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Tick here for the Cornish Jedi option

Graham Smith | 11:19 UK time, Saturday, 19 February 2011

If you get the chance, do listen to 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio Cornwall just after 7am on Monday. We hope to interview someone from the Office for National Statistics about the launch of a new campaign to raise awareness of on 27th March.

I anticipate a few questions about the controversial decision not to include a "tick box" for those who wish to describe themselves as Cornish. In 2001, at the last census, about 34,000 described themselves as Cornish even without a tick box (I think most statisticians would accept that including a tick box for any particular option makes it easier to select.)

In the same census, of course, more than 390,000 people across the UK described their ethnic or religious background as "Jedi" - and I suspect that not all of them were necessarily fans of the Star Wars movies. There was no tick box for Jedis, either.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    By shallowly seeking to infer some kind of equivalence between jedi identification and the long denied right to formal tick box self-identification as Cornish you don't come across as much of a friend to the Cornish or long standing Cornish aspiration for proper recognition, Mr Smith. You do yourself no favours and come across as a cynical, ethnic diversity disparaging anglo-imperialist tool.

  • Comment number 2.

    No AC its one of the few times the British people have shown the ability to protest, for a person seeking to start such a fight it is you that is missing a trick.

  • Comment number 3.

    Hardly, Saltashgaz.

  • Comment number 4.

    Cornwall Council's Guidance for those who wish to record their identity as 'Cornish' in the UK 2011 Census:

    Video info:

    It's a serious subject, Mr Smith.
    Perhaps you will to give it more serious attention and more serious treatment.
    Or are you yet another 麻豆官网首页入口 anglo-centric-imperialist ethnic cleanser attempting to do to the Cornish what the English did to the Scots and the Irish backalong.
    21st Century Cornish Clearances?
    David Cameron seems to be busy trying it on with his PVS&C Bill.

  • Comment number 5.

    AC, I was not attempting to infer equivalence between the Cornish and the Jedi. 34,000 vs 390,000? Seriously, given your enthusiasm for lists, perhaps you could tell us which self-identifying ethnic groups you would deny a tick-box on the census form.

  • Comment number 6.

    Or even if that the "self-identifying ethnic group" is Cornish or West Welsh?

  • Comment number 7.

    There you go again, Mr Smith - denigrating away.
    If you must make such ridiculous numerical comparisons you would have better compared 34,000:500,000 with 390,000:60,000,000 = (roughly) 1/15 v 1/180.
    Looks like the Cornish are winning over the Jedi!

  • Comment number 8.

    In any case and as part of your work on the hinterland of ethnic, social and cultural 'self-identification' you might like to examine and report on the virtually complete absence of the fascinating tale of the Celtic Nation & Duchy of Cornwall from the curriculums of UK (including Cornish) educational establishments:
    /dna/h2g2/A3712510









    A rivetting tale - and with so much contemporary relevance.
    Our children have been actively denied their proper sense of place.
    Perhaps you'd like to investigate why.

    You might like to ask Michael 'Vlad' Gove what he intends to do about it when he sets about designing his 'new curriculum'. Cornish Baccalaureate anyone?

  • Comment number 9.

    Interestingly, children in French schools learn more about the true story of the Celtic Nation and Duchy Of Cornwall than our Cornish children!

  • Comment number 10.

    Even if you had a "Cornish tick box", all you would have is the number of people who CLAIM to be Cornish. What is this claim based on? How about a definition of Cornishness. And please, AC, don't tell me that you are Cornish is you feel you are!

  • Comment number 11.

    How about a definition of Englishness?

    I find it amazing that the same people keep asking for a definition of "Cornishness", and no matter how many times they are given one, they continue to ask the same question.

    So, you tell us how you define an Englishman, and then I will tell you how to define a Cornishman.

  • Comment number 12.

    P Trembath's bog standard answer which he has used for years now.

    An Englishman is someone born in England, or born outside of England to English parents.

    Like Phil Vickery is Cornish, despite being born in England.

    You cannot be Cornish by "feel".

  • Comment number 13.

    Well, an Englishman might just be someone born in England - what do I know. If that is P_Trembath's definition; it's fine by me. I was just asking.......

  • Comment number 14.

    I think the definition of being British is harder to define for those determined to be Cornish and Cornish only.
    Because admitting to being British would include the "Celtic Nations" and we couldn't have that, could we?

  • Comment number 15.

    Dave the rave wrote:-
    "P Trembath's bog standard answer which he has used for years now."

    Which just goes to show how often the same question has been asked, and answered.


    Dave the rave wrote:-
    "An Englishman is someone born in England,..........."

    Exactly, and a Cornishman is someone born in Cornwall, simple isn't it. So why continually ask.



    Dave the rave wrote:-
    "........or born outside of England to English parents."

    If, that person wishes to be, otherwise they can choose to be "of" the place where they were born., ditto a Cornishman. They can also choose to have dual nationality.

  • Comment number 16.

    Slimslad wrote:-
    "I think the definition of being British is harder to define for those determined to be Cornish and Cornish only.
    Because admitting to being British would include the "Celtic Nations" and we couldn't have that, could we?"

    Why would defining British be harder?

    The Celtic Nations are British.

    Britain is MORE than just England, England is not the sole British nation.

    I am Cornish and British, just not English, again, simple isn't it.

  • Comment number 17.

    Continue to be Cornish and British.
    The vast majority of Cornish people completely agree with you.
    The vast majority of British people will continue to be British.

  • Comment number 18.

    You got there in the end, Slimslad.

  • Comment number 19.

    "The Celtic Nations are British."
    Apart, of course, for the Celtic Nations that are French and Spanish.

  • Comment number 20.

    Slimslad wrote:-
    ""The Celtic Nations are British."
    Apart, of course, for the Celtic Nations that are French and Spanish."

    And the point you are trying to make, by stating the obvious, is?

  • Comment number 21.

    That the Celtic "aspiration" is to create a United Republic of Celts across Europe, to "hark back" to some mythical period, when Celts were one big happy family.

  • Comment number 22.

    Graham,

    Can I ask what you think of having an -English- tick box option on the census?

    As for the national identity and ethnic identity questions- what should be the criteria used by citizens? Should it be down to peoples self-identification, i.e people ticking the box they feel most appropriate, or should they have to scan through their family histories and have genetic tests to see which box is best?

    Personally I grew up in a family and community that informed me of my Cornish identity even though I have a mother from another EU state. Should I be allowed to self identify as Cornish Graham? If I wanted to identify as English would you think that correct considering I have non-English parent?

    Perhaps its not the 'Celtic nationalists' who have such a racialist vision of identity after all.

  • Comment number 23.

    Slimslad wrote:-
    "That the Celtic "aspiration" is to create a United Republic of Celts across Europe, to "hark back" to some mythical period, when Celts were one big happy family."

    The "Celtic aspiration" is merely to be recognised, and to have a say in the decisions made that affect them. I think you will find that most "Celtic" political organisations would wish for a Federated Europe that respects and listens to all member nations and national minorities. That includes England.

  • Comment number 24.

    backofanenvelope wrote:
    鈥淓ven if you had a "Cornish tick box", all you would have is the number of people who CLAIM to be Cornish. What is this claim based on?鈥

    A fair and reasonable question I would have thought. Who is qualified to write Cornish on the census form? If someone who was born in Cornwall but has never set there for 50 years is entitled, so what, with or without a tick box what would it tell us?

  • Comment number 25.

    "Who is qualified to write Cornish on the census form? If someone who was born in Cornwall but has never set there for 50 years is entitled, so what, with or without a tick box what would it tell us?"

    Every tick for "Cornish" would be seized on by the Celts as support for their cause, even if those seeing themselves as Cornish did not believe themselves to be Celts.

  • Comment number 26.

    Slimslad wrote:
    "Every tick for "Cornish" would be seized on by the Celts as support for their cause, even if those seeing themselves as Cornish did not believe themselves to be Celts"

    That is understandable, it is called "clinging to straws" the nationalists are very good at that, only kidding themselves in the long run.

  • Comment number 27.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 28.

    There is no "Celtic" aspiration. Just groups of sad acts who need
    something to cling to.

    We are all mongrels, we all have our different genetic make up. Some
    ascribe to various cultural phenomena, as a way of ingratiating
    themselves within a group. So "believe" in a nationalism, some "believe
    in reconstituted traditions and days, (most of which have little or no
    tradition or resemblance to the actual ceremonises of yore.)

    Nationalism is like religion. Some choose to believe in the Christian
    God. Some choose to be a catholic Christian, some choose to be baptist.
    Likewise some choose to be Buddhist, some choose to be pagan.

    But basically ALL that it is, a choice to believe in something, it
    carries no weight, it grants you no extra privilege, it makes you not a
    jot a better person.

    So when the nationalists here claim "Cornish this," or "Cornish that" or
    "the Cornish need and deserve," or "the Cornish boundary" or "whatever,
    all they are doing is the same as the religious do, over stating their
    personal belief in to the public arena.

    And like the religious, their belief should not be taken as anything
    more than that, the CHOICE to believe in an imaginary phenomena.

    Even the pseudo-Celts here will tell you that Cornishness exists in the
    minds of men, unfortunately for them that's the only place it actually
    exists, in imagination.

  • Comment number 29.

    Graham, the idea that you were "not attempting to infer equivalence between the Cornish and the Jedi" is disingenuous. This is proven by your very next sentence where you quote the number of declarations for each: "34,000 vs 390,000". Relying solely on numbers as a criteria for inclusion, ruling out all other factors, suggests you do indeed see the two responses as equal. I find this bordering on offensive.

    One is a joke response to census questions by people who refused to accurately fill out the census, for whatever reason. The other is a strongly held real identity, ethnicity and nationality that is very dear to a great many people's hearts. History has proven time and time again that one way to get people's backs up is to infer that their identity is somehow worthy of ridicule, or that anyone who argues for more equal treatment of their identity by others is also worthy of ridicule. But I assume that you, being an intelligent man, already knew this. Perhaps your blog's visitor stats were starting to wane, and you knew that equivalising the Cornish identity with people writing "Jedi" on the census would draw in some more clicks. Well congratulations it worked.

    I know that I am just a name on a screen to you, but behind it I am a real person, and I ask that you, as a 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio Cornwall journalist, take a bit more time in the future before clicking that "Submit" button to think about the feelings of the majority of your readers, and any potential offense your words may cause to them - they are Cornish after all.

  • Comment number 30.

    This claim for recognition from the Cornish is not something that has come about over the past few years its been going on for nearly a thousand, I remember my great grandfather telling us "you are Cornish not English and never forget it" and his grandfather told him and so on, but hey what does having a culture, language, history or a sense of belonging mean eh ? By some of the logic on here I suppose Tibetans should just throw in the towel and accept they are Chinese because hey China thinks Tibet belongs to them so therefore it does.

    It would be interesting to see English reaction if England was annexed by Poland, Poles flock into the country with more money, better jobs live in the best areas, destroy the language and then deny England ever existed as a nation / people and anyone claiming otherwise is a nationalistic nutter

  • Comment number 31.

    Rob what are you waiting for?
    Get a few more people around you who think the same as you, then get a political party sympathetic to your views, get out on the streets and get the public to vote for this party. No problem, what is the hold up? It鈥檚 a great country we live in, the opportunities are there for everyone even the Cornish if they have the will.

  • Comment number 32.

    Rob highlights the main problem.
    This idea of "Cornish Nationhood" has been around since the Victorians created it. Mebyon Kernow has been around for nearly 60 years. But there is no will nor mass support from the actual people of Cornwall to take this further, therefore they are whistling in the wind.
    Mebyon Kernow have a hard core 1-2% of votes in Cornwall, and seem unlikely to ever get more. The "Cornish Fighting fund" failed. The "rally for recognition" never got off the ground. The "Keep Cornwall whole"campaign was hijacked by fringe dwellers. Their Stannary people proved to be as toothless as any other unsupported organisation, a real "People's front of Judea."

    There is no will in Cornwall for what the nationalist want, they do not have a positive message for the people, they are over-run by extremists on the fringe, and are self sabotaging. The few respected figures they have, Mr Cole for instance get drowned out by the negativeness of the anti-English, anti-second home, anti-tourist, anti-Duke of Cornwall, factions, who will stomp all over any chance nationalism has, to make their own points the priority..

    Long may it continue that way.

  • Comment number 33.

    A Victorian invention ? Seriously ? I think you should go and actually do some reading, as for the other points raised about the tourist trade and 2nd homes you obviously have no idea of the effect these are having on the local economy ie seasonal minimum wages, lack of housing available, the destruction of local communities, whole villages nigh on deserted through most of the year the list of grievances down here are endless and not all are tied in with the desire to be recognised as a race in the UK. You argument is fatuous and ill informed at best

  • Comment number 34.

    Rid, I do not deny any of the problems exist in Cornwall.

    If you read my message gain, I state that there are single issue obsessives who have latched onto the Cornish nationalist cause in order to push their own agenda. (See AC's constant rerouteing of any subject here to his "second home votes" obsession.)

    But there again, you raise another reason why Cornish nationalism fails, the constant inability of its supporters to deal with arguments presented to them , in a logical unemotional manner.

    I state "the few respected figures they have, Mr Cole for instance get drowned out by the negativeness of the anti-English, anti-second home, anti-tourist, anti-Duke of Cornwall, factions".

    You read that as me denying that the issues exist, rant at me for doing something I have not done, show the nationalists up as unable to read a reasoned argument, and thereby undermine the nationalist cause.

    Thanks for proving my points for me.

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