Many thanks Kemenmc for your thoughtful response. The question I ask people who may not originally come from the UK (White or non-White), is ‘where are you or your family originally from?’ I then use this as a basis to learn about their culture and value it. Like you, I take a keen interest and there are always good things we can learn from other cultures which enrich the home culture we belong to. Some will consider this to be offensive because it gives the impression that the recipient of the question is not welcome and does not belong to the present culture. I think those who hold a certain political viewpoint would pursue this politically correct notion of not asking offending questions. I have had no problems asking an array of White, Brown and Black people where their families are originally from if I detect an accent.