bangladeshi, and that identity is not a split. My parents also grew up in Britain, as did several generations of many other families. Some came long ago through empire and the slave trade. Others arrived after the Second World War to rebuild the country. The Windrush Generation worked in transport, hospitals, and factories. They helped lift Britain from its ruins, yet many of their descendants are now told to “go back to where they came from”.
We all watch football and cheer on England during the Euros and World Cup. We sing “it’s coming home” at the top of our lungs, even though few alive today remember the 1966 win. For that moment, we all call Britain “home”. We cheer English players from many ethnic backgrounds, and none of that matters while we are winning. Yet when we lose, unity fades. After the Euro 2020 final, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho received racist abuse and death threats for missing penalties. The celebration of diversity turned quickly into hate.
London shows how false that division is. The curry on a weeknight, the Chinese takeaway on a Friday, and the Middle Eastern shops on Edgware Road are not additions. They are part of the city. Without them, London would be smaller and colder. The same is true in towns across the UK, where Polish bakeries sit near Afro-Caribbean barbers, and Irish pubs share streets with Turkish restaurants.
Much of what we call British culture already comes from migration. Fish and chips arrived through Jewish and Portuguese routes. Chicken tikka masala was created in Glasgow by a Pakistani-Scottish chef. Music scenes grew from African, Caribbean, Irish, and South Asian roots. Culture here evolves because people meet and learn from one another.
Immigrants are also central to the economy. They sustain the NHS, public transport, social care, hospitality, and construction. During the pandemic, immigrant doctors, nurses, carers, and drivers kept the country going. If contribution is the test of belonging, they pass it.
The problem is not that immigrants fail to adapt. It is that parts of society refuse to see that they already have. The nostalgia for an imagined, homogeneous Britain ignores centuries of change and exchange. Belonging is built in daily life, not decided by those who shout the loudest.
It looks like neighbours helping each other, parents at the school gate, and colleagues on a late shift. It looks like a hijabi woman on the Tube, a Jamaican barber opening up, a Polish mother heading to class, and a British Bangladeshi family sharing tea in the park. This is not a special case. It is Britain.
There are real problems. Racism harms people. The immigration system can be harsh. Some areas need more support as populations grow. These are policy issues, not proof that multicultural life fails. The answer is honest debate about housing, wages, and services, not blame aimed at the people who already keep those services running.
We need better language. Do not say “integration” when what is meant is “be more like us”. Say what matters: follow the law, treat people fairly, join civic life, and accept that others will do so in their own way. People can be British and Bangladeshi, British and Nigerian, British and Irish. The conjunction is not a threat. It is a fact.
The myth that immigrants refuse to adapt hides a simpler truth. They already do. They work, study, volunteer, pay tax, and build families here. Multicultural Britain is not an experiment. It is everyday Britain: the food on our streets, the teams we cheer, the colleagues we rely on, and the neighbours we greet.
