Racial issues and the multicultural society

Abstract

Although Britain has, throughout its history, assimilated large numbers of different ethnic groups from abroad, the issue of race was not a particularly significant element in politics until the 1950s. There were two reasons for this: Firstly, the incoming groups were small and tended to lose their own cultural identity quickly, becoming, within two or three generations, effectively British. Apart from the small Jewish community, many of whom do retain a strong separate identity, most immigrant groups until the 1950s were thoroughly absorbed. Secondly, skin colour had not been a factor until that time. There were small communities of Afro-Caribbean descent, a few residents from the Indian sub-continent and groups of Chinese immigrants, but they had been insignificant in size or impact. Then everything began to change in the second half of the 1950s.