Black British
Encyclopedia
Black British is a term used to describe British people
of Black African
descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean
background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies
in the West Indies
(i.e. the New Commonwealth) and Africa
, who are residents of the United Kingdom
and consider themselves British. Others are also from former French-speaking colonies in Africa such as Senegal
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(which was Belgian), and many of the Black Africans in Britain still speak French as well as their own native languages.
The term 'black'
has historically had a number applications as a racial and political label, and may be used in a wider socio-political context, to encompass a broader range of non-European ethnic minority populations in Britain, though this is a controversial and non-standard definition.
Black British is primarily used as a official category in UK national statistics ethnicity classifications
, where it is sub-divided into 'Caribbean', 'African' and 'Other Black' groups.
was established in 1979 "to meet the needs of black (Asian and Afro-Caribbean) women". (Note that "Asian" in the British context
means from South Asia
only.) "Black" was used in this inclusive political sense to mean "not white British
" – the main groups in the 1970s were from the British West Indies
and the Indian subcontinent
, but solidarity against racism extended the term to the Irish population of Britain
as well. Several organisations continue to use the term inclusively, such as the Black Arts Alliance, who extend their use of the term to Latin America
and all refugees, and the National Black Police Association. This is unlike the official British Census
definition which adheres to the clear distinction between "British South Asians" and "British Blacks". Note that because of the Indian diaspora and especially Idi Amin's expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972, many British Asians come from families that have spent several generations in the British West Indies
or East Africa
, so not everyone born in, or with roots in, the Caribbean or Africa can be assumed to be "black" in the exclusive sense; Lord Alli
is a good example.
in Sierra Leone
(known as the Krio) who considered themselves British
. They are generally the descendants of black people who lived in England in the 18th century and freed Black American slaves who fought for the Crown in the American Revolutionary War
(see also Black Loyalists). In 1787, hundreds of London's Black poor
(a category which included the East Indian
seamen known as lascars
) agreed to go to this West African country on the condition that they would retain the status of British subject
s, to live in freedom under the protection of the British Crown and be defended by the Royal Navy
. Making this fresh start with them were many white people, including girlfriends, wives and widows of the black men.
. Archeological inscriptions suggest that most of these people were involved with the miltary. However some were in the upper echelons of society. Analysis of a skull found in a Roman grave in York
indicated that it belonged to an African or mixed-race female. Her sarcophagus
was made of stone and also contained a jet bracelet and an ivory bangle, indicating great wealth for the time.
travelled to London and brought a group of her African attendants with her. Among the six trumpeters depicted in the royal retinue of Henry VIII in the Westminster Tournament Roll, an illuminated manuscript dating from 1511, is a black musician. He wears the royal livery and is mounted on horseback: he is generally identified with the 'John Blanke, the blacke trumpeter' who appears in the payment accounts of both Henry VIII and his father Henry VII
. When trade lines began to open between London and West Africa, Africans slowly began to become part of the London population. The first record of an African in London was in 1593. His name was Cornelius. In the later 16th century and into the first two decades of the 17th, twenty-five persons named in the records of the small parish of St Botolph's in Aldgate are identified as 'blackamoors'. At the turn of the century a sudden influx of Africans, many of them slaves freed from Spanish ships, led to government attempts to repatriate them. Elizabeth I
declared that black "Negroes and black Moors
" were to be arrested and expelled from her kingdom.
During this era there was a rise of black settlements in London. Britain was involved with the tri-continental slave trade
between Europe, Africa and the Americas. Black slaves were attendants to sea captains and ex-colonial officials as well as traders, plantation owners and military personnel. This marked growing evidence of the black presence in the northern, eastern and southern areas of London. There were also small numbers of free slaves and seamen from West Africa and South Asia. Many of these people were forced into beggary due to the lack of jobs and racial discrimination.
The involvement of merchants from the British Isles
in the transatlantic slave trade was the most important factor in the development of the Black British community. These communities flourished in port cities strongly involved in the slave trade, such as Liverpool
(from 1730) and Bristol
. As a result, Liverpool is home to Britain's oldest Black
community, dating to at least the 1730s, and some Black Liverpudlians are able to trace their ancestors in the city back ten generations. Early Black settlers in the city included seamen, the children of traders sent to be educated, and freed slaves, since slaves entering the country after 1722 were deemed free men.
The legality of slavery in England
had been questioned following the Cartwright decision of 1569, when it was "resolved that England was too pure an air for a slave to breathe in." From the early 18th century, there are records of slave sales and various attempts to capture Africans described as escaped slaves. The issue was not legally contested until the Somerset case
of 1772, which concerned James Somersett, a fugitive black slave from Virginia
. Chief Justice Mansfield
(whose own presumed great-niece Dido
was of mixed race) concluded that Somersett could not be forced to leave England against his will. (See generally, Slavery at common law
.)
Around the 1750s London became the home of many of Blacks, Jews, Irish, Germans, and Huguenot
s. According to Gretchen Gerzina in her Black London, by the middle of the 18th century Blacks comprised somewhere between one and three percent of the London populace. Evidence of the number of Black residents in London has been found through registered burials. The whites of London held widespread views that Black people in London were less than human; these views were expressed in slave sale advertisements. Some Black people in London resisted through escape. Leading Black activists of this era included Olaudah Equiano
, Ignatius Sancho
and Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
.
With the support of other Britons these activists demanded that Blacks be freed from slavery. Supporters involved in this movements included workers and other nationalities of the urban poor. London Blacks vocally contested slavery and the slave trade. At this time the slavery of whites was forbidden, but the legal statuses of these practices were not clearly defined. Free black slaves could not be enslaved, but blacks who were bought as slaves to Britain were considered the property of their owners. During this era, Lord Mansfield declared that a slave who fled from his master could not be taken by force or sold abroad. This verdict fueled the numbers of Blacks that escaped slavery, and helped send slavery into decline. During this same period, many slave soldiers who had fought on the side of the British in the American Revolutionary War
arrived in London. These soldiers were deprived of pensions and many of them became poverty-stricken and were reduced to begging on the streets. The Blacks in London lived among the whites in areas of Mile End
, Stepney
, Paddington
and St Giles
. The majority of these people did not live as slaves, but as servants to wealthy whites. Many became labeled as the "Black Poor" defined as former low wage soldiers, seafarers and plantation workers.
During the late 18th century there were many publications and memoirs written about the "black poor". One example is the writings of Equiano, who became an unofficial spokesman for Britain’s Black community. A memoir about his life and attributions in Black London is entitled, The Interesting Narratives of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
The Black Londoners, encouraged by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
, decided to immigrate to Sierra Leone
to found the first British colony in Africa. They demanded that their status as British subject
s be recognized, along with the duty of the Royal Navy
to defend them.
The number of people in the United Kingdom with Black African origins was relatively small. There were, however, significant communities of South Asians, especially East Indian
seamen known as lascars
. In short, the links established through the British Empire
led to increased population movement and immigration
.
In a famous case, an Indian Briton, Dadabhai Naoroji
, stood for election to parliament
for the Liberal Party
in 1886. He was defeated, leading the leader of the Conservative Party, Lord Salisbury
to remark that "however great the progress of mankind has been, and however far we have advanced in overcoming prejudice, I doubt if we have yet got to the point of view where a British constituency would elect a black man". This led to much discussion about the applicability of the term "black" to South Asians. Naoroji was subsequently elected to parliament in 1892, becoming the first Member of Parliament
(MP) of Indian descent.
and settled in London. These settlers suffered and faced many challenges as did many Black Londoners. In 1807 the British slave trade was abolished and the slave trade was abolished completely in the British empire by 1834. The number of blacks in London was steadily declining with these new laws. Fewer blacks were brought into London from the West Indies and parts of Africa.
The 19th century was also a time when "scientific racism
" flourished. Many white Londoners claimed that they were the superior race and that blacks were not as intelligent as whites. They tried to hold up their accounts with scientific evidence, for example the size of the brain. Such claims were later proven false, but this was just one more obstacle for the blacks in London to hurdle over. The late 19th century effectively ended the first period of large scale black immigration to London and Britain. This decline in immigration gave way to the gradual incorporation of blacks and their descendents into this predominantly white society.
During the mid-19th century there were restrictions on African immigration. In the later part of the 19th century there was a build up of small groups of black dockside communities in towns such as Canning Town
, Liverpool
, and Cardiff
. This was a direct effect of new shipping links that were established with the Caribbean and West Africa.
Despite social prejudice and discrimination in Victorian England, some 19th-century black Britons achieved exceptional success. Pablo Fanque
, born poor as William Darby in Norwich
, rose to become the proprietor of one of Britain's most successful Victorian circuses. He is immortalised in the lyrics of The Beatles
song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Thirty years after his 1871 death, the chaplain of the Showman's Guild said, "In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world there is no colour line [bar], for, although Pablo Fanque was of African extraction, he speedily made his way to the top of his profession. The camaraderie of the ring has but one test - ability."
cities: London
's East End, Liverpool
, Bristol
and Cardiff
's Tiger Bay
, with other communities in South Shields
in Tyne & Wear and Glasgow
. The South Shields community (which, as well as Black British, also included South Asians and Yemen
is) were victims of the UK's first race riot
in 1919. Soon all the other towns with significant non-white communities were also hit by race riots which spread across the Anglo-Saxon world
. At this time, on Australia
n insistence, the British refused to accept the Racial Equality Proposal put forward by the Japan
ese at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919
.
saw further growth in the size in London's Black communities with the arrival of merchant seaman and soldiers. At the same time there was also a continuous presence of small groups of students from Africa and the Caribbean slowly migrating into London. These communities are now amongst the oldest black communities of London.
marked another growth period for the black communities into London, Liverpool and elsewhere in Britain. Many blacks from the Caribbean and West Africa arrive in small groups as wartime workers, merchant seaman, and servicemen from the army, navy, and air forces. For example in February 1941 345 West Indians came to work in factories in and around Liverpool, making munitions. By the end of 1943 there were a further 3,312 African American
soldiers based at Maghull
and Huyton
, near Liverpool. It is estimated that approximately twenty thousand black Londoners lived in communities concentrated in the dock side areas of London, Liverpool and Cardiff. One of these black Londoners, Learie Constantine
, who was a welfare officer with the Ministry of Labour
, was refused service at a London hotel. He sued for breach of contract
and was awarded damages. This particular example is used by some to illustrate the slow change from racism towards acceptance and equality of all citizens in London.
.Over a quarter of a million West Indians, the overwhelming majority of them from Jamaica, settled in Britain in less than a decade. In the mid-1960s Britain had become the centre of the largest overseas population of West Indians. This migration event is often labeled "Windrush", a reference to the Empire Windrush, the ship that carried the first major group of Caribbean migrants to the United Kingdom in 1948. "Caribbean" is itself not one ethnic or political identity; for example, some of this wave of immigrants were Indo-Caribbean
. The most widely used term then used was "West Indian" (or sometimes "coloured"). "Black British" did not come into widespread use until the second generation were born to these post-war immigrants to the country. Although British by nationality, due to friction between them and the white majority, they were often being born into communities that were relatively closed, creating the roots of what would become a distinct Black British identity. By the 1950s, there was a consciousness of black people as a separate people that was not there between 1932 and 1938.
was passed in Britain along with a succession of other laws in 1968, 1971
, and 1981
that severely restricted the entry of Black immigrants into Britain. During this period it is widely argued that emergent blacks and Asians struggled in Britain against racism and prejudice.During the 1970s – and partly in response to both the rise in racial intolerance and the rise of the Black Power movement abroad – ‘black’ became detached from its negative connotations, and was reclaimed as a marker of pride: black is beautiful. In 1975 a new voice emerged for the black London population; his name was David Pitt
and he brought a new voice to the House of Lords
. He spoke against racism and for equality in regards to all residents of Britain. With this new tone also came the opportunity for the black population to elect four Black members into Parliament
.
Since the 1980s, the majority of black immigrants into the country have come directly from Africa
, in particular, Nigeria
and Ghana
in West Africa
, Uganda
and Kenya
in East Africa
, Zimbabwe
and South Africa
in Southern Africa
. Nigerians and Ghanaians have been especially quick to accustom themselves to British life, with young Nigerians and Ghanaians achieving some of the best results at GCSE and A-Level, often on a par or above the performance of Caucasian pupils. The rate of inter-racial marriage between British citizens born in Africa and native Britons is still fairly low, compared to those from the Caribbean. This might change over time as Africans become more part of mainstream British culture as second and third generation African communities become established.
By the end of the 20th century the number of black Londoners numbered half a million, according to the 1991 census
. An increasing number of these black Londoners were London- or British-born. Even with this growing population and the first blacks elected to Parliament, many argue that there was still discrimination and a socio-economic imbalance in London among the Blacks. In 1992 the number of blacks in Parliament increased to six and in 1997 they increased their numbers to nine. There are still many problems that Black Londoners face; the new global and high tech information revolution is changing the urban economy and some argue that it is driving unemployment rates among blacks up relative to non-blacks, something which, it is argued, threatens to erode the progress made thus far.
was also equally as violent resulting in numerous casualties, this incident was fuelled by the local Afro-Caribbean community believing they were being specifically targeted by the Sus law
because of their race. 1981 brought another spate of riots, in Brixton 5,000 people were involved in a riot between the Metropolitan Police
and local Afro-Caribbean community, the same happened further north in Toxteth, Liverpool
. There was a nationwide wave of uprisings in the wake of the Brixton riots and riots occurred in Handsworth, Birmingham
in 1981 and 1985 the local South Asian
community also became involved in the former. Riots occurred elsewhere in Moss Side
, Manchester
and again in numerous places within Inner London
. Surprisingly there was only one fatal riot (being the Broadwater Farm riot
), and as deprivation and unemployment decreased, order was maintained and the frequency of race riots in the UK has decreased dramatically since. Despite this some members of the Black British community were involved in the 2001 Harehills race riot
and 2005 Birmingham race riots.
. Research suggests race relations in Britain have deteriorated since the riots and that prejudice towards ethnic minorities is on the rise. Groups such as the EDL
and the BNP
were said to be exploiting the situation. Racial tensions between blacks and Asians in Birmingham increased after the deaths of three Asian men at the hands of a black youth.
In a Newsnight
discussion on 12 August, historian David Starkey
blamed black gangster and rap culture, saying that it had influenced youths of all races. Jamaicans represented the largest group of foreign looters. Figures showed that 46% of people brought before a courtroom were black.
Mid-2009 estimates for England
only put the Black British population there at 1,521,400 compared to 1,158,000 in mid-2001.
. According to 2005 estimates, cities with large and significant Black communities are as follows (London borough
s included).
have declared policies such as a halt to all non-European immigration, as well as repatriation policies.
spoken by a large number of the Black British population of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. The British Black dialect is heavily influenced by Jamaican English
owing to the large number of British immigrants from Jamaica, but it is also spoken by those of different ancestry.
British Black speech is also heavily influenced by social class
and the regional dialect (Cockney
, Mancunian
, Brummie
, Scouse
, etc.).
. Its presence in the United Kingdom stretches from concert performers like George Bridgetower
in the 18th century to street musicians
like Billy Waters
.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, 2 Tone
became popular with the British youth, especially in the West Midlands
. A blend of punk
, ska
and pop
made it popular with both white and black audiences. Famous bands include The Selecter
, The Specials
, The Beat
and The Bodysnatchers.
Jungle
, Dubstep
, Drum and Bass
and Grime
music were invented in London and involve a number of artists from Black African and Caribbean communities, most notably Ghanaian, Nigerian and Jamaican. Famous grime artists include Dizzee Rascal
, Tinchy Stryder
, Tinie Tempah
, Chipmunk
, Kano (rapper)
, Wiley
and Lethal Bizzle
. It is now common to hear British MCs rapping in a strong London Accent. Niche, with its origin in Sheffield and Leeds, has a much faster bassline and is often sung in a northern accent. Famous Niche artists include producer T2
.
the United Kingdom's black community, particularly concerning crime, discrimination in basic services, employment and education.
The media, mostly BBC News
has highlighted black gangs and black on black violence. According to a Home Office report, 10% of all murder victims between 2000 and 2004 were black. Of these, 56% were murdered by other blacks. Given that blacks represent approximately 3% of the British population, black on black violence is a significant problem. In addition, a Freedom of Information request made by The Telegraph
shows internal police data that provides a breakdown of the ethnicity of the 18,091 men and boys who police took action against for a range of violent and sexual offences in London in 2009–10.
They show that among those proceeded against for street crimes, 54 per cent were black; for robbery, 59 per cent; and for gun crimes, 67 per cent. Street crimes include muggings, assault with intent to rob and snatching property.
Black people, who according to government statistics make up 2% of the population, are the principal suspects in 11.7% of murders, i.e. in 252 out of 2163 murders committed 2001/2, 2002/3, and 2003/4. It should be noted that, judging on the basis of prison population, a substantial minority (about 35%) of black criminals in the UK are not British citizens but foreign national
s. In November 2009, the Home Office published a study that showed that, once other variables had been accounted for
, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of offending, anti-social behaviour or drug abuse amongst young people.
After several high-profile investigations such as that of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the police have often been accused of racism, from both within and outside the service. Cressida Dick, head of the Metropolitan Police
's anti-racism unit in 2003, remarked that it was 'difficult to imagine a situation where we will say we are no longer institutionally racist
'.
Well-known Black Britons living before the 20th century include the Chartist
William Cuffay
; William Davidson
, executed as a Cato Street
conspirator; Olaudah Equiano
(also called Gustavus Vassa), a former slave who bought his freedom
, moved to England, and settled in Soham
, Cambridgeshire
, where he married and wrote an autobiography, dying in 1797; Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
, pioneer of the slave narrative
; and Ignatius Sancho
, a grocer who also acquired a reputation as a man of letters. In 2004, a poll found that people considered the Crimean War
heroine Mary Seacole
to be the greatest Black Briton. Seacole was born in Jamaica in 1805 to a white father and black mother. A statue of her is planned for the grounds of St. Thomas' Hospital in London.
More recently, a large number of Black British people have achieved prominence in public life. An example from television is reporter and newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald
, born in Trinidad
, who was knighted in 1999. McDonald is now seen as a part of the broadcasting establishment. His clear, confident delivery and serious attitude have made him one of British television's most trusted presenters, winning more awards than any other British broadcaster. Other examples from television are entertainer Lenny Henry
and chef Ainsley Harriott
.
In art and film, Steve McQueen
won the Turner prize
in 1999, he has since directed his first feature Hunger
. The film earned him the Caméra d'Or
at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
.
Michael Fuller
, after a successful career in the Metropolitan Police
, has been Chief Constable
of Kent
since 2004. He is the son of Jamaican immigrants who came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Fuller was brought up in Sussex
, where his interest in the police force was encouraged by an officer attached to his school. He is a graduate in social psychology
.
In business, Damon Buffini
heads Permira
, one of the world's largest private equity
firms. Buffini topped the 07 'power list' as the most powerful Black male in the United Kingdom by New Nation
magazine and was recently appointed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
's business advisory panel.
René Carayol
is a successful broadcaster
, broadsheet
columnist
, business
& leadership speaker and author
, best known for presenting the BBC
series Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage in Two Years?. He has also served as an executive main board director for blue-chip companies as well as the public sector.
Wol Kolade is council member and Chairman of the BVCA (British Venture Capital Association) and a Governor and council member of the London School of Economics and Political Science, chairing its Audit Committee
.
Adam Afriyie
, is a politician, and Conservative
Member of Parliament
for Windsor
. He is also the founding director of Connect Support Services, an IT services company pioneering fixed-price support. He was also Chairman of DeHavilland Information Services plc, a news and information services company, and was a regional finalist in the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year awards.
Alexander Amosu is an entrepreneur and one of the first people in the UK to create high-end customised mobile phones in gold, white gold and various colours of diamonds, selling to wealthy clients worldwide.
Finally, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones
is a businessman, farmer and founder of the popular Black Farmer range of food products. In addition, he is also a prospective Conservative Party
candidate
for the Chippenham
constituency for the next general election.
In 2005, soldier Johnson Beharry
, born in Grenada
of mixed Black African and East Indian
roots, became the first man to win the Victoria Cross
, the United Kingdom's foremost military award for bravery, since the Falklands War
of 1982. He was awarded the medal for service in Iraq
in 2004.
In sport, prominent examples of success include boxing champion Frank Bruno
, whose career highlight was winning the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he has won 40 of his 45 contests. He is also well known for acting in pantomime
.
Lennox Lewis
, born in east London, is another successful Black British boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Recently, Lewis Hamilton
, who is mixed-race, has created a major impact in the world of Formula One
racing, with his most notable achievement being the winner (and first Black person) of the 2008 Formula One World Championship
.
Kelly Holmes
, who won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is also mixed-race: her black father was born in Jamaica
, while her white mother is English.
People of black ancestry such as Bernie Grant
, Baroness Amos and Diane Abbott
, as well as Oona King
and Paul Boateng
who are of mixed race, have made significant contributions to politics
and trade unionism.
Paul Boateng became the UK's first black biracial cabinet minister in 2002 when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury
.
Bill Morris
was elected general secretary
of the Transport and General Workers' Union
in 1992. He was knighted in 2003, and in 2006 he took a seat in the House of Lords
as a working life peer
, Baron Morris of Handsworth.
Diane Abbott
became the first black woman Member of Parliament when she was elected to the House of Commons
in the 1987 general election
.
David Pitt
became the first black member of the House of Lords
when he became a Life Peer
for the Labour Party
in 1975, he was also President of the British Medical Association
. The first black Conservative
Peer was John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick
.
Valerie Amos became the first black woman cabinet minister and the first black woman to become leader of the House of Lords
.
Numerous Black British actors have become successful in US television, such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
, Idris Elba
, Lennie James
, Marsha Thomason
and Marianne Jean-Baptiste
. Black British actors are also increasingly found starring in major Hollywood movies, notable examples include Adrian Lester
, Ashley Walters, Chiwetel Ejiofor
, Colin Salmon
, David Harewood
, Eamonn Walker
, Hugh Quarshie
, Naomie Harris
, Sophie Okonedo
and Thandie Newton
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
of Black African
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean
British African-Caribbean community
The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in the West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
(i.e. the New Commonwealth) and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, who are residents of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and consider themselves British. Others are also from former French-speaking colonies in Africa such as Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(which was Belgian), and many of the Black Africans in Britain still speak French as well as their own native languages.
The term 'black'
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
has historically had a number applications as a racial and political label, and may be used in a wider socio-political context, to encompass a broader range of non-European ethnic minority populations in Britain, though this is a controversial and non-standard definition.
Black British is primarily used as a official category in UK national statistics ethnicity classifications
Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom
The classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom has attracted controversy in the past: particularly at the time of the 2001 Census where the existence and nature of such a classification, which appeared on the Census form, became more widely known than general.Different classifications, both...
, where it is sub-divided into 'Caribbean', 'African' and 'Other Black' groups.
Terminology
Historically, the term has most commonly been used to refer to Black people of New Commonwealth origin. For example, Southall Black SistersSouthall Black Sisters
Southall Black Sisters is a non-profit All-Asian organisation based in Southall, West London, UK. This Asian-women's group was established in August 1979 in the aftermath of the death of anti-fascist activist Blair Peach, who had taken part in a demonstration against a National Front rally at...
was established in 1979 "to meet the needs of black (Asian and Afro-Caribbean) women". (Note that "Asian" in the British context
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
means from South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
only.) "Black" was used in this inclusive political sense to mean "not white British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
" – the main groups in the 1970s were from the British West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
and the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, but solidarity against racism extended the term to the Irish population of Britain
Irish community in Britain
Irish people in Great Britain are members of the Irish diaspora who reside in Great Britain, the largest island and principal territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland....
as well. Several organisations continue to use the term inclusively, such as the Black Arts Alliance, who extend their use of the term to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and all refugees, and the National Black Police Association. This is unlike the official British Census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
definition which adheres to the clear distinction between "British South Asians" and "British Blacks". Note that because of the Indian diaspora and especially Idi Amin's expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972, many British Asians come from families that have spent several generations in the British West Indies
British West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
or East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, so not everyone born in, or with roots in, the Caribbean or Africa can be assumed to be "black" in the exclusive sense; Lord Alli
Waheed Alli, Baron Alli
Waheed Alli, Baron Alli is a British multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician. He was co-founder and managing director of Planet 24, a TV production company, and managing director at Carlton Television Productions...
is a good example.
Historical usage
Black British was also an identity of Black peopleBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
(known as the Krio) who considered themselves British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
. They are generally the descendants of black people who lived in England in the 18th century and freed Black American slaves who fought for the Crown in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
(see also Black Loyalists). In 1787, hundreds of London's Black poor
Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor was a charitable organization founded in London in 1786 to provide sustenance for distressed people of African and Asian origin...
(a category which included the East Indian
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
seamen known as lascars
Lascars
See also Lashkar, LaskarA lascar and was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian Subcontinent or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, employed on European ships from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century...
) agreed to go to this West African country on the condition that they would retain the status of British subject
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
s, to live in freedom under the protection of the British Crown and be defended by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Making this fresh start with them were many white people, including girlfriends, wives and widows of the black men.
Roman Britain
There is evidence of a significant Black population in Roman BritainRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
. Archeological inscriptions suggest that most of these people were involved with the miltary. However some were in the upper echelons of society. Analysis of a skull found in a Roman grave in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
indicated that it belonged to an African or mixed-race female. Her sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
was made of stone and also contained a jet bracelet and an ivory bangle, indicating great wealth for the time.
16th century
Early in the 16th century Africans arrived in London when Catherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
travelled to London and brought a group of her African attendants with her. Among the six trumpeters depicted in the royal retinue of Henry VIII in the Westminster Tournament Roll, an illuminated manuscript dating from 1511, is a black musician. He wears the royal livery and is mounted on horseback: he is generally identified with the 'John Blanke, the blacke trumpeter' who appears in the payment accounts of both Henry VIII and his father Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
. When trade lines began to open between London and West Africa, Africans slowly began to become part of the London population. The first record of an African in London was in 1593. His name was Cornelius. In the later 16th century and into the first two decades of the 17th, twenty-five persons named in the records of the small parish of St Botolph's in Aldgate are identified as 'blackamoors'. At the turn of the century a sudden influx of Africans, many of them slaves freed from Spanish ships, led to government attempts to repatriate them. Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
declared that black "Negroes and black Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
" were to be arrested and expelled from her kingdom.
The slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
between Europe, Africa and the Americas. Black slaves were attendants to sea captains and ex-colonial officials as well as traders, plantation owners and military personnel. This marked growing evidence of the black presence in the northern, eastern and southern areas of London. There were also small numbers of free slaves and seamen from West Africa and South Asia. Many of these people were forced into beggary due to the lack of jobs and racial discrimination.
The involvement of merchants from the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
in the transatlantic slave trade was the most important factor in the development of the Black British community. These communities flourished in port cities strongly involved in the slave trade, such as Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
(from 1730) and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. As a result, Liverpool is home to Britain's oldest Black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
community, dating to at least the 1730s, and some Black Liverpudlians are able to trace their ancestors in the city back ten generations. Early Black settlers in the city included seamen, the children of traders sent to be educated, and freed slaves, since slaves entering the country after 1722 were deemed free men.
The legality of slavery in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
had been questioned following the Cartwright decision of 1569, when it was "resolved that England was too pure an air for a slave to breathe in." From the early 18th century, there are records of slave sales and various attempts to capture Africans described as escaped slaves. The issue was not legally contested until the Somerset case
Somersett's Case
R v Knowles, ex parte Somersett 20 State Tr 1 is a famous judgment of the English Court of King's Bench in 1772 which held that slavery was unsupported by law in England and Wales...
of 1772, which concerned James Somersett, a fugitive black slave from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Chief Justice Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, SL, PC was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland before moving to London at the age of 13 to take up a place at Westminster School...
(whose own presumed great-niece Dido
Dido Elizabeth Belle
Dido Elizabeth Belle was an illegitimate daughter of John Lindsay and an African slave woman known only as Belle. Very little is known about Belle only that she was black and a slave. Her daughter Dido lived in the household of the Earl of Mansfield who was her father's Uncle and her...
was of mixed race) concluded that Somersett could not be forced to leave England against his will. (See generally, Slavery at common law
Slavery at common law
Slavery at common law in former colonies of the British Empire, developed slowly over centuries, characterised by inconsistent decisions and varying rationales for the treatment of slavery, the slave trade, and the rights of slaves and slave owners...
.)
Around the 1750s London became the home of many of Blacks, Jews, Irish, Germans, and Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s. According to Gretchen Gerzina in her Black London, by the middle of the 18th century Blacks comprised somewhere between one and three percent of the London populace. Evidence of the number of Black residents in London has been found through registered burials. The whites of London held widespread views that Black people in London were less than human; these views were expressed in slave sale advertisements. Some Black people in London resisted through escape. Leading Black activists of this era included Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
, Ignatius Sancho
Ignatius Sancho
Ignatius Sancho was a composer, actor, and writer. He is the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election. He gained fame in his time as "the extraordinary Negro", and to 18th century British abolitionists he became a symbol of the humanity of Africans and immorality of the slave trade...
and Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
Ottobah Cugoano was an African abolitionist who was active in England in the latter half of the eighteenth century.-Early life:...
.
With the support of other Britons these activists demanded that Blacks be freed from slavery. Supporters involved in this movements included workers and other nationalities of the urban poor. London Blacks vocally contested slavery and the slave trade. At this time the slavery of whites was forbidden, but the legal statuses of these practices were not clearly defined. Free black slaves could not be enslaved, but blacks who were bought as slaves to Britain were considered the property of their owners. During this era, Lord Mansfield declared that a slave who fled from his master could not be taken by force or sold abroad. This verdict fueled the numbers of Blacks that escaped slavery, and helped send slavery into decline. During this same period, many slave soldiers who had fought on the side of the British in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
arrived in London. These soldiers were deprived of pensions and many of them became poverty-stricken and were reduced to begging on the streets. The Blacks in London lived among the whites in areas of Mile End
Mile End
Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...
, Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
and St Giles
St Giles, London
St Giles is a district of London, England. It is the location of the church of St Giles in the Fields, the Phoenix Garden and St Giles Circus. It is located at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden and is part of the Midtown business improvement district.The combined parishes of St...
. The majority of these people did not live as slaves, but as servants to wealthy whites. Many became labeled as the "Black Poor" defined as former low wage soldiers, seafarers and plantation workers.
During the late 18th century there were many publications and memoirs written about the "black poor". One example is the writings of Equiano, who became an unofficial spokesman for Britain’s Black community. A memoir about his life and attributions in Black London is entitled, The Interesting Narratives of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
The Black Londoners, encouraged by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor was a charitable organization founded in London in 1786 to provide sustenance for distressed people of African and Asian origin...
, decided to immigrate to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
to found the first British colony in Africa. They demanded that their status as British subject
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
s be recognized, along with the duty of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to defend them.
The number of people in the United Kingdom with Black African origins was relatively small. There were, however, significant communities of South Asians, especially East Indian
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
seamen known as lascars
Lascars
See also Lashkar, LaskarA lascar and was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian Subcontinent or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, employed on European ships from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century...
. In short, the links established through the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
led to increased population movement and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
.
In a famous case, an Indian Briton, Dadabhai Naoroji
Dadabhai Naoroji
Dadabhai Naoroji , known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain...
, stood for election to parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
in 1886. He was defeated, leading the leader of the Conservative Party, Lord Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
to remark that "however great the progress of mankind has been, and however far we have advanced in overcoming prejudice, I doubt if we have yet got to the point of view where a British constituency would elect a black man". This led to much discussion about the applicability of the term "black" to South Asians. Naoroji was subsequently elected to parliament in 1892, becoming the first Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) of Indian descent.
19th century
Coming into the early 19th century, more groups of black soldiers and seaman were displaced after the Napoleonic warsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and settled in London. These settlers suffered and faced many challenges as did many Black Londoners. In 1807 the British slave trade was abolished and the slave trade was abolished completely in the British empire by 1834. The number of blacks in London was steadily declining with these new laws. Fewer blacks were brought into London from the West Indies and parts of Africa.
The 19th century was also a time when "scientific racism
Scientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
" flourished. Many white Londoners claimed that they were the superior race and that blacks were not as intelligent as whites. They tried to hold up their accounts with scientific evidence, for example the size of the brain. Such claims were later proven false, but this was just one more obstacle for the blacks in London to hurdle over. The late 19th century effectively ended the first period of large scale black immigration to London and Britain. This decline in immigration gave way to the gradual incorporation of blacks and their descendents into this predominantly white society.
During the mid-19th century there were restrictions on African immigration. In the later part of the 19th century there was a build up of small groups of black dockside communities in towns such as Canning Town
Canning Town
Canning Town is an area of east London, England. It is part of the London Borough of Newham and is situated in the area of the former London docks on the north side of the River Thames. It is the location of Rathbone Market...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, and Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. This was a direct effect of new shipping links that were established with the Caribbean and West Africa.
Despite social prejudice and discrimination in Victorian England, some 19th-century black Britons achieved exceptional success. Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...
, born poor as William Darby in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, rose to become the proprietor of one of Britain's most successful Victorian circuses. He is immortalised in the lyrics of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is a song from the 1967 album by The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was composed by John Lennon...
Thirty years after his 1871 death, the chaplain of the Showman's Guild said, "In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world there is no colour line [bar], for, although Pablo Fanque was of African extraction, he speedily made his way to the top of his profession. The camaraderie of the ring has but one test - ability."
Early 20th century
Before the Second World War, the largest Black communities were to be found in the United Kingdom's great portPort
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
cities: London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's East End, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
's Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. It was re-branded as Cardiff Bay following the building of the Cardiff Barrage which dams the tidal rivers Ely and Taff to create a body of water.-History:...
, with other communities in South Shields
South Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
in Tyne & Wear and Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The South Shields community (which, as well as Black British, also included South Asians and Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
is) were victims of the UK's first race riot
Race riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
in 1919. Soon all the other towns with significant non-white communities were also hit by race riots which spread across the Anglo-Saxon world
Anglosphere
Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...
. At this time, on Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n insistence, the British refused to accept the Racial Equality Proposal put forward by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
.
World War I
World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
saw further growth in the size in London's Black communities with the arrival of merchant seaman and soldiers. At the same time there was also a continuous presence of small groups of students from Africa and the Caribbean slowly migrating into London. These communities are now amongst the oldest black communities of London.
World War II
World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
marked another growth period for the black communities into London, Liverpool and elsewhere in Britain. Many blacks from the Caribbean and West Africa arrive in small groups as wartime workers, merchant seaman, and servicemen from the army, navy, and air forces. For example in February 1941 345 West Indians came to work in factories in and around Liverpool, making munitions. By the end of 1943 there were a further 3,312 African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
soldiers based at Maghull
Maghull
Maghull is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. The town is located eight miles north of the City of Liverpool and south of Ormskirk in West Lancashire. The area of Moss Side also contains HM Prison Kennet and Ashworth Hospital. Maghull had a...
and Huyton
Huyton
Huyton is a suburb of Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, with some parts belonging to the borough of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It is part of the Liverpool Urban Area and has close associations with its neighbour, Roby, having both formerly been part of the Huyton with...
, near Liverpool. It is estimated that approximately twenty thousand black Londoners lived in communities concentrated in the dock side areas of London, Liverpool and Cardiff. One of these black Londoners, Learie Constantine
Learie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
, who was a welfare officer with the Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour was a British civil service department established by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916. It was renamed the Employment Department in 1988, and finally abolished in 1995...
, was refused service at a London hotel. He sued for breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....
and was awarded damages. This particular example is used by some to illustrate the slow change from racism towards acceptance and equality of all citizens in London.
Post War
It was in the period after the Second World War, however, that the largest influx of Black people occurred, mostly from the British West IndiesBritish West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
.Over a quarter of a million West Indians, the overwhelming majority of them from Jamaica, settled in Britain in less than a decade. In the mid-1960s Britain had become the centre of the largest overseas population of West Indians. This migration event is often labeled "Windrush", a reference to the Empire Windrush, the ship that carried the first major group of Caribbean migrants to the United Kingdom in 1948. "Caribbean" is itself not one ethnic or political identity; for example, some of this wave of immigrants were Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbean people or Indo-Caribbeans are Caribbean people with roots in India or the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descendants of the original indentured workers brought by the British, the Dutch and the French during colonial times...
. The most widely used term then used was "West Indian" (or sometimes "coloured"). "Black British" did not come into widespread use until the second generation were born to these post-war immigrants to the country. Although British by nationality, due to friction between them and the white majority, they were often being born into communities that were relatively closed, creating the roots of what would become a distinct Black British identity. By the 1950s, there was a consciousness of black people as a separate people that was not there between 1932 and 1938.
Late 20th century
In 1962 the Commonwealth Immigrants ActCommonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Before the Act was passed, citizens of British commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK...
was passed in Britain along with a succession of other laws in 1968, 1971
Immigration Act 1971
The Immigration Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration.The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, restricted immigration, especially primary immigration into the UK....
, and 1981
British Nationality Act 1981
The British Nationality Act 1981 was an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament concerning British nationality. It has been the basis of British nationality law since 1 January 1983.-History:...
that severely restricted the entry of Black immigrants into Britain. During this period it is widely argued that emergent blacks and Asians struggled in Britain against racism and prejudice.During the 1970s – and partly in response to both the rise in racial intolerance and the rise of the Black Power movement abroad – ‘black’ became detached from its negative connotations, and was reclaimed as a marker of pride: black is beautiful. In 1975 a new voice emerged for the black London population; his name was David Pitt
David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead
David Thomas Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead was a civil rights campaigner and was one of the first persons of African descent to sit in the British House of Lords.-Early life:...
and he brought a new voice to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He spoke against racism and for equality in regards to all residents of Britain. With this new tone also came the opportunity for the black population to elect four Black members into Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
Since the 1980s, the majority of black immigrants into the country have come directly from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, in particular, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
. Nigerians and Ghanaians have been especially quick to accustom themselves to British life, with young Nigerians and Ghanaians achieving some of the best results at GCSE and A-Level, often on a par or above the performance of Caucasian pupils. The rate of inter-racial marriage between British citizens born in Africa and native Britons is still fairly low, compared to those from the Caribbean. This might change over time as Africans become more part of mainstream British culture as second and third generation African communities become established.
By the end of the 20th century the number of black Londoners numbered half a million, according to the 1991 census
United Kingdom Census 1991
A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census....
. An increasing number of these black Londoners were London- or British-born. Even with this growing population and the first blacks elected to Parliament, many argue that there was still discrimination and a socio-economic imbalance in London among the Blacks. In 1992 the number of blacks in Parliament increased to six and in 1997 they increased their numbers to nine. There are still many problems that Black Londoners face; the new global and high tech information revolution is changing the urban economy and some argue that it is driving unemployment rates among blacks up relative to non-blacks, something which, it is argued, threatens to erode the progress made thus far.
Race and Anti-Police riots
The late 1950s through to the late 1980s saw some of the most violent riots in recent British history, a large number of these were in large British cities as a result of mounting tensions between the local black and white communities. The first major incident occurred in 1958 in Notting Hill and was thought to have been fuelled by a group of white youth's dislike of an interracial couple. A mob of 300 to 400 white people descended on a primarily Afro-Caribbean area and attacked houses across the neighbourhood. The 1980 St. Pauls riot in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
was also equally as violent resulting in numerous casualties, this incident was fuelled by the local Afro-Caribbean community believing they were being specifically targeted by the Sus law
Sus law
In England and Wales, the sus law was the informal name for a stop and search law that permitted a police officer to stop, search and potentially arrest people on suspicion of them being in breach of section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824.-1824 legislation:The power to act on "sus" was found in part...
because of their race. 1981 brought another spate of riots, in Brixton 5,000 people were involved in a riot between the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
and local Afro-Caribbean community, the same happened further north in Toxteth, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. There was a nationwide wave of uprisings in the wake of the Brixton riots and riots occurred in Handsworth, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in 1981 and 1985 the local South Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
community also became involved in the former. Riots occurred elsewhere in Moss Side
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and again in numerous places within Inner London
Inner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...
. Surprisingly there was only one fatal riot (being the Broadwater Farm riot
Broadwater Farm riot
The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm area of Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985.The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day from a stroke during a police search of her...
), and as deprivation and unemployment decreased, order was maintained and the frequency of race riots in the UK has decreased dramatically since. Despite this some members of the Black British community were involved in the 2001 Harehills race riot
2001 Harehills race riot
The Harehills riot took place in the multi-ethnic Leeds district of Harehills in 2001. The riot occurred after the wrongful arrest of an Asian man by the West Yorkshire Police which was alleged to have been heavy handed. More than 100 Asian, White, and Black youth were together involved in the...
and 2005 Birmingham race riots.
Early 21st century
Some analysts claimed that black people were disproportionally represented in the 2011 England riots2011 England riots
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....
. Research suggests race relations in Britain have deteriorated since the riots and that prejudice towards ethnic minorities is on the rise. Groups such as the EDL
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
and the BNP
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
were said to be exploiting the situation. Racial tensions between blacks and Asians in Birmingham increased after the deaths of three Asian men at the hands of a black youth.
In a Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
discussion on 12 August, historian David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
blamed black gangster and rap culture, saying that it had influenced youths of all races. Jamaicans represented the largest group of foreign looters. Figures showed that 46% of people brought before a courtroom were black.
Population
In the 2001 UK Census, 565,876 people stated their ethnicity as Black Caribbean, 485,277 as Black African and 97,585 as Black Other, making a total of 1,148,738 in the census's Black or Black British category. This was equivalent to 2 per cent of the UK population at the time.Mid-2009 estimates for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
only put the Black British population there at 1,521,400 compared to 1,158,000 in mid-2001.
Population distribution
Most Black Britons can be found in the large cities and metropolitan areas of the country, there are almost 1 million Black Britons in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. According to 2005 estimates, cities with large and significant Black communities are as follows (London borough
London borough
The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...
s included).
| Large Black British Communities | ||||
| Greater London Greater London Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London... |
1,100,000 | |||
| Birmingham Metro Area West Midlands (region) The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,... |
176,700 | |||
| Hackney, East London London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council.... |
67,104 | |||
| Lambeth, South London London Borough of Lambeth The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:... |
65,800 | |||
| Southwark, South London London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:... |
64,400 | |||
| Lewisham, South London London Borough of Lewisham The London Borough of Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham... |
63,700 | |||
| Croydon, South London London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in South London, England and is part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the largest London borough by population. It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name... |
55,900 | |||
| Newham, East London London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the... |
55,400 | |||
| Brent, North West London London Borough of Brent In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased... |
54,300 | |||
| Haringey, North London London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs... |
47,200 | |||
| Waltham Forest, East London London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest is in northeast London, England. Officially, it forms part of Outer London as it borders Essex. However, it can be seen that the NE London boundary does not extend far compared to elsewhere in the city... |
39,300 | |||
| Enfield, North London London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest... |
38 220 | |||
| Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the... |
38,300 | |||
| Redbridge, North East London London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in outer north-east London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford. The local authority is Redbridge London Borough Council.-Etymology:... |
24 650 | |||
| Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
21,000 | |||
| Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely... |
18,300 | |||
| Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... |
16,100 | |||
| Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region... |
16,000 | |||
| Hillingdon, West London London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London, England. The borough's population was recorded as 243,006 in the 2001 Census. The borough incorporates the former districts of Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the... |
15,000 | |||
| Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880... |
12,200 | |||
| Coventry Coventry Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although... |
11,800 | |||
| Bradford Bradford Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897... |
11,000 | |||
| Sandwell Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,... |
14,769 | |||
Areas with pop. over 7 million
Over 1 million
Over 700,000
Over 500,000
Over 400,000
Over 300,000
Over 200,000
|
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region... 6.7% London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in Greater London, England. The borough's population was recorded as 243,006 in the 2001 Census. The borough incorporates the former districts of Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the... 6.0% Leicester Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest... 5.6% Milton Keynes Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes... 4.5% Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest... 2.6% Derby Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407... 2.4% Brighton Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... 2.3% Medway Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County... 1.9% Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area... 1.4% Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound... 0.3% Over 100,000
|
Colchester Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the... 1.6% Newport Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent... 1.5%
Over 50,000
Over 10,000
|
Immigration
Far-right political parties have used fears about uncontrolloed immigration in order to gain support during elections. Parties such as the BNPBritish National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
have declared policies such as a halt to all non-European immigration, as well as repatriation policies.
Dialect
British Black English is a variety of the English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
spoken by a large number of the Black British population of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. The British Black dialect is heavily influenced by Jamaican English
Jamaican English
Jamaican English or Jamaican Standard English is a dialect of English spoken in Jamaica. It melds parts of both American English and British English dialects, along with many aspects of Irish intonation...
owing to the large number of British immigrants from Jamaica, but it is also spoken by those of different ancestry.
British Black speech is also heavily influenced by social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
and the regional dialect (Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
, Mancunian
Mancunian
Mancunian is the associated adjective and demonym of Manchester, a city in North West England. It may refer to:*The city of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England**The people of Manchester, or the list of people from Manchester...
, Brummie
Brummie
Brummie is a colloquial term for the inhabitants, accent and dialect of Birmingham, England, as well as being a general adjective used to denote a connection with the city, locally called Brum...
, Scouse
Scouse
Scouse is an accent and dialect of English found primarily in the Metropolitan county of Merseyside, and closely associated with the city of Liverpool and the adjoining urban areas such as the boroughs of south Sefton, Knowsley and the Wirral...
, etc.).
Music
Black British music is a long-established and influential part of British musicBritish music
British music could refer to:* Music of the United Kingdom* English music* Irish music* Scottish music* Welsh music* Celtic music...
. Its presence in the United Kingdom stretches from concert performers like George Bridgetower
George Bridgetower
George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower was an Afro-Polish-born virtuoso violinist, who lived in England for much of his life. He was born in Biala in Galicia, where his father worked for Hieronimus Wincenty Radziwill, in 1778. He was baptised Hieronimo Hyppolito de Augusto on 11 October 1778...
in the 18th century to street musicians
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
like Billy Waters
Billy Waters
Billy Waters was a black man who busked in London in the nineteenth century by singing, playing the violin and entertaining theatre goers with his "peculiar antics"...
.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, 2 Tone
2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
became popular with the British youth, especially in the West Midlands
West Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
. A blend of punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
made it popular with both white and black audiences. Famous bands include The Selecter
The Selecter
The Selecter are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially diverse line-up. Their lyrics featured themes connected to politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat...
, The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
, The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
and The Bodysnatchers.
Jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
, Dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
, Drum and Bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
and Grime
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
music were invented in London and involve a number of artists from Black African and Caribbean communities, most notably Ghanaian, Nigerian and Jamaican. Famous grime artists include Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
, Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
, Tinie Tempah
Tinie Tempah
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu , better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He made his first mixtape in 2007 with 28 songs, freestyles and remixes, the album features Mz Bratt, Chipmunk and G-Unit...
, Chipmunk
Chipmunk (rapper)
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe known by his stage name Chipmunk, is a British hip hop rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London....
, Kano (rapper)
Kano (rapper)
Kane Brett Robinson , better known as Kano and also known as Kane O, is an English rapper and actor. His grandparents came to England as immigrants from Jamaica. He was formerly a key member of east London’s N.A.S.T.Y...
, Wiley
Wiley (rapper)
Richard Kylea Cowie , better known by his stage name Wiley is a prolific British music producer, MC and recording artist, and rapper with roots from Trinidad...
and Lethal Bizzle
Lethal Bizzle
Lethal Bizzle, also known as Lethal B , is a Ghanaian British rapper. His songs are known to satirise modern Gangsta rap; much of the humour comes from the adoption of hip-hop style and language...
. It is now common to hear British MCs rapping in a strong London Accent. Niche, with its origin in Sheffield and Leeds, has a much faster bassline and is often sung in a northern accent. Famous Niche artists include producer T2
T2 (producer)
T2 is a British garage and bassline record producer. He has been mixing since his teens, and began releasing tracks in 2004. He is signed to management team NVA Management, owners of the 2NV record label. In 2007, his single "Heartbroken", featuring Jodie Aysha, hit #2 on the UK Singles Chart...
.
Social issues
There is much controversy surrounding the politics of integratingRacial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
the United Kingdom's black community, particularly concerning crime, discrimination in basic services, employment and education.
Unemployment
According to the TUC report Black workers, jobs and poverty, people from black and Asian groups are far more likely to be unemployed than the white population. The rate of unemployment among the white population is only 11%, but among black groups it is 13%, mixed-race 15%, Indian 7%, Pakistani 15% and Bangladeshi 17%.Crime
Both racist crime and gang-related crime continues to affect black communities, so much so that the Met Police launched Operation Trident to tackle black-on-black crimes. Numerous deaths in police custody of black men has generated a general distrust of police amongst urban blacks in the UK. According to the Metropolitan Police Authority in 2002–2003 of the 17 deaths in police custody, 10 were black or Asian – however blacks and Asians make up a much higher number of prison inmates. The government reports the overall number of racist incidents recorded by the police rose by 7% from 49,078 in 2002/3 to 52,694 in 2003/4.The media, mostly BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
has highlighted black gangs and black on black violence. According to a Home Office report, 10% of all murder victims between 2000 and 2004 were black. Of these, 56% were murdered by other blacks. Given that blacks represent approximately 3% of the British population, black on black violence is a significant problem. In addition, a Freedom of Information request made by The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
shows internal police data that provides a breakdown of the ethnicity of the 18,091 men and boys who police took action against for a range of violent and sexual offences in London in 2009–10.
They show that among those proceeded against for street crimes, 54 per cent were black; for robbery, 59 per cent; and for gun crimes, 67 per cent. Street crimes include muggings, assault with intent to rob and snatching property.
Black people, who according to government statistics make up 2% of the population, are the principal suspects in 11.7% of murders, i.e. in 252 out of 2163 murders committed 2001/2, 2002/3, and 2003/4. It should be noted that, judging on the basis of prison population, a substantial minority (about 35%) of black criminals in the UK are not British citizens but foreign national
Foreign national
Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada...
s. In November 2009, the Home Office published a study that showed that, once other variables had been accounted for
Controlling for a variable
Controlling for a variable refers to the deliberate varying of the experimental conditions in order to see the impact of a specific variable when predicting the outcome variable . Controlling tends to reduce the experimental error...
, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of offending, anti-social behaviour or drug abuse amongst young people.
After several high-profile investigations such as that of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the police have often been accused of racism, from both within and outside the service. Cressida Dick, head of the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
's anti-racism unit in 2003, remarked that it was 'difficult to imagine a situation where we will say we are no longer institutionally racist
Institutional racism
Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations , and universities . The term was coined by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s...
'.
Notable Black Britons
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
William Cuffay
William Cuffay
William Cuffay was a Chartist leader in early Victorian London.- Background :Cuffay was mixed race, the son of a Gillingham, Kent woman and a slave from Saint Kitts, then a British colony. He was born in 1788 in Old Brompton, an area of the Medway Towns that is now in Gillingham...
; William Davidson
William Davidson (conspirator)
William Davidson was an African-Caribbean radical executed by the British government-Early years:Davidson was the illegitimate son of the Jamaican Attorney General and a local black woman. At age fourteen he travelled to Glasgow to study law. In Scotland he became involved in the movement for...
, executed as a Cato Street
Cato Street Conspiracy
The Cato Street Conspiracy was an attempt to murder all the British cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1820. The name comes from the meeting place near Edgware Road in London. The Cato Street Conspiracy is notable due to dissenting public opinions regarding the punishment of the...
conspirator; Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
(also called Gustavus Vassa), a former slave who bought his freedom
Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The...
, moved to England, and settled in Soham
Soham
Soham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, where he married and wrote an autobiography, dying in 1797; Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, also known as James Albert, was a freed slave and autobiographer. His autobiography is considered the first published by an African in Britain.-The autobiography:...
, pioneer of the slave narrative
Slave narrative
The slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the written accounts of enslaved Africans in Britain and its colonies, including the later United States, Canada and Caribbean nations...
; and Ignatius Sancho
Ignatius Sancho
Ignatius Sancho was a composer, actor, and writer. He is the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election. He gained fame in his time as "the extraordinary Negro", and to 18th century British abolitionists he became a symbol of the humanity of Africans and immorality of the slave trade...
, a grocer who also acquired a reputation as a man of letters. In 2004, a poll found that people considered the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
heroine Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole
Mary Jane Seacole , sometimes known as Mother Seacole or Mary Grant, was a Jamaican nurse best known for her involvement in the Crimean War. She set up and operated boarding houses in Panama and the Crimea to assist in her desire to treat the sick...
to be the greatest Black Briton. Seacole was born in Jamaica in 1805 to a white father and black mother. A statue of her is planned for the grounds of St. Thomas' Hospital in London.
More recently, a large number of Black British people have achieved prominence in public life. An example from television is reporter and newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald
Trevor McDonald
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He had a long career as a news presenter with ITN...
, born in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, who was knighted in 1999. McDonald is now seen as a part of the broadcasting establishment. His clear, confident delivery and serious attitude have made him one of British television's most trusted presenters, winning more awards than any other British broadcaster. Other examples from television are entertainer Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
and chef Ainsley Harriott
Ainsley Harriott
Ainsley Harriott is a British celebrity chef and television presenter.-Early career:Trained at Westminster College of Catering, Ainsley obtained an apprenticeship at Verrey's restaurant in the West End and later worked as a commis chef...
.
In art and film, Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen (artist)
Steve Rodney McQueen CBE is a British artist and filmmaker. He is a winner of the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival, a Turner Prize and BAFTA.-Early years:...
won the Turner prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
in 1999, he has since directed his first feature Hunger
Hunger
Hunger is the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience the physical sensation of desiring food.-Malnutrition, famine, starvation:...
. The film earned him the Caméra d'Or
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
Michael Fuller
Michael Fuller
Michael Fuller, QPM is the former Chief Constable of Kent Police and was the first black Chief Constable in the United Kingdom.Fuller took up his role as Chief Constable of Kent on 5 January 2004. He joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1975 as a cadet. He has served in uniformed and CID...
, after a successful career in the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
, has been Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
since 2004. He is the son of Jamaican immigrants who came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Fuller was brought up in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, where his interest in the police force was encouraged by an officer attached to his school. He is a graduate in social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
.
In business, Damon Buffini
Damon Buffini
Damon Buffini is an English businessman, who used to head the private equity company Permira.-Biography:Born in Leicester in 1962, the son of an African American serviceman and a British woman, he was educated at the Gateway school in Leicester...
heads Permira
Permira
Permira is a United Kingdom-based private equity firm with global reach. The firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €20 billion....
, one of the world's largest private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firms. Buffini topped the 07 'power list' as the most powerful Black male in the United Kingdom by New Nation
New Nation
This article is about the British newspaper, which is not to be confused with the Apartheid-era New Nation published in Johannesburg, South Africa or the satirical publication in Singapore....
magazine and was recently appointed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's business advisory panel.
René Carayol
René Carayol
René Carayol is a broadcaster, broadsheet columnist, business and leadership speaker and author. He recently presented the BBC series Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage in Two Years?.- Background & Career :...
is a successful broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
& leadership speaker and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, best known for presenting the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage in Two Years?. He has also served as an executive main board director for blue-chip companies as well as the public sector.
Wol Kolade is council member and Chairman of the BVCA (British Venture Capital Association) and a Governor and council member of the London School of Economics and Political Science, chairing its Audit Committee
Audit committee
In a U.S. publicly-traded company, an audit committee is an operating committee of the Board of Directors charged with oversight of financial reporting and disclosure. Committee members are drawn from members of the company's board of directors, with a Chairperson selected from among the committee...
.
Adam Afriyie
Adam Afriyie
Adam Afriyie is a British Conservative Party politician, and the Member of Parliament for Windsor. He was first elected at the 2005 general election and re-elected at the 2010 election.-Early life:...
, is a politician, and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Windsor
Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)
Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
. He is also the founding director of Connect Support Services, an IT services company pioneering fixed-price support. He was also Chairman of DeHavilland Information Services plc, a news and information services company, and was a regional finalist in the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year awards.
Alexander Amosu is an entrepreneur and one of the first people in the UK to create high-end customised mobile phones in gold, white gold and various colours of diamonds, selling to wealthy clients worldwide.
Finally, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is a British businessman, farmer, founder of "The Black Farmer" range of food products, and was unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for the Chippenham constituency for the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
is a businessman, farmer and founder of the popular Black Farmer range of food products. In addition, he is also a prospective Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate is a term used in British politics to refer to candidates selected by political parties to fight individual constituencies in advance of a general election. This terminology was motivated by the strict limits on the amount of expenses incurred by an actual...
for the Chippenham
Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Chippenham is a parliamentary constituency, abolished in 1983 but recreated in 2010, and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
constituency for the next general election.
In 2005, soldier Johnson Beharry
Johnson Beharry
Lance Corporal Johnson Gideon Beharry VC of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, is a British Army soldier who, on 18 March 2005, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, for twice saving members of...
, born in Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
of mixed Black African and East Indian
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
roots, became the first man to win the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, the United Kingdom's foremost military award for bravery, since the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
of 1982. He was awarded the medal for service in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 2004.
In sport, prominent examples of success include boxing champion Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
, whose career highlight was winning the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he has won 40 of his 45 contests. He is also well known for acting in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
, born in east London, is another successful Black British boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Recently, Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, who is mixed-race, has created a major impact in the world of Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing, with his most notable achievement being the winner (and first Black person) of the 2008 Formula One World Championship
2008 Formula One season
The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....
.
Kelly Holmes
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
, who won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is also mixed-race: her black father was born in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, while her white mother is English.
People of black ancestry such as Bernie Grant
Bernie Grant
Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant , known simply as Bernie Grant, was a politician in the United Kingdom, and was Labour member of Parliament for Tottenham at the time of his death....
, Baroness Amos and Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
, as well as Oona King
Oona King
Oona Tamsyn King, Baroness King of Bow is a Baroness and Member of the House of Lords, and former Chief Diversity Officer of Channel 4. She previously had served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 until 2005, when she was defeated by Respect candidate George...
and Paul Boateng
Paul Boateng
Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury...
who are of mixed race, have made significant contributions to politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and trade unionism.
Paul Boateng became the UK's first black biracial cabinet minister in 2002 when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
.
Bill Morris
Bill Morris
William Manuel Morris, Baron Morris of Handsworth, OJ , generally known as Bill Morris, was general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a British trade union....
was elected general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
of the Transport and General Workers' Union
Transport and General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union - with 900,000 members...
in 1992. He was knighted in 2003, and in 2006 he took a seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as a working life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
, Baron Morris of Handsworth.
Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
became the first black woman Member of Parliament when she was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
.
David Pitt
David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead
David Thomas Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead was a civil rights campaigner and was one of the first persons of African descent to sit in the British House of Lords.-Early life:...
became the first black member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
when he became a Life Peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
for the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in 1975, he was also President of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
. The first black Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Peer was John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick
John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick
John David Beckett, Baron Taylor of Warwick is a British member of the House of Lords who became the first black Conservative peer in 1996, after unsuccessfully standing as their parliamentary candidate in Cheltenham in the 1992 general election. Taylor initially practised as a barrister and has...
.
Valerie Amos became the first black woman cabinet minister and the first black woman to become leader of the House of Lords
Leader of the House of Lords
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council,...
.
Numerous Black British actors have become successful in US television, such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
, Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
, Lennie James
Lennie James
Lennie James is an English actor and playwright.-Career:James attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1988...
, Marsha Thomason
Marsha Thomason
Marsha Lisa Thomason is an English actress, who is known in the United States for playing Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series Las Vegas, for her recurring role on ABC's Lost as Naomi Dorrit, and for playing FBI agent Diana Berrigan on USA Network's White Collar.-Early...
and Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste is a British actress and singer of Antiguan and St. Lucian heritage.-Early life:...
. Black British actors are also increasingly found starring in major Hollywood movies, notable examples include Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
, Ashley Walters, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his...
, Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon is a British actor best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.-Personal life:...
, David Harewood
David Harewood
David Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby...
, Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...
, Hugh Quarshie
Hugh Quarshie
- Early and Personal Life :Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry and was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie, and emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom when he was aged three...
, Naomie Harris
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...
, Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels...
and Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
.
See also
- 100 Great Black Britons100 Great Black BritonsThe 100 Great Black Britons list was compiled as a response to the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons debate of .Patrick Vernon, founder of black heritage website Every Generation, pointed out that no black people had made it to the top 100, saying that this was due in part to many people being unaware of...
- British Black EnglishBritish Black EnglishBritish Black English is a variety of the English language spoken by a large number of the Black British population of African Caribbean ancestry...
- Black and Asian Studies AssociationBlack and Asian Studies AssociationThe Black and Asian Studies Association was set up in London in 1991. Until October 1997 it was known as the Association for the Study of African Caribbean and Asian Culture and History In Britain ....
- Black Scottish people
- British African-Caribbean communityBritish African-Caribbean communityThe British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
- Other BlackOther BlackOther Black is an ethnicity category used by the Office of National Statistics in the United Kingdom. It is one of three "Black or Black British" ethnicity options used in ONS statistics, alongside Black African and Black Caribbean....
- British Mixed-RaceBritish Mixed-RaceMixed is an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census. Colloquially it refers to British citizens or residents whose parents are of two or more different races or ethnic backgrounds...
- Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
External links
- The Black Presence in Britain – Black British History
- The Scarman Report into the Brixton Riots of 1981.
- The Macpherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence.
- Brixton Overcoat, ISBN 978-0-9552841-0-6
- Reassessing what we collect website – The African Community in London History of African London with objects and images
- Reassessing what we collect website – Caribbean London History of Caribbean London with objects and images
- "The Contestation of Britishness" by Ronald Elly Wanda