Assessment for Afro-Caribbeans in the United Kingdom

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Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

Afro-Caribbean citizens in the United Kingdom are still unsatisfied with the political power they are given. Despite this there is no reason to believe they will resort to violent action, as they lack other risk factors, such as territorial concentration and cohesive organizations. They also do not have a history of using violence against the state.

However, the risks for future protest, including the potential for violent protest and/or rioting, remains due to persistent economic and political discrimination. While there is consensus in the UK that racism is a problem, Britain's anti-racism laws and policies remain ineffective, and few agencies and institutions seem willing to accept responsibility. Concerted attempts to improve race relations, usually prompted by a major episode of racial violence, do not appear to lead to significant long-term changes. Specific businesses and industries have made occasional attempts to end racism in the workplace, often in response to a major lawsuit or other negative publicity, but such initiatives are not picked up by other organizations.

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Analytic Summary

Afro-Caribbeans arrived in Britain in increasing numbers after World War II. The group is comprised of people from many islands with Jamaicans and Trindadans being especially numerous. The largest Afro-Caribbean communities are in the south of England, particularly in London (GROUPCON = 1). Linguistically they have assimilated to British society (LANG = 0) but they are racially distinctive (RACE = 2). Visible racial differences along with distinctive accents have helped perpetuate discrimination, racism and violence against the group. While not highly cohesive, the people from the various islands are recognized as a single group within Britain, and share some common interests and goals.

The group faces some demographic stresses stemming from a higher birth rate than the rest of the nation. Afro-Caribbeans do not face formal discrimination, however the community remains under-represented in the political sphere (POLDIS06 = 2). Afro-Caribbeans encounter discriminatory barriers in housing and access to most middle and higher status occupations as well as discrimination in hiring practices at all levels of employment (ECDIS06 = 3). They also experience differential treatment at the hands of public officials, the British courts and penal system, and the police. There is evidence of "red lining" of certain areas by financial institutions that make it harder for many Afro-Caribbeans, who are disproportionately affected by the practice, to obtain insurance. Britain's school system, despite recent cosmetic changes, has been indicted on numerous occasions for racism, and for undermining the self-confidence of black children and maligning the culture of their parents. These pervasive practices have helped keep the group at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Another irritant is that many whites refuse to worship at churches with a large number of black congregates, which has led to problems in finding ministers willing to serve in churches in black communities.

The group has faced repression by way of racism in the police force and prison system. Many blacks claim to have been intimidated while in prison, and members of the group have been targeted by the police for more traffic stops than other groups in the country. There has been a recent increase in the number of attacks against Afro-Caribbean individuals by working class whites, some of which have led to fatalities. Another problem is growing 'black on black' violence between people from the Caribbean and immigrants from Africa.

The interests of Afro-Caribbeans are represented by umbrella organizations, most of them concerned with stopping racism throughout Britain (GOJPA = 1). The National Assembly Against Racism is concerned with racial attacks but also represents other collective interests. The most important group-specific organization is Operation Black. Afro-Caribbeans have also received support from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Race Discrimination. This committee has strongly criticized the British government for not doing enough to prevent racism in the British society.

Afro-Caribbeans are demanding to play a greater role in the British society (POLGR06 = 1). While there are increasing numbers of Blacks who have been elected at the local level if government, the number of Black Members of Parliament is still very low. The social discrimination that the group has encountered has left them near the bottom of the economic ladder, which the group would like addressed (ECGR06 = 1). The belief is that with greater educational opportunities, and being allowed to compete economically as equals, the Afro-Caribbeans could pull themselves out of their current economic situation, and allow the majority of the group to become employed in higher paying jobs. To accomplish this however, the group would also need government programs to help them, which would require greater public funds. All of these demands are secondary, however, to the need for protection from the racist aspects of British society, and the social discrimination they face.

No militant activity against the government has been attributed to Afro-Caribbeans (REB06 = 0), although there were prolonged race riots in the 1960s and 1970s, the middle of the 1980s, and again in 2001 riots broke out in the northern cities of England. Riots between Afro-Caribbeans and Asians also broke out in 2005 (INTERCON05 = 1). Conventional political action began shortly after the group's arrival in large numbers in the 1960s (PROT60X = 1), escalating in the 1970s (PROT70X = 3) to demonstrations which continue to be used to the present (PROT05 = 3). Demonstrations usually are local and center on issues such as the low wages the group earns compared to other groups, the hiring practices of certain industries and institutions (a recent protest concerned the lack of hiring of Black lawyers), or to protest acts of racial discrimination by the police and others.

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References

Cashmore, Ellis. 1992. "The New Black Bourgeois." Human Relations. 45:2. 1241-1258.

Gelb, Norman. 11/15-29/1993. "Repatriation vs. Integration: The Ugly Face of British Racism." New Leader. 5-6.

Haskey, John C. 1992. "Demographic Characteristics of the Ethnic Minority Populations of Great Britain." In A. H. Bittles and D. F. Roberts, eds. Minority Populations: Genetics, Demography, and Health. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan. 182-207.

James, Winston. 1992. "Migration, Racism and Identity: The Caribbean Experience in Britain." New Left Review. 193. 15-55.

Le Lohe, M. J. 1993. "Ethnic Minority Candidates in General Elections." Political Quarterly. 64:1. 107-117.

LexisNexis. Various news reports. 1990-2006.

National Statistics Online. 1/8/2004. "Ethnicity and Identity: Population size." http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455, accessed 7/20/2009.

Rogers, Reuel Reuben. 2006. Afro-Caribbean Immigrants and the Politics of Incorporation: Ethnicity, Exception, or Exit. New York:Cambridge University Press

Werbner, Pnina and Muhammad Anwar, eds. 1991. Black and Ethnic Leadership in Britain: The Cultural Dimensions of Political Action. London: Routledge.

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