Poll shows Brits' racial divide.

July 19
NINE out of ten white Britons have no or hardly any friends from ethnic minorities, a report said today, citing a survey which appears to show stark racial divisions in the country.

According to research undertaken by Britain's Commission for Racial Equality, 94 per cent of white people say most or all their friends are of the same race, while 54 per cent claim not to have a single black or Asian close friend.
news.com.au...
www.guardian.co.uk...

A sad reflection of the World today.
Sanc'.

I'm not sure this means all that much, since 90 % of Britons ARE white. About 90% of my friends are white. So I'd be in that 94% who say most of their friends are the same race.

Statistically speaking you'd expect to have mostly white friends! I don't agree with the analysis.

EDIT :

To add an analogy, how many English people have a Welshman in their close circle of friends? Some, but most don't, since there aren't so many of them and for historic reasons they tend to be concentrated in Wales!


[edit on 19-7-2004 by muppet]

Hmm them results are suprising to me!

I have many friends from ethnic minorities,

to be honest i thought We in the UK were quite a diverse community?

We have many people who are ethnic working and living all around us,

Hmm

That is very suprising,
I have many friends who are Asians, muslims, black,etc,etc.

Originally posted by sanctum
July 19
NINE out of ten white Britons have no or hardly any friends from ethnic minorities.........

"no or hardly" thats like saying "None" and "some" are the same.

The poll surveyed 2065 white people and 808 from ethnic minorities.

...and which city was this survey performed in, and by which agency and for what reason?

Muppet - as a matter of fact I am an Englishman and live in Wales, but thankfully have managed to avoid making friends there....!!

[edit on 19-7-2004 by Koka]

I don't really find this report very surprising. I personally am not friends with any 'ethnic minorities' as the place I work and the places I go when not working are generally filled with people similar to me; White, 30's, professional. We simply do not generally cross paths, not through choice but through circumstances.

It's as simple as that.

** A quick edit after a re-read of this! I was certainly not insinuating that ethnic minorities are not 'professionals', but just that I do not happen to work with any who are.**

[edit on 19-7-2004 by benjj]

Originally posted by asala
Hmm them results are suprising to me!

I have many friends from ethnic minorities,
to be honest i thought We in the UK were quite a diverse community?
We have many people who are ethnic working and living all around us,
Hmm

If you're in London, it's not surprising, since there's much more diversity there. Same with most big cities. I think it's just that it takes a few generations for any given ethnic group to spread more evenly across the country.

I myself can see this leading to a class war debate.

You are far more likely to have ethnically minoritised (?) friends if you have a working class background.

I am a white male of 39yrs, my closest friends are made up in the following manner:

Mauritian (raised in London)
Pakistani (raised in London)
Afro-Carribean (raised in London)
Irish (who cares)

Growing up in 70's London, was a nightmare for most minorities, be it Racial or Sexual. I myself was bullied for other reasons in my early childhood, which is the reason I believe, I ended up a melting pot of friends.

When you are bullied you tend to empathise with those that are bullied aswell.

These friends are people I would die for.

I'd agree koka, class/social strata have a lot to do with it.

That again takes at LEAST a generation or two to bridge. e.g. immigrant manual labourer, has child who becomes say a doctor, who then sends his kid to private school etc. Same with family businesses.

Im sure in 100 years time the current crop of "immigrant" populations will have assimilated. Gene pools will have mixed more, skins will be more Olive, and on average girls will be even better looking..(one of the curious and delightful side effects of mixing races... I think it's nature's way of telling us a broad gene pool is a good thing!)

So nine out of ten white people have no ethnic friends. And?

People tend to form friendships with common interests etc...

Most of the black people I've known well have been through football (common interest).

Most of my white friends I drink with.

I have very few asian friends, does this make me racist. No, it just means I've found little in common with most of the asians I've known over the years.

This is the same for every group, are we looking to see how many ethnic minorities have white friends and labelling them if they only socialise with people from a similar ethnic background, of course not.

This doesn't mean that the British are racist I hope but they should come here to the US to see what a really diverse community looks like then they would get a real sense of a melting pot.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
This doesn't mean that the British are racist I hope but they should come here to the US to see what a really diverse community looks like then they would get a real sense of a melting pot.

No need. we have London, and cities don't get any more diverse than that.

I feel that US is more racial divided that perhaps Britain, occurs I can only talk for my experiences as a minority Spanish in the south, and the south is very racial divided.

I'm a bit confused as to what this survey is implying. It comes off as sounding like white Brits haven't filled a quota, or something. What are they supposed to do, seek out minorities and say,"Please! Be my friend, I haven't reached my quota and I'm afraid the race police are on to me!"

All the talk of "rascism" in the world today is starting to remind me of 1950's communist paranoia. Everytime you turn around, you find tests, polls, etc... trying to establish how rascist someone, or something is. The biggest insult right now is calling someone a rascist. Will we someday see MaCarthy-esque "Race Trials" on T.V.?

Originally posted by WestPoint23
This doesn't mean that the British are racist I hope but they should come here to the US to see what a really diverse community looks like then they would get a real sense of a melting pot.

The pole shows absolutley nothing, except that 3,400 people from the middle class, still find it hard to break barriers.

You're right Westpoint we should all come to America to see how a real country with no divides and pure racial harmony works. Will my mates from the Middle East be welcome?

Originally posted by The Last Patriot
What are they supposed to do, seek out minorities and say,"Please! Be my friend, I haven't reached my quota and I'm afraid the race police are on to me!"

That reminds me of the episode of Seinfeld where George is seeking out a black friend so his coworker at the Yankees thinks he's not racist, and in the process scares away nearly every black person who comes across.

I live near London (about 35 mins south of central London) and the racism here is sickening. I have asian and black friends, but I come into contact with far more racist bigots than racially diverse people around here. I hate this country. Maybe it is this area, it's bred around here, but I think that there is a hell of alot of racism and division in this country.

During the working week I live in NW London, and in all honesty, hardly ever encounter racism. But thats probably more to do with me subconciously avoiding areas where race is still an issue. I don't live in denial, I'm well aware that ignorance is still rife throughout the UK, especially on issues relating to race and sexual perssuasion. I could name specific places in London and around the UK where race is still an issue, but am aware that not all residents in those areas subscribe to that degree of ignorance.

Earthtone - I understand where you're coming from, London has become a nightmare of a place to live. Over populated with a public transport system collapsing under the pressure, over inflated house prices, anti-social behaviour etc..etc...., which is the reason I moved to Wales.

Just because a group of people do not buy into the whole melting pot thing doesent mean anything negative. People generally want their culture to remain the same, their traditions and history mean something to them. An influx of immigration only dilutes your culture. Try moving to any muslim dominated country in large numbers and see what happens to you.

I say Britain is letting far too many people in. The country is already far too overcrowded in many areas. Immigration to Britain should be limited to people of British/Welsh/Irish/Scottish descent. At least until the overpopulation thing quiets down some. Sherwood forest is down to what? A square mile? That is what is sad.

btw..my best friend is a pacific islander

Immigration to Britain should be limited to people of British/Welsh/Irish/Scottish descent.

Huh? you mean limit immigration to the indiginous population? We're already here!

I wonder if immigration was renamed "Empire building for the information age" it would be more popular? That's what it is, after all. For every immigrant who settles, prospers, maybe sends money home to family etc, you generate 100 pro-british people in their country of origin who maybe aspire to come here themselves, to copy our ways of doing things, or whatever.

Immigrants help to establish trade links. They help us understand other countries and cultures. They help us establish better diplomatic links. By offering a safe haven for asylum seekers, political refugees etc, we enhance our international reputation as a fair, evenhanded, tolerant people.

My personal vision of Britain is as a global centre of international business. The world forum of ideas, cultures, and international politics. We already have most respected global news organization, the most widely spoken language, an international outlook and an image of fairness, stability and cultural understanding abroad. Let's not stop building the e-empire now! Let Britannia rules the airwaves!!!