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:
“the black wings
of the
hospital where
nothing
will grow”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
“Among the virtues and vices that make up the British character, we have one vice, at least, that Americans ought to view with sympathy. For they appear to be the only people who share it with us. I mean our worship of the antique. I do not refer to beauty or even historical association. I refer to age, to a quantity of years.”
—William Golding (b. 1911)