An Identity Crisis

A Look at How Western Nations Are Losing Their Heritage Through Mass Migration

By: Brady Larkin

In 2025 alone, foreign nationals made up more than 26% of sexual assault convictions against women in the UK and more than 21% of rape convictions of females aged 16 and over, according to Ministry of Justice data reported by The Telegraph.

According to The Daily Signal, “There has been more net migration in the UK than in the last ten centuries combined.” As a byproduct of Brexit, the UK leaving the European Union in 2020, an overwhelming number of immigrants, both illegal and legal, have poured into the nation.

With roughly 13.4 million foreign-born and legal immigrants and more than 500,000 illegal immigrants, the UK has reached its highest immigration numbers in history, so much so that newcomers are slowly outnumbering and diminishing the English population itself.

Some social scientists would recognize this phenomenon as cultural displacement.

Displacement From Within

Historically speaking, in 1066, the Norman Conquest replaced England’s Anglo-Saxon elites and nobility with the Norman ruling class.

Today, UK elites are replacing their own population with Muslim migrants, foreign refugees, and unvetted migrants, who, in many cases, have no intent to assimilate. Rather, they are assimilating the country that invited them, displacing its culture, altering its political representation, and ultimately changing it from within.

As migrants come en masse, the values of a culture have the capacity to change over time. When understanding the difference between rape and sex is not made common, serious conversations should take place. Rather than having these conversations, the UK elite committed to mass migration would rather issue a pamphlet for asylum seekers explaining these differences.

When a culture sees rape as religiously acceptable, violence as divine justice, and welfare as a human right, it can be easy to lose one’s heritage. The danger is protecting these values and religious structures (Sharia Law) through political election and legal codification. That codification itself is the result of an identity crisis, one that is irreversible.

France in Flames

In France, we are seeing this same phenomenon of mass migration and lack of assimilation. Between the years 2017 and 2020, there were an estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants in France. Nearly 20% of France’s population consisted of either migrants or foreign-born individuals. In Paris alone, the number skyrockets, with migrants, refugees, and foreign-born people making up over 41% of the population.

Large cities in Germany and the UK, including Berlin, Hannover, and London, show the same trend.

France’s recent protests, which ABC, CBS, and NBC attribute to so-called “student debt concerns, financial burdens, and unequal pay,” reveal a consistent trend. The protests point to a lack of cultural representation and a deep loss of French heritage.

Protestors dressed in black carried Palestinian and Communist flags and marched in Socialist demonstrations, yet not one of them waved a French flag.

More significantly, business owners say that more than 1,500 businesses were targeted in the unrest. Rioters inflicted over 100 million euros in damage, including the total destruction of the historic 19th-century Limoges town hall. They also defaced the famous statue of Marianne, who ironically was a symbol of the French Revolution. Today, Lady Marianne would be appalled by the destruction of France not out of revolution, but reinstitution. (Reports on the Limoges arson and related unrest)

If these protests were for reasons of student debt and finances, the protesters in black carrying Muslim flags crying “Praise be to Allah” in Arabic wouldn’t have the sentiment to destroy France and burn down a historic 19th-century town hall.

This violent protest is an unfortunate snapshot of the kind of culture that one imports without integration, assimilation, or even a basic understanding of that country’s shared norms, values, and beliefs. These are the pillars that unite a society. Without them, other countries’ values are imported and slowly adopted by the majority, and that is how you lose your heritage and ultimately your country.

Could It Happen Here?

France and the UK are direct parallels to what could happen in the US with our own immigration crisis. After all, we did inherit our culture and customs from English society, so who’s to say we couldn’t inherit this also?

Everyone has the capacity to apply for citizenship in the US. However, when there is a reluctance to assimilate, the same story that happens in Europe happens in America. England and France are just blueprints for America, and if we lose sight of our heritage, it will be replaced right out from under us.

About the Author

Brady Larkin is a Marketing Fellow with the Institute for Faith & Freedom and a Political Science major with minors in Communications and Philosophy at Grove City College. Interested in digital media and journalism, Brady serves as a video fellow and producer with The College Fix, where he has interviewed prominent figures, including White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan while working alongside Fox News production mentors (watch here).

Brady is a former Heritage Foundation Academy Fellow (Summer 2025) and served as a Summer 2026 Digital Productions Intern at The Heritage Foundation, assisting with podcasts, mini-documentaries, and national media productions featuring outlets such as The Daily Wire, CNN, Fox News, The Blaze, and others. During his internship, he worked on podcast productions with Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts and supported studio operations for nationally distributed media content. 
On campus, Brady works as a videographer and post-production editor for the Entrepreneurship + Innovation program, acts as a senior Media Services Technician supporting campus-wide events, and as a Production Technician for large-scale theatre and dance productions. He also serves as a Resident Assistant and is an active member of Grove City College’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter and Alpha Psi Omega, the national theatre honor society.
Upon graduation, Brady plans to pursue broadcast and production operations within the Conservative movement.

READ MORE IMMIGRATION: Anti-Growth Policymaking and the H-1B Visas.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grove City College, the Institute for Faith and Freedom, or their affiliates.

Cover Image: Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash (Cropped)

Captioned Image 1: Photo by Arian Malek Khosravi on Unsplash (Cropped)

Captioned Image 2: Photo by Pierre-Louis Mieze on Unsplash (Cropped)