After World War II, large numbers of non-white immigrants traveled to England after the decolonization of the British Empire following the ending of World War II. England was in desperate need of post-war labor and had allowed large immigration groups to enter the country to provide labor for. These immigrants faced stigmatization and discrimination because of their complexion and way of speech in their new home. This then sparked the questions of nation, race, and language. The major question that occurred to the immigrants of this time were if they should write poetry, stories, or plays in the language and traditions of their colonizers or if they should renounce English and return to their indigenous languages.
Immigrants were not only in pursuit of labor in England, but also educational opportunities. In doing so they were faced with a lot of racial discrimination upon their arrival. A lot of the new immigrants to the country had found themselves being consistently denied housing because of their race. There were even some locations that had signs that did not allow “coloured” people in. Even immigrants who were bright minded and spoke perfect English found themselves denied many opportunities they had pursued living in England.
Poets who had immigrated to England had written about their experience since their arrival. They were writing about how they had been colonized before by England and were now colonizing England with their culture and language since their immigration. In terms of language many of these poets felt like the English language was alienating and bound to colorism. The Caribbean poet, Derek Walcott, says, “The English language is nobody’s special property.” This was in rejection of the belief that the English language was an inherent relationship limited to one racial and national experience. Their influence overall, had resulted in Britain pondering about their original national identity due to the escalating population of immigrants entering the country.