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:
“It is dangerous to leave written that which is badly written. A chance word, upon paper, may destroy the world. Watch carefully and erase, while the power is still yours, I say to myself, for all that is put down, once it escapes, may rot its way into a thousand minds, the corn become a black smut, and all libraries, of necessity, be burned to the ground as a consequence. Only one answer: write carelessly so that nothing that is not green will survive.”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
“Jane Hudson: Bravo.
Rosano Brazzi: Grazie.
Jane Hudson: Prego. That about concludes my entire performance in Italian.”
—H.E. Bates, British screenwriter, and David Lean. Jane Hudson (Katherine Hepburn)