Re: L Clarke's letter of June 1, "Our Lord was not a white man", referring to the remarks of former Tory MP John Townend that immigrants were turning the British into a mongrel race

DR D R Cooper (Letters, June 29 "The British are already mongrels") has tacitly misquoted me, perhaps the reason why he accuses me of "politically incorrect" terminology.

For I didn't use the word "assimilated", but "assimilability" to indicate a quality, not a fait accompli. But "politically (and morally, and technically) incorrect", does define Dr Cooper's comment that "of course, we are already mongrels", for I have already pointed out that it is quite uncouth to use that term, especially if addressing people of mixed race who fled Nazi Germany.

Ironically, if Dr Cooper were to visit Australia and call any of its people (regardless of their parentage), "Mongrels", he could possibly end up in hospital not on the staff, either! Because Australians often use the word to describe people who are considered dishonest, sleazy and/or sly.

So, if Dr Cooper were to wish to emigrate to another country, it might be best to ascertain first if they considered him suitably assimilable. Which is the helpful point I was making in the first place, or so I believed.

As for race which is behind that insulting term "Mongrel", which defines dogs, not us, it should always be remembered that one can change one's culture, or politics or religion, but never one's race: as one of Nelson Mandela's predecessors as head of South Africa's ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli, remarked when noting that racism was the ultimate tyranny, from which there is no escape.

Apart from the above, I tend to agree with Dr Cooper's points about the difficulty of always acting rationally. All the more reason to try?

L Clarke

Middle Road

Denham