British National Identity Among Ethnic Minorities
British National Identity among Ethnic Minorities
Identity is something many of us don’t think about, but it is the main force behind our daily decisions. Britishness is defined as the state or quality of being British. This means that Britishness involves habits, behaviors, language, culture, and symbols that are common, recognizable, and iconic to the United Kingdom. Sometimes however, it is hard to define Britishness because it cannot be defined as one thing, like many identities, it evolves and transforms ever so often. British identity has been a subject of many debates since the 1960s, prompted initially by “the loss of empire, then by the rise of the welfare state, postwar black and Asian migration and entry into the European Community, and more recently by the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales” (Parekh, 1). “Some claim that the most challenging minority integration in contemporary society is immigrant-origin non-white communities” (Maxwell, 2), but this is becoming a false claim. The British national identity has been on a decline with more Britons claiming their identity as English, Scottish, Irish, or Welsh. This however, is not true for ethnic minorities in the UK.
Headlines around many newspapers read “Ethnic minorities are now more likely to feel British than white people” There was a study done by the Institute for Public Policy Research that resulted in 51 percent of blacks and Asians describing themselves as British compared with just 29 per cent of whites. Data shows that in 1996, “52 percent of respondents to a poll said they saw themselves primarily as British. By 2005, this had fallen to just 44 per cent. The IPPR study said that Scottish and Welsh devolution had damaged British feeling” (Daily Mail). Professor Platt stated that “Given the current anxiety around immigration and concerns that it is challenging a unified national identity, it is interesting to find that minorities in fact hold stronger British identities on
Identity is something many of us don’t think about, but it is the main force behind our daily decisions. Britishness is defined as the state or quality of being British. This means that Britishness involves habits, behaviors, language, culture, and symbols that are common, recognizable, and iconic to the United Kingdom. Sometimes however, it is hard to define Britishness because it cannot be defined as one thing, like many identities, it evolves and transforms ever so often. British identity has been a subject of many debates since the 1960s, prompted initially by “the loss of empire, then by the rise of the welfare state, postwar black and Asian migration and entry into the European Community, and more recently by the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales” (Parekh, 1). “Some claim that the most challenging minority integration in contemporary society is immigrant-origin non-white communities” (Maxwell, 2), but this is becoming a false claim. The British national identity has been on a decline with more Britons claiming their identity as English, Scottish, Irish, or Welsh. This however, is not true for ethnic minorities in the UK.
Headlines around many newspapers read “Ethnic minorities are now more likely to feel British than white people” There was a study done by the Institute for Public Policy Research that resulted in 51 percent of blacks and Asians describing themselves as British compared with just 29 per cent of whites. Data shows that in 1996, “52 percent of respondents to a poll said they saw themselves primarily as British. By 2005, this had fallen to just 44 per cent. The IPPR study said that Scottish and Welsh devolution had damaged British feeling” (Daily Mail). Professor Platt stated that “Given the current anxiety around immigration and concerns that it is challenging a unified national identity, it is interesting to find that minorities in fact hold stronger British identities on
Cited: BECHHOFER, FRANK, and DAVID McCRONE. "Being British: A Crisis Of Identity?." Political Quarterly 78.2 (2007): 251-260. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 July 2012. "Centre for Longitudinal Studies." - CLS. ESRC, n.d. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/news.aspx?itemid=2080>. "Ethnic Minorities More Likely to Feel British than White People, Says Research." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 2007. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-436928/Ethnic-minorities-likely-feel-British-white-people-says-research.html>. Katwala, Sunder. "Why Do Non-white Brits Feel That Little Bit More British?" British Future. British Future, 30 June 2012. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.britishfuture.org/blog/why-do-non-white-brits-feel-that-little-bit-more-british/>. Kerr, Steve. "The Decline of British Identity." E-International Relations. E-international Relations, 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 July 2012. <http://www.e-ir.info/2012/04/13/the-decline-of-british-identity/>. Manning, Alan, and Sanchari Roy. "Culture Clash Or Culture Club? National Identity In Britain." Economic Journal 120.542 (2010): F72-F100. Business Source Premier. Web. 30 July 2012. Maxwell, Rahsaan. National and Minority Identification among Non-whites in Britain: Where Is the Tradeoff? Publication. University of Massachusetts, Amherst Department of Political Science, n.d. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.ecprnet.eu/MyECPR/proposals/reykjavik/uploads/papers/1008.pdf>. Parkesh, Bhikhu. "Defining British National Identity." Political Quarterly 80.(2009): S251-S262. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 July 2012.