Black British are British people of Black and African heritage, including those of African-Caribbean background, and people with mixed ancestry. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies (i.e., the New Commonwealth) and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and consider themselves British. Others are also from former French-speaking colonies in Africa such as Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which was Belgian), and many Black Africans in Britain speak French as well as their own native languages.
The term "black" has historically had a number of applications as a racial and political label, and may be used in a wider sociopolitical context to encompass a broader range of non-European ethnic minority populations in Britain, though this is a controversial and non-standard definition.
Black British is used as an official category in UK national statistics ethnicity classifications.
The black population has increased from 1.1 million to over 1.8 million from 2001 to 2011, a growth of 40%. The UK has the second-largest black population in Europe, after France.
Read more about Black British: Terminology, Notable Black Britons
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or british:
“He hangs in the hall by his black cravat,
The ladies faint, and the children holler:
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.”
—William Jay Smith (b. 1918)
“Anthropology is the science which tells us that people are the same the whole world over—except when they are different.”
—Nancy Banks-Smith, British columnist. Quoted in Guardian (London, July 21, 1988)