London Africans: on the way to the racial identity

The article deals with the genesis and subsequent evolution of the racial identity of Africans in London. The formation and further development of the racial identity of London Africans went through several levels over the centuries. The background of their origin can be traced back to the 16th century. The beginning of the slave trade suspended the processes aimed at the formation of the racial identity of blacks - Africans were forced to adapt to the new realities of their existence. Elements of African racial identity in London reappeared in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The acquisition of the racial identity took place among the intellectuals, while other groups of Africans (students, servants, workers, the African poor) embarked on the path of consolidation. At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. racial self-consciousness has acquired relatively mature features, having passed from the individual level to the collective level.