The Ethnic Dimension

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The ethnic minority communities in Brit­ain are about 5.7 per cent of the total popu­lation but are likely to rise to about 7 per cent in the early years of the 21st century, on account of their higher birth rate. Black immigrants first started coming to Britain in substantial numbers from 1948 onwards, in response to labour shortages. At first almost ail came from the West Indies, but during the 1960s and 1970s a large number came from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There were already several thousand non–white Britons, mainly in ports like Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. Some families dated back to the eighteenth century and slave trading. They were used to discrimination.

The immigrants arriving in waves in the 1950s and after soon discovered that they were the target of discrimination in class and status. Black people have generally had the worst paid jobs, lived in the worst hous­ing and encountered hostility from white neighbours. The initial view that black im­migrants would assimilate into the host community was quickly proved wrong. In the mid 1960s the government introduced the first of three Race Relations Acts in order to eliminate racial discrimination. The 1977 Race Discrimination Act sought to prevent discrimination in employment, housing and other areas, and to prevent the publication of any material likely to stir up racial hatred. At the same time, however, laws were introduced to restrict immigra­tion. Although these laws were not specif­ic, it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that they were particularly aimed at col­oured оr black immigrants. Over the years the situation for the ethnic minorities has not improved.

At a popular level Afro-Caribbeans and Asians experience disadvantage. It may merely be that they find greater difficulty getting a job. One controlled experiment, using two actors, one white, the other black, demonstrated that a while is ten times more likely to obtain a job than a black. The un­employment figures confirm this. In 1982 unemployment among whites was 13 per cent, and 25 per cent among Afro-Caribbeans. A government survey in 1986 found that among white youths aged 16 – 24, 17 per cent were out of work, compared with 32 per cent of Afro-Caribbeans and 43 per cent of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. A black is likely to find it harder to obtain credit from a bank or a loan to purchase a house. Even in the provision of housing, there is widespread discrimination, with a tendency for councils to allocate their better hous­ing to whites.

Difficulties for ethnic minority children begin when they go to school. Most mem­bers of the ethnic minorities live in deprived inner city areas where the quality of the schools is worse than elsewhere and where teachers may have lower expectations. Low expectations from their teachers and a sense of alienation from the majority white com­munity are serious disadvantages. Afro-Caribbeans are expected to remain at the bot­tom of the economic scale. Asians, who do better in formal education than Afro-Caribbeans and many white children, are often resented when they surpass whites.

It is hardly surprising that those aged be­tween fifteen and twenty–five feel the great­est anger. They discover prejudice at school and on the streets, and when they leave school they find it is far harder for them to find work than it is for whites.

Successive governments have introduced legislation that promises absolute equality for non–white British citizens. But the prom­ise has remained unfulfilled.

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