1. After the II World War a lot of people came to the United Kingdom. Britain lost many of its colonies so inhabitants of the Commonwealth countries had the right to settle in Great Britain. Britain is now a multiracial society (very many different minorities live there).
2. Britain – multiracial society: ethnic minorities:
- about 3 mln population (more than 5% of the whole population of Great Britain),
- of them 45% were born in Britain,
- because of high birth rate, the percentage of emigrants can rise to 7%,
- London is the centre of immigrant communities,
- 160 languages and dialects are spoken by children in London schools.
3. Ethnic minorities – reasons for coming:
- in search for better economic opportunities (better possibilities to find work; more comfortable life),
- to escape political persecutions,
- to escape religious persecutions.
4. First immigrants:
from Europe:
- in 17th century – Hugenots (Protestants from France),
- in 18th century – workers from Ireland (Ireland was really poor country at that time so people go to England to get job during Industrial revolution),
- in 19th century – poor farmers from Ireland (after the Great Famine),
Jewish people (one of the oldest ethnic groups):
- in 19th century – refugees from persecutions in Eastern Europe (people from the lower middle class: merchants, farmers, shopkeepers, etc.),
- in 20th century – refugees from Nazi persecution (people who were politically active, they assimilated quickly and there were mixed marriages),
immigrants from outside Europe:
- there came in 17th, 18th and 19th centuries,
- black people were brought as domestic servants,
- former slaves from Caribbean (seamen, settled in London, Liverpool, Bristol, ports),
- people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Africa, China (these immigrants had problems to assimilate as they had different culture, traditions, they wore special clothes and they spoke different languages),
5. Substantial immigration:
people from Afro-Caribbean – 1950s (they assimilated quickly in England as they speak English):
- Christians,
- English is their mother tongue,
- in England they had better job opportunities (crafts, transport, athletes, musicians),
immigrants from India, Pakistan – peak in 1960s (they are really hard-working people; but it was really hard to assimilate in new place as they had different languages, traditions, cultures, etc.):
- Asians,
- they had better opportunities of employment and education,
- they had variety of religions and cultures,
- they had variety of native languages,
- they worked in factories, public services and run own businesses,
- now: there is big Asian middle class (professionals, businessmen).
6. Until 1962 – Commonwealth citizens had always been free to enter Great Britain (but later it had to been changed; after II World War too many people were coming so Great Britain needed to established some law):
- 1962 – first legislation to control immigration was passed,
- 1968 – there was further restriction,
- from 1971 – entry from all countries is controlled by Immigration Act: majority of those are accepted – spouses or dependants of British citizens.
7. Immigrants:
- highest concentration is in Great London – 71% of all the minorities and in six metropolitan cities (like for example Liverpool, Birmingham, etc.),
- only few live in Scotland,
- very few live in Northern Ireland,
- now there are some problems:
higher unemployment rate,
children are more likely to need help in education,
there are difficulties like: unfamiliarity with British society, different culture, racial discrimination.
8. Legislation against racial discrimination:
- 1968 – Race Relations Act – discrimination in employment, housing, education is unlawful,
- 1976 – law strengthened the Race Relations Act – concept of indirect discrimination was introduced.
9. Concepts of racial discrimination:
- DIRECT DISCRIMINATION - it is done intentionally for example when somebody is not employed because of colour of the skin (now it doesn’t often happen),
- INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION – it is less obvious than direct one; employees don’t know that they are discriminated; sometimes a policy, rule or practice seems fair because it applies to everyone equally, but a closer look shows that some people are being treated unfairly (this concept can apply to belief, sexual orientation, race, etc.),
- REVERSE DISCRIMINATION – discrimination in favour of one racial group (some employers prefer minority groups instead of equal attitude toward everybody).