Los afrocaribeños británicos o afrocaribeños británicos son un grupo étnico del Reino Unido . [5] Son ciudadanos británicos cuyos antepasados recientes son originarios del Caribe y además rastrean gran parte de su ascendencia hasta África occidental y central o son nacionales del Caribe que residen en el Reino Unido. Hay algunas personas afrocaribeñas autoidentificadas que son multirraciales. El uso más común y tradicional del término comunidad afrocaribeña es en referencia a grupos de residentes que continúan aspectos de la cultura, las costumbres y las tradiciones caribeñas en el Reino Unido.
Las primeras generaciones de personas afrocaribeñas que migraron a Gran Bretaña rastrean su ascendencia a una amplia gama de grupos étnicos afrocaribeños . [6] [7] [8] Las personas afrocaribeñas descienden de grupos dispares de pueblos africanos que fueron traídos, vendidos y llevados de [9] [10] África Occidental como esclavos al Caribe colonial . [11] Además, los caribeños africanos británicos pueden tener ascendencia de varias tribus caribeñas indígenas y de colonos de grupos étnicos europeos y asiáticos . [12] Según la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina, la persona afrocaribeña promedio tiene en promedio un 20% de mezcla europea. [13] [14]
La ola migratoria más importante, que llegó en pequeñas cantidades para residir en ciudades portuarias de Inglaterra y Gales desde mediados del siglo XVIII, se produjo después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial , coincidiendo con la era de la descolonización y la disolución del Imperio británico. Los gobiernos del Reino Unido, Francia y los Países Bajos promovieron la inmigración para abordar la escasez de mano de obra nacional. [15] Conocidos como la generación Windrush , habían llegado como ciudadanos del Reino Unido y las Colonias (CUKC) en las décadas de 1950 y 1960 debido a su nacimiento en las antiguas colonias británicas del Caribe . Aunque a los que se establecieron en el Reino Unido antes de 1973 se les concedió el derecho de residencia o el permiso indefinido para permanecer en el Reino Unido por la Ley de Inmigración de 1971 , una serie de políticas gubernamentales habían hecho que algunos fueran etiquetados erróneamente como residentes ilegales en el Reino Unido en las décadas de 2000 y 2010, lo que posteriormente se conoció como el escándalo Windrush . [16] La población tiene un origen diverso, con orígenes en Jamaica , Trinidad y Tobago , Bahamas , San Cristóbal y Nieves , Barbados , Granada , Antigua y Barbuda , Santa Lucía , Dominica , Montserrat , Islas Vírgenes Británicas , Islas Turcas y Caicos , Islas Caimán , Anguila , San Vicente y las Granadinas , Guyana y Belice .
En el siglo XXI, las comunidades afrocaribeñas están presentes en las principales ciudades del Reino Unido, y los miembros supervivientes de esta generación, a veces llamados los británicos Windrush, y sus descendientes, constituyen el grupo cultural multiétnico que reside en el país. Como no existe una categoría específica del censo del Reino Unido que cubra de forma exhaustiva a la comunidad, las cifras de población siguen siendo algo ambiguas. "Caribe negro" (bajo un encabezado " Británico negro ") y "Mezclado: caribeño blanco y negro" (bajo un encabezado " Mezclado ") denotan descendencia total o parcial, y registraron 594.825 y 426.715 personas, respectivamente, en el censo del Reino Unido de 2011. " Blanco : caribeño blanco", "Mezclado: caribeño asiático" y "Mezclado: caribeño blanco" son categorías del censo que también se utilizaron. [17] [18] En este sentido, e ilustrando las complejidades dentro de la identidad de los pueblos afrocaribeños, hay ejemplos notables de personas con un padre o abuelo de ascendencia afrocaribeña que se identifican con, o son percibidos como, personas blancas en el Reino Unido . [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
Un glosario publicado en el Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health con la intención de estimular el debate sobre el desarrollo de términos mejores y más aplicables a nivel internacional para describir la etnicidad y la raza, sugiere una definición de afrocaribeño/caribeño africano como "Una persona de orígenes ancestrales africanos cuya familia se estableció en el Caribe antes de emigrar y que se autoidentifica, o es identificada, como afrocaribeña (en términos de clasificaciones raciales, esta población se aproxima al grupo conocido como negroide o términos similares)". [24] Una encuesta sobre el uso de términos para describir a las personas de ascendencia africana en la investigación médica señala que: "El término africanocaribeño/afrocaribeño cuando se usa en Europa y América del Norte generalmente se refiere a personas con orígenes ancestrales africanos que migraron a través de las islas del Caribe". Sugiere que el uso del término en el Reino Unido es inconsistente, ya que algunos investigadores lo usan para describir a personas de ascendencia negra y caribeña, mientras que otros lo usan para referirse a personas de origen africano occidental o caribeño. [25] Además, a medida que la inmigración al Reino Unido desde África aumentó a fines del siglo XX, el término a veces se ha utilizado para incluir a los residentes británicos únicamente de origen africano o como un término para definir a todos los residentes británicos negros , aunque la frase africano y caribeño se ha utilizado con más frecuencia para cubrir un grupo más amplio.
Las directrices de la Asociación Sociológica Británica sobre etnicidad y raza establecen que "el término afrocaribeño ha reemplazado al término afrocaribeño para referirse a los pueblos caribeños y a aquellos de origen caribeño que son de ascendencia africana. Ahora existe la opinión de que el término no debería estar separado por guiones y que, de hecho, las diferencias entre dichos grupos significan que las personas de origen africano y caribeño deberían ser mencionadas por separado". [26] La guía de estilo del Guardian and Observer prescribe el uso de "afrocaribeño" para su uso en los dos periódicos, señalando específicamente "no afrocaribeño". [27]
El sociólogo Peter J. Aspinall sostiene que el término "negro" ha sido recuperado por las personas de origen africano y caribeño en el Reino Unido, y señala que en una encuesta de salud de 1992, el 17 por ciento de los 722 afrocaribeños encuestados, incluido el 36 por ciento de los que tenían entre 16 y 29 años, se describieron a sí mismos como " británicos negros ". Esto, sugiere, "parece ser una respuesta pragmática y espontánea (en lugar de políticamente dirigida) al deseo de describir una lealtad a una identidad 'británica' y la importancia cada vez menor de los vínculos con una patria en el Caribe". [28]
La Oficina de Estadísticas Nacionales no utiliza una categoría censal de "grupo étnico" en particular , dentro del censo del Reino Unido , que describa o abarque exhaustivamente a las personas que forman parte de la comunidad afrocaribeña en el Reino Unido o se identifican con ella.
"Caribe negro" es la categoría que registró las cifras de población más altas (asociadas con la herencia caribeña africana) en los censos del Reino Unido de 2011 y 2021. "Caribe negro" está bajo el encabezado " Negro o británico negro " en el censo. "Mixto: caribeño blanco y negro" también tuvo una población registrada significativa dentro del país, lo que denota una ascendencia caribeña africana parcial no cuantificada, así como una ascendencia "blanca". Esta categoría de grupo étnico se incluyó bajo el encabezado " Mixto " en el censo. [29] [30]
Otras subcategorías "mixtas" que identifican alguna forma de ascendencia caribeña son "mixta: caribeña asiática" y "mixta: caribeña blanca". [17] "Otra blanca: caribeña blanca", un grupo étnico que se incluye en la subcategoría censal Otra blanca , también puede denotar herencia afrocaribeña parcial o distante. [18] Fuera de los censos, hay ejemplos notables de personas con ascendencia afrocaribeña (a menudo a través de un abuelo o bisabuelo) que son percibidas o identificadas como personas blancas en el Reino Unido . [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
En el censo de Inglaterra y Gales de 2021 , 623.115 personas se clasificaron como "caribeños negros", lo que representa el 1 por ciento de la población total. [30]
En el censo de 2011 de Inglaterra y Gales , 594.825 personas especificaron su etnia como "caribeña" bajo el encabezado "negro/africano/caribeño/británico negro", y 426.715 como "caribeña blanca y negra" bajo el encabezado "grupo étnico mixto/múltiple". [29] En Escocia, 3.430 personas se clasificaron como "caribeña, caribeña escocesa o caribeña británica" y 730 como "otra caribeña o negra" bajo el encabezado más amplio "caribeña o negra". [31] En Irlanda del Norte, 372 personas especificaron su etnia como "caribeña". [32] Los resultados publicados para la categoría "mixta" no están desglosados en subcategorías para Escocia e Irlanda del Norte como lo están para Inglaterra y Gales. [31] [32]
En el censo del Reino Unido de 2001 , 565.876 personas se clasificaron en la categoría de "caribeños negros", lo que representa alrededor del 1 por ciento de la población total. [33] De la población de "minorías étnicas", que ascendía al 7,9 por ciento de la población total del Reino Unido, los caribeños negros representaban el 12,2 por ciento. [33] Además, el 14,6 por ciento de la población de minorías étnicas (equivalente al 1,2 por ciento de la población total) se identificó como de raza mixta, de los cuales alrededor de un tercio declaró que eran de ascendencia mixta de caribeños negros y blancos. [33]
Año de llegada (censo de 2021, Inglaterra y Gales) [35]
El censo también registra los países de nacimiento de los encuestados y el censo de 2001 registró 146.401 personas nacidas en Jamaica, 21.601 en Barbados, 21.283 en Trinidad y Tobago, 20.872 en Guyana, 9.783 en Granada, 8.265 en Santa Lucía, 7.983 en Montserrat, 7.091 en San Vicente y las Granadinas, 6.739 en Dominica, 6.519 en Saint Kitts y Nevis, 3.891 en Antigua y Barbuda y 498 en Anguila. [36]
Los datos detallados sobre el país de nacimiento del censo de 2011 se publican por separado para Inglaterra y Gales, Escocia e Irlanda del Norte. En Inglaterra y Gales, 160.095 residentes declararon que su país de nacimiento era Jamaica, 22.872 Trinidad y Tobago, 18.672 Barbados, 9.274 Granada, 9.096 Santa Lucía, 7.390 San Vicente y las Granadinas, 7.270 Montserrat, 6.359 Dominica, 5.629 San Cristóbal y Nieves, 3.697 Antigua y Barbuda, 2.355 Cuba, 1.812 Bahamas y 1.303 República Dominicana. 8.301 personas declararon haber nacido en otro lugar del Caribe, lo que eleva la población total de Inglaterra y Gales nacida en el Caribe a 264.125. De esta cifra, 262.092 residían en Inglaterra y 2.033 en Gales. [37] En Escocia, se registraron 2.054 residentes nacidos en el Caribe, [38] y en Irlanda del Norte, 314. [39] Guyana está clasificada como parte de América del Sur en los resultados del censo, que muestran que 21.417 residentes de Inglaterra y Gales, 350 de Escocia y 56 de Irlanda del Norte nacieron en Guyana. Belice está clasificado como parte de América Central. Se registraron 1.252 personas nacidas en Belice viviendo en Inglaterra y Gales, 79 en Escocia y 22 en Irlanda del Norte. [38] [39] [37]
Basándose en diversas fuentes oficiales y extrapolando las cifras de Inglaterra únicamente, Ceri Peach estimó que el número de personas nacidas en las Indias Occidentales en Gran Bretaña aumentó de 15.000 en 1951 a 172.000 en 1961 y 304.000 en 1971, y luego disminuyó ligeramente a 295.000 en 1981. Calcula que la población de etnia antillana en 1981 estaba entre 500.000 y 550.000. [40]
Los caribeños negros tienen más probabilidades de tener títulos académicos que los británicos blancos. En 2001, alrededor del 29% de los británicos blancos no tenían títulos académicos, en comparación con el 27% de los caribeños negros. En 2011, el 24% de los británicos blancos no tenían títulos académicos, porcentaje superior al promedio nacional del 23%, en comparación con el 20% de los caribeños negros. [41] [42]
Durante los decenios de 1950 y 1960, un número desproporcionado de niños inmigrantes caribeños fueron clasificados (a menudo erróneamente) como " educativamente subnormales " y colocados en escuelas y unidades especiales. [43] [44] A finales de los años 1980, las posibilidades de que los alumnos blancos que terminaban la escuela encontraran empleo eran cuatro veces mejores que las de los alumnos negros. En 2000-01, los alumnos negros tenían tres veces más probabilidades que los alumnos blancos y diez veces más probabilidades que los alumnos indios de ser excluidos oficialmente de la escuela por razones disciplinarias. [45]
En 2004, el 23,2% de los alumnos caribeños negros en Inglaterra obtuvo cinco o más GCSE o equivalentes con calificaciones entre A* y C, incluyendo inglés y matemáticas, en comparación con el 41,6% de los alumnos británicos blancos y el 40,9% de todos los alumnos, independientemente de su origen étnico. En 2013, las cifras equivalentes fueron el 53,3% para los alumnos caribeños negros, el 60,5% para los alumnos británicos blancos y el 60,6% en general. Los alumnos caribeños negros de entornos de bajos ingresos tienden a tener un mejor desempeño académico que los alumnos británicos blancos de familias de bajos ingresos. [46] [47] Entre los alumnos que tienen derecho a comidas escolares gratuitas (utilizadas como medida de los bajos ingresos familiares), los alumnos caribeños negros superaron a los alumnos británicos blancos en un 36,9 a un 27,9 por ciento para los niños y en un 47,7 a un 36,8 por ciento para las niñas en 2013. Un informe publicado por el Departamento de Educación en 2015 señala que "los estudiantes caribeños negros y los estudiantes blancos y caribeños negros mixtos han... mostrado una mejora muy marcada, desde tener la mitad de probabilidades [que] los estudiantes británicos blancos de alcanzar los puntos de referencia del éxito educativo a principios de la década de 2000 hasta casi la paridad en 2013, aunque siguen existiendo brechas persistentes". [48]
Los alumnos caribeños negros tienen una tasa de ingreso a la universidad más alta que los estudiantes británicos blancos. [49]
El estatus socioeconómico se basa en el tipo de trabajo que realiza una persona o en lo que solía hacer si está jubilada. Según datos basados en el censo de 2011, el 40,7% de los caribeños negros se ubicaron en los tres grupos socioeconómicos superiores (gerencial superior/inferior, profesional e intermedio). Este porcentaje se ubicó como el quinto más alto combinado de las 18 etnias incluidas. [51]
En términos de clase ocupacional, la investigación del profesor Yaojun Li concluye que los hombres negros caribeños de segunda generación (es decir, los nacidos en el Reino Unido o que llegaron antes de los 13 años) están más o menos a la par de los hombres blancos británicos, mientras que las mujeres negras caribeñas tenían una clase ocupacional más alta que las mujeres blancas británicas desde la década de 1970 hasta la de 1990. Las mujeres negras caribeñas de segunda generación han superado ahora a las mujeres blancas británicas. [52] Una investigación adicional del Dr. Richard Norrie de Civitas señaló una creciente clase media negra, con alrededor del 35,7% de los hombres negros caribeños en trabajos de "clase media" en 2020 (en comparación con solo el 7% en la década de 1970/1980). La cifra correspondiente a 2020 para los hombres blancos británicos es del 35,8%. El informe afirma que esta convergencia es "testimonio de los logros de los hombres negros caribeños, así como de la apertura de la vida económica británica". [53] [54]
En 2007, un estudio de la Fundación Joseph Rowntree concluyó que los caribeños negros tenían una de las tasas de pobreza más bajas entre los diferentes grupos étnicos minoritarios principales en Gran Bretaña. De los grupos étnicos minoritarios no blancos más grandes, los bangladesíes (65%), los pakistaníes (55%) y los africanos negros (45%) tenían las tasas de pobreza más altas. Los caribeños negros (30%) y los indios (25%) tenían las tasas más bajas. En el caso de las familias en las que al menos un adulto tenía un trabajo remunerado, los caribeños negros y los indios tenían nuevamente las tasas de pobreza más bajas, del 10 al 15%, en comparación con alrededor del 60% de los bangladesíes, el 40% de los pakistaníes y el 30% de los africanos negros. [55] En 2011, una comparación adicional concluyó que los caribeños negros (junto con los chinos británicos y los indios) tenían tasas de pobreza infantil y adulta más bajas que los bangladesíes, los pakistaníes y los africanos negros. [56]
Los británicos blancos tienden a tener la mayor riqueza neta. Las estimaciones de la riqueza de los caribeños negros varían, según la fuente. Un informe de 2020 de la Resolution Foundation concluyó que los caribeños negros tienen una riqueza familiar neta media por adulto de 120.000 libras esterlinas (más alta que la de los chinos, los negros africanos, los bangladesíes, los pakistaníes y otros blancos), lo que los coloca en el tercer lugar entre los principales grupos étnicos del Reino Unido. [57] El estudio de Civitas concluyó que los caribeños negros tienen una riqueza media individual de 85.000 libras esterlinas, lo que los coloca nuevamente en el tercer lugar entre los principales grupos étnicos del Reino Unido: [54]
Entre 1972 y 2020, de los grupos étnicos minoritarios más numerosos de Gran Bretaña, los caribeños negros (y los indios) tenían las tasas de empleo más altas en general. Durante gran parte de la década de 1970, los caribeños negros tenían las tasas de empleo más altas, incluso más altas que el grupo étnico blanco. [58]
Entre 2004-2008 y 2013-2014, los caribeños negros ganaron más que sus homólogos británicos blancos. [59] En 2015, la Comisión de Igualdad y Derechos Humanos realizó una investigación sobre las brechas salariales de las minorías étnicas entre 1993 y 2014. El informe concluyó que los hombres caribeños negros nacidos en el Reino Unido habían cerrado gran parte de la brecha salarial con los hombres británicos blancos, mientras que las mujeres caribeñas negras nacidas en el Reino Unido ganaban sistemáticamente más que las mujeres británicas blancas. [60]
En 2019, los caribeños negros tenían un salario medio por hora más alto que los pakistaníes, bangladesíes, africanos negros, blancos de otros grupos étnicos y asiáticos. Las mujeres caribeñas negras siguieron ganando más en promedio que las mujeres británicas blancas. [58]
Según el censo de Reino Unido de 2021 , las diez autoridades locales con la mayor proporción de personas negras caribeñas se concentraban en gran medida en el Gran Londres: Lewisham (10,61%), Croydon (9,24%), Lambeth (9,13%), Hackney (6,91%), Waltham Forest (6,32%), Brent (6,26%), Haringey (6,18%), Southwark (5,90%), Enfield (5,15%) y Birmingham (3,91%). En Gales, la proporción más alta se encontraba en Cardiff, con un 0,37%. [62]
En el censo de 2011, la mayor concentración de personas "caribeñas negras" se encuentra en Londres, donde 344.597 residentes se clasificaron como caribeños negros, lo que representa el 4,2 por ciento de la población de la ciudad. [29] Otras concentraciones significativas fueron (no en orden) Birmingham , [63] Manchester , Bradford , Nottingham , Coventry , Wolverhampton, Luton , Watford , Slough , Leicester , Bristol , Gloucester , Leeds , Huddersfield , Sheffield , Liverpool y Cardiff . En estas ciudades, la comunidad se asocia tradicionalmente con un área particular, como Brixton , Harlesden , Stonebridge , Hackney , Lewisham , Tottenham , Croydon y Peckham en Londres, West Bowling y Heaton en Bradford, Chapeltown en Leeds, [64] St. Pauls en Bristol, [65] Handsworth , Aston y Ladywood en Birmingham, Moss Side en Manchester, St Ann's en Nottingham, Pitsmoor en Sheffield y Toxteth en Liverpool. Según el censo del Reino Unido de 2011, Birmingham albergaba la mayor población caribeña negra, seguida de Croydon , Lewisham , Lambeth , Brent y Hackney .
Desde el siglo XVI hasta principios del siglo XIX, los africanos fueron comprados por traficantes de esclavos europeos y enviados a través del Atlántico para trabajar como esclavos en las diversas colonias europeas en las Américas . Aproximadamente 13 millones de africanos llegaron a las Américas de esta manera, a varios lugares como Saint-Domingue , Nueva España , Brasil colonial y las Trece Colonias . Los historiadores estimaron que aproximadamente dos millones de africanos fueron enviados a varias colonias británicas en el Caribe y América del Sur. A estos esclavos se les darían nuevos nombres , adoptarían la vestimenta y el cristianismo europeos y se verían obligados a trabajar en plantaciones que producían cultivos comerciales que se enviarían de regreso a Europa , completando la última etapa del comercio triangular . Las condiciones en estas plantaciones eran duras y muchos escaparon al campo o mostraron otras formas de resistencia. [68]
Una de las consecuencias de la Guerra de Independencia de Estados Unidos fue el diferente desarrollo histórico de los afroamericanos y los afrocaribeños. Mientras que los colonos estadounidenses habían legalizado la esclavitud a través de sus asambleas coloniales , la esclavitud nunca fue legal según el derecho consuetudinario británico y, por lo tanto, estaba prohibida en Gran Bretaña. [69] [70]
El muy elogiado británico negro Ignacio Sancho estuvo entre los principales abolicionistas británicos del siglo XVIII, y en 1783 un movimiento abolicionista se extendió por toda Gran Bretaña para poner fin a la esclavitud en todo el Imperio Británico, con el poeta William Cowper escribiendo en 1785: "No tenemos esclavos en casa. ¿Entonces por qué en el extranjero? Los esclavos no pueden respirar en Inglaterra; si sus pulmones reciben nuestro aire, en ese momento son libres. Tocan nuestro país y sus grilletes caen. Eso es noble y habla de una nación orgullosa. Y celosa de la bendición. Difundidla entonces, y dejadla circular por todas las venas". [71] Hay registros de pequeñas comunidades en los puertos de Cardiff , Liverpool , Londres y South Shields que datan de mediados del siglo XVIII. Estas comunidades fueron formadas por esclavos liberados tras la abolición de la esclavitud en 1833. [72] Las ocupaciones típicas de los primeros inmigrantes eran lacayos o cocheros .
Entre los personajes afrocaribeños más destacados en Gran Bretaña durante el siglo XIX se incluyen:
La creciente presencia caribeña en el ejército británico provocó que aproximadamente 15.000 inmigrantes afrocaribeños llegaran al noroeste de Inglaterra en la época de la Primera Guerra Mundial para trabajar en fábricas de municiones. [74]
Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, el sargento William Robinson Clarke viajó desde su Jamaica natal y se convirtió en el primer piloto negro de Gran Bretaña. [75]
El poeta y activista comunista jamaicano , Claude McKay , llegó a Inglaterra después de la Primera Guerra Mundial y se convirtió en el primer periodista británico negro que escribió para el Workers' Dreadnought . [76]
El Dr. Allan Glaisyer Minns, de las Bahamas, se convirtió en el primer alcalde negro de Gran Bretaña cuando fue elegido alcalde de Thetford , Norfolk , en 1904. [77]
En febrero de 1941, 345 trabajadores antillanos fueron llevados a trabajar a Liverpool y sus alrededores . [78] En general, estaban mejor capacitados que la población negra británica local . Había cierta tensión entre ellos y los africanos occidentales que se habían establecido en la zona. [79]
Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial , muchos caribeños emigraron a América del Norte y Europa, especialmente a Estados Unidos, Canadá, Reino Unido, Francia y los Países Bajos. Como resultado de las pérdidas durante la guerra, el gobierno británico comenzó a alentar la inmigración masiva desde Europa continental para cubrir la escasez en el mercado laboral. Los ciudadanos de los antiguos países del Imperio Británico y la Commonwealth también comenzaron a buscar trabajo en el Reino Unido, [80] aunque la preferencia del gobierno era que los trabajadores europeos cubrieran la escasez. [81] Kenneth Lunn escribe que, "Al promover planes de empleo para trabajadores europeos blancos para cubrir la escasez de mano de obra existente y al optar por desalentar, aunque de manera informal, a los trabajadores negros de la Commonwealth, se mostró un conjunto claro de preferencias". [82] El Ministerio de Trabajo se opuso particularmente a reclutar mano de obra del Caribe, argumentando que "la escasez anunciada anteriormente ya no existía. En los sectores laborales donde la escasez no se podía negar, el ministerio se concentró en demostrar que los ciudadanos coloniales serían trabajadores inadecuados". [83] Sin embargo, la Ley de Nacionalidad Británica de 1948 otorgó la ciudadanía del Reino Unido y sus colonias a todas las personas que vivían en el Reino Unido y sus colonias, y el derecho de entrada y establecimiento en el Reino Unido. [84] Muchos antillanos se sintieron atraídos por las mejores perspectivas en lo que a menudo se denominaba la madre patria.
Los primeros barcos que transportaron grandes grupos de antillanos desde Jamaica al Reino Unido fueron el SS Ormonde , que atracó en Liverpool el 31 de marzo de 1947 con 241 pasajeros, y el SS Almanzora , que llegó a Southampton el 21 de diciembre de ese mismo año, con 200 pasajeros. [86] Sin embargo, fue el viaje del HMT Empire Windrush en junio del año siguiente el que se haría conocido.
El Empire Windrush llegó con un grupo de 802 inmigrantes al puerto de Tilbury , cerca de Londres, el 22 de junio de 1948. [87] [88] El Empire Windrush era un barco de transporte de tropas en ruta desde Australia a Inglaterra a través del Atlántico , atracando en Kingston, Jamaica , para recoger a los militares que estaban de permiso. [89] Había aparecido un anuncio en un periódico jamaicano que ofrecía transporte barato en el barco para cualquiera que quisiera viajar al Reino Unido. Muchos exmilitares aprovecharon esta oportunidad para regresar a Gran Bretaña con la esperanza de reincorporarse a la RAF , mientras que otros decidieron hacer el viaje solo para ver cómo era Inglaterra. [89] A diferencia de los dos barcos anteriores, la llegada del Windrush recibió una gran atención de los medios y fue reportada por reporteros de periódicos y cámaras de noticieros . [90] [91]
Los recién llegados fueron alojados temporalmente en el refugio profundo de Clapham South , en el suroeste de Londres, a unas dos millas (tres kilómetros) de Coldharbour Lane en Brixton . Muchos tenían la intención de quedarse en Gran Bretaña durante menos de unos pocos años, y algunos regresaron al Caribe, pero la mayoría se quedó para establecerse permanentemente en Gran Bretaña. [89] La llegada de los pasajeros se convirtió en un hito importante en la historia de la Gran Bretaña moderna, y la imagen de los antillanos saliendo de la pasarela del barco ha llegado a simbolizar el comienzo de la sociedad multicultural británica moderna . [89]
El gobierno británico no esperaba ni aprobaba la llegada de inmigrantes antillanos en el Empire Windrush . George Isaacs , ministro de Trabajo y Servicio Nacional, declaró en el Parlamento que no se alentaría a otros a seguir su ejemplo. En junio de 1948, 11 miembros del Partido Laborista escribieron al primer ministro británico Clement Attlee quejándose de la inmigración excesiva. Ese mismo mes, Arthur Creech Jones , secretario de Estado para las Colonias , señaló en un memorando del Gabinete que el gobierno jamaicano no podía impedir legalmente que la gente saliera del país y que el gobierno británico no podía impedir legalmente que desembarcara. Sin embargo, también declaró que el gobierno se oponía a esta inmigración y que la Oficina Colonial y el gobierno jamaicano tomarían todas las medidas posibles para desalentarla. [92]
En junio de 1950 se creó un comité del Gabinete para encontrar "formas que pudieran adoptarse para controlar la inmigración a este país de personas de color procedentes de los territorios coloniales británicos". En febrero de 1951, el comité informó que no se requerían restricciones. [93]
En la Gran Bretaña de posguerra había mucho trabajo, y las industrias como British Rail , el Servicio Nacional de Salud y el transporte público reclutaban casi exclusivamente en Jamaica y Barbados. [94] Aunque se alentó a los afrocaribeños a viajar a Gran Bretaña a través de campañas de inmigración creadas por sucesivos gobiernos británicos, muchos recién llegados soportaron prejuicios, intolerancia y racismo de sectores de la sociedad blanca . [88] Esta experiencia marcó las relaciones de los afrocaribeños con la comunidad en general durante un largo período. [95] Los primeros inmigrantes afrocaribeños encontraron empleo privado y vivienda que se les negaba por motivos de raza. Los sindicatos a menudo no ayudaban a los trabajadores afrocaribeños y algunos pubs, clubes, salones de baile e iglesias prohibían la entrada a personas negras. [ 88] La vivienda escaseaba después de los bombardeos de la guerra, y la escasez provocó algunos de los primeros enfrentamientos con la comunidad blanca establecida . Los enfrentamientos continuaron y empeoraron en la década de 1950, y estallaron disturbios en ciudades como Londres, Birmingham y Nottingham . [80] En 1958, los ataques en el área londinense de Notting Hill por parte de jóvenes blancos empañaron las relaciones con los residentes de las Indias Occidentales, y al año siguiente, como respuesta positiva de la comunidad caribeña, se llevó a cabo un evento de carnaval en interiores organizado por la editora de West Indian Gazette, Claudia Jones, en el Ayuntamiento de St Pancras, y sería un precursor de lo que se convertiría en el Carnaval anual de Notting Hill . [96] Parte del racismo y la intolerancia fueron avivados por movimientos explícitamente fascistas o antiinmigratorios , incluido el Movimiento Sindical de Oswald Mosley , la Liga de Leales al Imperio , la Liga de Defensa Blanca , el Partido Laborista Nacional y otros. Influenciadas por este tipo de propaganda, las bandas de Teddy Boys a veces atacaban a personas negras en Londres. [88] El historiador Winston James sostiene que la experiencia de sufrir racismo fue un factor importante en el desarrollo de una identidad caribeña compartida entre inmigrantes de una variedad de diferentes islas y orígenes de clase. La experiencia compartida de empleo por parte de organizaciones como London Transport y el Servicio Nacional de Salud también jugó un papel en la construcción de una identidad afro-caribeña británica. [97]
Social Geographer Ceri Peach estimates that the number of people in Britain born in the West Indies grew from 15,000 in 1951 to 172,000 in 1961.[40] In 1962, the UK enacted the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, restricting the entry of immigrants,[80] and by 1972 only holders of work permits, or people with parents or grandparents born in the United Kingdom, could gain entry – effectively stemming most Caribbean immigration.[84] Despite the restrictive measures, an entire generation of Britons with African-Caribbean heritage now existed, contributing to British society in virtually every field, a generation celebrated in the "Windrush 75 1948–2023 Souvenir Edition" of The Voice published in June 2023.[98]
The 1970s and 1980s were decades of comparative turbulence in wider British society; industrial disputes preceded a period of deep recession and widespread unemployment which seriously affected the economically less prosperous African-Caribbean community. During the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, unemployment among the children of Caribbean migrants ran at three to four times that of white school leavers.[99] By 1982 the number of all people out of work in Britain had risen above three million for the first time since the 1930s.[100] Societal racism, discrimination, poverty, powerlessness and oppressive policing sparked a series of riots in areas with substantial African-Caribbean populations.[101] These "uprisings" (as they were described by some in the community) took place in St Pauls in 1980, Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side in 1981, St Pauls again in 1982, Notting Hill Gate in 1982, Toxteth in 1982, and Handsworth, Brixton and Tottenham in 1985.[102][103]
The riots had a profoundly unsettling effect on local residents, and led the then Home Secretary William Whitelaw to commission the Scarman report to address the root causes of the disturbances. The report identified both "racial discrimination" and a "racial disadvantage" in Britain, concluding that urgent action was needed to prevent these issues becoming an "endemic, ineradicable disease threatening the very survival of our society".[101] The era saw an increase in attacks on black people by white people. The Joint Campaign Against Racism committee reported that there had been more than 20,000 attacks on non-white Britons including Britons of Asian origin during 1985.[104]
The police response to the 1993 murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence led to outcry and calls to investigate police conduct. The ensuing government inquiry, the Macpherson Report, concluded that there was institutional racism in London's Metropolitan Police Service.[105]
In 2009, 1.2% of British children under 16 were Black Caribbean and 1.1% were mixed white and black Caribbean. Among those children who were living with at least one Caribbean parent, only one in five was living with two Caribbean parents.[106]
In 2015 Catherine Ross, who came to the UK from Saint Kitts as a child, founded the SKN (Skills, Knowledge and Networks) Heritage Museum, which became Museumand: The National Caribbean Heritage Museum, a "museum without walls" based in Nottingham.[107][108]
From November 2017[109] British newspapers reported that the Home Office had threatened Commonwealth immigrants who arrived before 1973 with deportation if they could not prove their right to remain in the UK. In April 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May apologised to leaders of Caribbean countries about the way immigrants had been treated,[110] promising compensation to those affected.[111][112][113] In what has become known as the "Windrush scandal", Home Secretary Amber Rudd initially denied the existence of, and later denied being aware of aggressive departmental deportation targets, but eventually resigned on 29 April 2018 after news outlets published documents indicating that she knew of the targets.[114] Prior to Rudd's resignation, Sajid Javid, her successor as Home Secretary, had expressed sympathy for the victims of the scandal, telling the Sunday Telegraph that "I thought, 'That could be my mum ... my dad ... my uncle ... it could be me.'"[115][116] Landing cards relating to earlier passenger arrivals in the United Kingdom had been destroyed in October 2010.[117] A public inquiry ordered by the House of Commons, titled the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, was published in March 2020.[16]
Genome-wide research of Afro-Caribbean people have shown that the grouping, on average, have 77.4% African, 15.9% European, and 6.7% Asian DNA. This 2010 study represented African Caribbeans living within the Caribbean.[118] Within the United Kingdom, men and women of African Caribbean origin or ancestry were also found to have around 13 percent of their DNA from sources other than Africa. In the research, only volunteers who had all four grandparents of Afro-Caribbean origin were sampled.[12] Researchers have been able to attribute this partly to historic European males' sexual exploitation of enslaved African women.[11]
There are a number of African-Caribbean academics who are especially prominent in the arts and humanities. Professor Paul Gilroy, of Afro-Guyanese and English heritage, is one of Britain's leading academics, having taught sociology at Harvard as well as Goldsmiths College and the London School of Economics.[119] The Jamaican-born cultural theorist Professor Stuart Hall has also been a highly influential British intellectual since the 1960s.[120] Dr. Robert Beckford has presented several national television and radio documentaries exploring African-Caribbean history, culture and religion.[121]
Other prominent academics include Guyanese born Professor Gus John, who has been active in education, schooling and political radicalism in Britain's inner cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and London since the 1960s. He was involved in the organising the "Black people's day of action", a response to the 1981 New Cross Fire. In 1989 he was appointed Director of Education in Hackney and was the first black person to hold such a position. He has also worked as an education consultant in Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. John was the co-ordinator of the Black Parents Movement in Manchester, founded the Education for Liberation book service and helped to organise the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books in Manchester, London and Bradford. He has worked in a number of University settings, including a visiting Faculty Professor of Education at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and is currently an associate professor of the Institute of Education at the University of London. Dr "William" Lez Henry works with young people, particularly black boys. He is the founder of Black Liberation Afrikan Knowledge (BLK Friday) a platform for people to give presentations to the community. In 2005, he received an Excellence in Education Award at the Challenging The Genius: Excellent Education for Children: "Our Future is Not a dream", Conference in Chicago, USA. He is one of the founding members of the National Independent Education Coalition (NIEC). Henry previously hosted a fortnightly talk show on popular London pirate radio station Galaxy 102.5FM (formerly 99.5 FM) and who is also a former lecturer of Goldsmiths College. Prof. Harry Goldbourne is a former member of the radical group the Black Unity and Freedom Party who went on to teach at the University of the South Bank.
The 1970s saw the emergence of independent filmmakers such as Trinidadian-born Horace Ové, the director of Pressure, among others.[122] London's Talawa Theatre Company was founded in the 1985 by Jamaican-born Yvonne Brewster, their first production being based on C. L. R. James's historical account of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins.[123] Since the 1980s, the Blue Mountain Theatre's productions have offered a more earthy style of populist comedy, often bringing over Jamaican artists such as Oliver Samuels.[124]
While Guyanese actor Robert Adams became the first African-Caribbean dramatic actor to appear on British television on 11 May 1938 (in a production of Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones), African-Caribbean entertainers were first widely popularised on British television broadcasts with the postwar resumption of BBC television in 1946 (pre-war Black entertainers on the BBC – the first in the world – had primarily been African-American stars).[125] The profile of African-Caribbean actors on television, such as Lennie James, Judith Jacob and Diane Parish, has widened substantially since 1970s programmes such as: Love Thy Neighbour (Rudolph Walker) and Rising Damp (Don Warrington) when their role was often to act simply as either the butt of, or foil to, racist jokes made by White characters. The most influential programme in moving away from this formula was the 1989–94 Channel Four barbershop sitcom Desmond's, starring Norman Beaton and Carmen Munroe. In 1982, Peter Davison, who is of Afro-Guyanese and English descent, was the then-youngest-ever actor to play the Doctor in Doctor Who.[19]
One of the biggest African-Caribbean names in comedy is Lenny Henry, who began his career as a stand-up comedian but whose television sketch shows, where he often caricatured Caribbean émigrés, made him popular enough to headline numerous primetime comedy shows from, for instance, Lenny Henry in 1984 to The Lenny Henry Show in 2004.[126] Becoming a prominent television personality between 2002 and 2009 after appearing on series Big Brother, Jade Goody was of Afro-Jamaican and English descent.[20] Another Big Brother contestant, Alison Hammond, has appeared on many television programmes and in 2020, ITV announced a shake-up of This Morning presenters, with Hammond replacing Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on a Friday, presenting alongside Dermot O'Leary.[127] Hammond is of Afro-Jamaican descent.
Another big African-Caribbean name is Ainsley Harriott, who has appeared in several shows including Ready Steady Cook, Can't Cook, Won't Cook, City Hospital, Red Dwarf and Strictly Come Dancing. In September 2008, Harriott explored his Caribbean heritage, taking part in the genealogy documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are?.
Other television personalities and presenters include Angellica Bell, Andi Oliver, Alesha Dixon, Josie d'Arby, Diane-Louise Jordan, Floella Benjamin, Margherita Taylor, Trisha Goddard, Shaun Wallace, Mr Motivator, Alex Scott, Marvin and Rochelle Humes.
The highest professional achievement by a British African-Caribbean actor was Marianne Jean-Baptiste's 1996 nominations for an Academy Award (Oscar), Golden Globe and British Academy Award (bafta) for her feature-film debut role in Secrets & Lies.[128] Naomie Harris replicated this in 2017, with nominations for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar for her performance in Moonlight.[129] Numerous British African-Caribbean actors have become successful in US film and television. In 2009 portraying Lord Voldemort – one of the most famous characters in cinematic history – Frank Dillane has Afro-Jamaican and English heritage.[130] Oxfordshire-born Wentworth Miller of Prison Break fame is also of partial Jamaican descent. Miller earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his Prison Break role[131] and won a Saturn Award for his guest appearance in the critically acclaimed The Flash.[132] Actor Stephen Graham, who has featured in three Martin Scorsese directed productions, has Afro-Jamaican, Swedish and English ancestry.[21] Delroy Lindo earned a Satellite Award for his role in American docudrama television film Glory & Honor and won numerous accolades for his role as Paul, in Spike Lee's highly praised Da 5 Bloods.[133] Lindo is of Jamaican heritage. Colin Salmon, who is also of Jamaican descent, is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the Resident Evil film series.[134][135] Marsha Thomason, who is of mixed Jamaican and English heritage, has appeared in Disney's The Haunted Mansion, opposite Eddie Murphy, and US television series Las Vegas, Lost and White Collar.[136] Ashley Walters, of Jamaican ancestry, played the role as Antoine in Get Rich or Die Tryin'[137] David Harewood, who is Barbadian descent, played David Estes, Director of the CIA's Counter-terrorism Centre in the highly successful television series Homeland. He also played a lead role in the popular American superhero TV series Supergirl.[138] Harewood was honoured with the Variety Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his work and success in both the U.K. and U.S.[139] Lashana Lynch featured opposite Brie Larson in 2019's Captain Marvel and played the role of Nomi, the secret agent who replaces Craig's retired Bond in No Time to Die.[140] Lynch won a BAFTA for her role in No Time to Die, thanking her Jamaican parents while accepting the award.[141] Adrian Lester, who is of Jamaican descent, featured in the political blockbuster Primary Colors, directed by Mike Nicholls and co-starring John Travolta, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton and Emma Thompson. This part earned Lester a Chicago Film Critics Association award nomination for "Most Promising Actor".[142]
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One of the most influential African-Caribbean people in the British art world has been Prof. Eddie Chambers.[143] Chambers, along with Donald Rodney, Marlene Smith and curator, artist, critic and academic Keith Piper, founded the BLK Art Group[144] in 1982, when they were initially based in the West Midlands. According to Chambers, significant artists such as the Guyanese-born painters Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling and the Jamaican sculptor Ronald Moody initially found that, despite achieving worldwide renown, it was difficult to find acceptance in the highest echelons of the art establishment.[145] Chambers worked with Donald Rodney and Sonia Boyce, both of whose work is represented in the permanent collections of the London's Tate Britain museum. In 1986 the Hayward Gallery presented the exhibition The Other Story, which provided a survey of African-Caribbean, African and Asian artists working in the UK.
Other African-Caribbean artists of note include Faisal Abdu'allah of Jamaican heritage,[146] Guyanese-born Ingrid Pollard,[147] British-based Jamaican painter Eugene Palmer, the sculptor George "Fowokan" Kelly, and Tam Joseph, whose 1983 work Spirit of Carnival was a vivid depiction of the Notting Hill Carnival.[148] The movement was also part of the impetus that led to the founding of the Association of Black Photographers by Mark Sealy and others. In 1999 the filmmaker Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the Hollywood filmstar) won Britain's most prestigious art prize, the Turner Prize, for his video Deadpan.[149] The artist and producer Pogus Caesar was commissioned by Artangel to direct a film based on McQueen's work. Forward Ever – Backward Never was premiered at the Lumiere in London in 2002. Caesar has also established the OOM Gallery Archives, based in Birmingham, which has in excess of 14,000 images including photographs of contemporary Black British culture.
In 1983, Cleo Laine won the Grammy Award for Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance for Cleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert. Laine has Jamaican heritage.[150] Caribbean Queen scored Billy Ocean two Grammy Award nominations and won him the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1985 Grammy Awards. Ocean was born in Trinidad but has lived in Sunningdale, Berkshire since 1978. In 1987, Steel Pulse won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, Babylon The Bandit. Original band members (David Hinds, Basil Gabbidon and Ronald McQueen) are all of Jamaican descent. Formed in 1988, Soul II Soul gained significant popularity in the U.S. and achieved two Grammy Awards. Founding member Jazzie B is of Antiguan descent, while lead singer, Caron Wheeler, has Jamaican ancestry. With worldwide record sales of more than 70 million, Grammy Award-nominated UB40 has various members of Caribbean heritage. With multiple UK number-one achievements between 1999 and 2001, S Club 7 had two members of African-Caribbean heritage. Bradley McIntosh was born to African-Jamaican parents, who had been members of funk group The Cool Notes,[151] and Tina Barrett, who has African-Guyanese and English ancestry.[152] Melanie Brown was an integral part of the 90s girl group The Spice Girls, reportedly the best-selling female group of all time. Brown was born to a father from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Leigh-Anne Pinnock is a member of Little Mix, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Pinnock has Barbadian and Jamaican ancestry.
Estelle, who has a Grenadian father, picked up a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2009. Corinne Bailey Rae, achieved Grammy Awards in 2008 and 2012. Her father is from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Part-Jamaican, Ella Mai, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 2019. A Mercury Prize and Grammy Awards-nominated artist, rapper Slowthai has Afro-Barbadian, English and Irish ancestry.[22] Nilüfer Yanya has the same background, and also Turkish heritage.[153] Other Grammy nominated British-Caribbean artists include Joan Armatrading, Aswad, Craig David, Eddy Grant, Lianne La Havas, Leona Lewis, Mahalia, Julian Marley, Musical Youth, Nao, Maxi Priest and Jorja Smith.
African-Caribbeans have made significant contributions to British politics and trade unionism. Labour MP Diane Abbott became the first black female to be elected to the House of Commons in 1987.[154] Elected alongside her was one other African-Caribbean Labour MP, Bernie Grant, who had Guyanese heritage. Linda C. Douglas was the first black member of the party's National Executive Committee, representing the later expelled Militant tendency. Jamaican-born Bill Morris was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003, and became the first black leader of a major British trade union. Jamaican-born Lurline Champagnie became the first black woman to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party in 1992.[155] Guyana-born Valerie Amos became the first black woman to serve as a Cabinet minister in 2003[156] Dawn Butler, who has Jamaican ancestry, became the first black female to speak from the despatch box in the House of Commons in 2009.[157] Dominican-born Patricia Scotland was elected the first female Commonwealth Secretary-General in 2015.[158] Marvin Rees, who has partial Jamaican heritage, is the UK's first directly elected black mayor.[159] In 2022, Paulette Hamilton won the Erdington by-election to become Birmingham's first Black MP.[160] Hamilton has Jamaican ancestry.
Other notable contributors include David Lammy, Jennette Arnold, Jocelyn Barrow, Doreen Lawrence, Alison Lowe, Brenda Dacres, Shakira Martin, Lydia Simmons, Henry Gunter, Sam Beaver King, Harold Moody and Stuart Hall.
British African-Caribbean people are well represented in traditional British sports such as football and rugby, and have also represented the nation at the highest level in sports where Caribbean people typically excel in the home countries such as cricket and athletics. Some British African-Caribbean people have gone on to become international sports stars and top global earners in their chosen sporting field.
Britain's first Olympic sprint medals came from Harry Edward, born in Guyana, who won two individual bronze medals at the 1920 games in Antwerp.[161] Many years later, sprinter Linford Christie, born in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, won 23 major championship medals, more than any other British male athlete to date. Christie's career highlight was winning a gold medal in the immensely competitive 100 metres event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.[162] Welsh hurdler Colin Jackson, who went to considerable lengths to explore his Jamaican heritage in a BBC documentary,[163] held the 110 metres hurdles world record for 11 years between 1993 and 2004.[164]
Ethel Scott (1907–84), who had a Jamaican father and an English mother, was the first black woman to represent Great Britain in an international athletics competition. She was a sprinter active in international competitions for a brief period in the 1930s. Jamaican-born Tessa Sanderson became the first British African-Caribbean woman to win Olympic gold, receiving the medal for her javelin performance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Denise Lewis, of Jamaican heritage, won heptathlon gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics,[165] a games where 13 of Britain's 18 track and field representatives had Afro-Caribbean roots.[161] Four years later in the Athens Olympics, Kelly Holmes, the daughter of a Jamaican-born car mechanic, achieved the rare feat of taking gold in both the 800 and 1500 metres races.[166] In the same games, Britain's men's 4 × 100-metre relay team of Marlon Devonish, Darren Campbell, Mark Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener, all of African-Caribbean heritage, beat the favoured United States quartet to claim Olympic gold.[167] Jessica Ennis-Hill, the daughter of a Jamaican self-employed painter and decorator, won heptathlon gold in the 2012 London Olympics.[168]
British boxers of a Caribbean background have played a prominent role in the national boxing scene since the early 1980s. In 1995 Frank Bruno, whose mother was a Pentecostal lay preacher from Jamaica, became Britain's first world heavyweight boxing champion in the 20th century.[169] Bruno's reign was shortly followed by British-born Jamaican Lennox Lewis, who defeated Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson to become the world's premier heavyweight during the late 1990s.[170] Middleweights Chris Eubank, who spent his early years in Jamaica, and Nigel Benn, of Barbadian descent, both claimed world titles and fought a series of brutal battles in the early 1990s.[171] In the Sydney Olympics of 2000, Audley Harrison (who has Jamaican heritage) became Britain's first heavyweight gold medalist.[172] Other boxing champions from the British African-Caribbean community include the welterweight Lloyd Honeyghan, nicknamed "Ragamuffin Man" by boxing superstar Donald Curry in 1986, in reference to his (in comparison to Curry's extravagance) normal appearance; Honeyghan subsequently spectacularly defeated Curry.[173] James DeGale, who is of Afro-Grenadian and English descent, represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics as an amateur, winning a gold medal in the middleweight division. He became the first British boxer in history to win both an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title after landing the IBF super-middleweight crown in April 2015.[174] David Haye, who has English and Jamaican heritage, was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championships. Haye is one of only three boxers in history to have unified the cruiserweight world titles and become a world heavyweight champion.[175] Jamaican-born Dillian Whyte, has held the WBC interim heavyweight title since March 2021.
Cricket has long been a popular pastime among African-Caribbean people in both the West Indies and the United Kingdom, though this has waned somewhat since its peak during the 1960s–1980s.[176] After the period of widespread immigration, tours of England by the combined West Indian cricket team became cultural celebrations of Caribbean culture in Britain, particularly at cricket grounds such as The Oval in South London.[176] Almost all the great West Indian cricketers became regular features of the domestic county game, including Garfield Sobers, Vivian Richards and Michael Holding. In turn, British cricketers of Caribbean origin also began to make an impact in English cricket. In the 1980s–1990s, players including Gladstone Small (born in Barbados),[177] Devon Malcolm (born in Jamaica)[178] and Phillip DeFreitas (born in Dominica)[179] represented England, making significant contributions to the side. Phillip DeFreitas, Devon Malcolm and Gladstone Small made 44, 40 and 17 test match appearances for England respectively. DeFreitas also played 103 One Day Internationals for England. Malcolm made 10 appearances and Small made 53 appearances in the shorter format. Small and DeFreitas also represented England in the final of the 1987 Cricket World Cup against Australia.[180]
The inaugural West Indian-born footballer to play football at a high level in Britain was Andrew Watson, who played for Queen's Park (Glasgow) and went on to play for Scotland. Born in May 1857 in British Guiana, Watson lived and worked in Scotland and came to be known as one of the best players of his generation. He played in 36 games for Queen's Park and also appeared for the London Swifts in the English FA Cup championship of 1882, making him the first Black player in English Cup history. Watson earned two Scottish Cup medals and four Charity Cup medals during his career; Who's Who also acknowledged his performances in international matches. Watson's place in football history included a spell in management as Club Secretary for Queen's Park – making Watson the first Afro-Caribbean man to reach the boardroom.[182]
Other early Caribbean footballers included Walter Tull, of Barbadian descent, who played for the north London club Tottenham Hotspur in the early 20th century.[183] Some years later, Jamaican-born Lloyd "Lindy" Delapenha made an impact playing for Middlesbrough between 1950 and 1957, becoming a leading goal scorer and the first Black player to win a championship medal.[184] However, it was not until the 1970s that African-Caribbean players began to make a major impact on the game. Clyde Best (West Ham United 1969–1976), born in Bermuda,[185] paved the way for players such as Cyrille Regis (born in French Guiana),[186] and Luther Blissett (born in Jamaica).[187] Blissett and Regis joined Viv Anderson to form the first wave of Black footballers to play for the England national team. Although the number of players of African-Caribbean origin in the English league was increasing far beyond proportions in wider society, when Black players represented the England national team, they still had to endure racial attacks at home and abroad. When selected to play for England, Regis received a bullet through the mail with the threat: "You'll get one of these through your knees if you step on our Wembley turf."[186]
By the 1980s the British African-Caribbean community was well represented at all playing levels of the game. John Barnes, born in Jamaica, was one of the most talented players of his generation and one of the few footballers to win every honour in the domestic English game including the PFA Players' Player of the Year.[188] Although Barnes played for England on 78 occasions between 1983 and 1991, his performances rarely matched his club standard.[189] Subsequently, Barnes identified a culture of racism in football during his era as a player.[188] Players of African-Caribbean origin continued to excel in English football, in the 1990s Paul Ince – whose parents were from Trinidad – went on to captain Manchester United, Liverpool and the England national team. The contribution was reciprocated when a number of British born footballers including Robbie Earle, Frank Sinclair and Darryl Powell represented the Jamaica national football team in the 1998 World Cup finals.
At the turn of the millennium, British-born Black footballers constituted about 13% of the English league,[190] and a number of groups including "Kick It Out" were highlighting issues of racism still in the game.[191] In the 2006 World Cup finals, Theo Walcott, a striker of English and Jamaican parents,[192] became the youngest ever player to join an England World Cup squad – a side that included African-Caribbean players in every department, goal-keeping, defence, midfield and attack. The England football squad for the 2006 world cup also contained Ashley Cole (Barbadian father),[193] Rio Ferdinand (father from St. Lucia)[194] Sol Campbell (Jamaican parents)[165] alongside goalkeeper David James, Jermaine Jenas and Aaron Lennon, all with ancestors from the Caribbean. Tyrone Mings, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker are some of the British African-Caribbeans who represented England in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents immigrated from Grenada, won the 2008 Formula One World Championship, in only his second season in the sport; and, after narrowly finishing second in his debut season. He won the Drivers' Championship again in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 becoming the most successful British driver in the history of Formula One. Hamilton is of Afro-Grenadian and English descent.[195]
Clive Sullivan, who had both Jamaican and Antiguan heritage, captained the Great Britain team which won the 1972 Rugby League World Cup. Sullivan was the first black captain for a Great Britain team, in any sport.[196] Part of the 2003 Rugby World Cup victory, Jason Robinson was the first African-Caribbean to captain the England rugby union side. He is of Afro-Jamaican and Scottish descent,[197] and his biological son Lewis Tierney has the same background with also English ancestry.[198] Ellery Hanley, who has Jamaican heritage, became the first man to captain his side to three consecutive Challenge Cup victories.[199] Hanley is the only player to win the coveted Man of Steel award on three occasions and is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history.[200][201][202]
Jimmy Peters, who was of partial Jamaican descent, was the first black man to play rugby union for England.[203] Another England international rugby union player, Danny Cipriani is of Afro-Trinidadian, Italian and English ancestry.[23] Jeremy Guscott, who is of Afro-Jamaican and English descent, played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. Other professional players of Afro-Jamaican heritage include Ashton Golding, Michael Lawrence, Umyla Hanley, Anthony Sullivan, Des Drummond and Ben Jones-Bishop.[197]
African-Caribbean communities organise and participate in Caribbean Carnivals (Caribbean-style carnivals) throughout the UK. The best known of these is the annual Notting Hill Carnival, attracting up to 1.5 million people from Britain and around the world, making it the largest street festival in Europe. The carnival began in 1964 as a small procession of Trinidadians in memory of festivals in their home country, and today is regarded as a significant event in British culture.[204] In 2006 the carnival was voted onto the list of icons of England.[205]
Luton Carnival, which has taken place since 1976,[206] is the largest one day carnival in the U.K. (it is second only to Notting Hill carnival, which takes place over two days). Leeds West Indian Carnival is Europe's oldest West Indian carnival and now attracts around 130,000 people.[207][208][209] Other carnivals include the Leicester Caribbean Carnival and the Birmingham International Carnival.
In 2018, following campaigns and a petition started by Patrick Vernon for 22 June to be recognized as a national day to commemorate and celebrate migration and migrant communities in Britain,[210][211][212] and at the height of the Windrush scandal, it was announced by the British government that an annual Windrush Day would be held, supported by a grant of up to £500,000, to recognise and honour the contribution of those who arrived between 1948 and 1971 and to "keep their legacy alive for future generations, ensuring that we all celebrate the diversity of Britain's history."[213]
The Windrush Festival in London was created in 2018 as a way for home-grown Black businesses and Caribbean-British born Windrush Generation performers to have a platform to celebrate their culture and presence in Britain. The main event Radiate Windrush Festival[214] is always held on the last weekend of June to follow on from National Windrush Day, other festivals across the country are held generally in the month of June or July.
The earliest Caribbean immigrants to post-war Britain found differences in diet and availability of food an uncomfortable challenge.[215] and many people longed for a "taste of home".[216] In later years, as the community developed and food imports became more accessible to all, grocers specialising in Caribbean produce opened in British high streets. Caribbean restaurants can now also be found in most areas of Britain where West Indian communities reside, serving traditional Caribbean dishes[217] such as curried goat, fried dumplings, ackee and salt fish (the national dish of Jamaica), Pelau (the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago), Cou-Cou and Flying Fish (the national dish of Barbados), Pudding and Souse, as well as Fish Cakes from Barbados, the spices known as "jerk", and the traditional Sunday West Indian meal of rice and peas.[218]
The best-known Caribbean food brands in the UK are Jamaican Sun, Tropical Sun, Dunn's River and Grace. In March 2007, Grace foods bought ENCO Products, owners of the Dunn's River Brand, as well as Nurishment, and the Encona Sauce Range. Tropical Sun products have been widely available in the UK for more than two decades and there is a sister brand, Jamaica Sun, with products sourced exclusively from Jamaica. The most popular brands can now often be found in the large supermarkets; although the full range continues to be offered only by the local ethnic stores, the interest by the mainstream supermarkets reflects the wider population's interest in ethnic and more lately Afro-Caribbean foods.[219] Caribbean food topped a (2015) list of the types of cuisine British diners would like to see more of on menus.[220][221]
According to a report by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), the number of Caribbean restaurants in the UK tripled in the 12 months leading up to August 2019.[222]
In many parts of Britain, African-Caribbean people have been recognised as being part of a distinct community.[63] In the 1950s and 1960s, community centres and associations sprung up in some British towns and cities with an aim to serve African-Caribbean populations. One such example was the African Caribbean Self Help Organisation (ACSHO), founded in 1994 in the district of Handsworth in Birmingham.[223] Responsibilities included arranging social events, such as festivals, carnivals and coach trips, which helped bring the communities together.[224] Large centres presently operating include the Leeds West Indian centre[225] and the Manchester West Indian centre.[226] Typical of present-day centres is the Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre in Birmingham, which was established with National Lottery funding to support principally Caribbean people in areas such as employment, housing, education, immigration, and cultural issues.[227]
The influx of African-Caribbean people to the United Kingdom was accompanied by religious practices more common to the North American continent. In Britain, many African-Caribbean people continued to practise Non-conformist Protestant denominations with an Evangelical influence such as Pentecostalism and Seventh Day Baptism. African-Caribbean people have supported new churches in many areas of the country, which have grown to act as social centres for the community. Mike Phillips, writing for the UK national archive project, described the influences of the new churches thus; "[they] gave the entire Caribbean community a sense of stability. At a time when migrants were under severe psychological pressure and distrusted the official services, or were misunderstood when they went to them, the Black church groups offered invaluable advice and comfort."[228] In 2005, The Economist magazine discussed the growth of evangelical churches in London and Birmingham; "Another reason is that Britain's most prominent Afro-Caribbean institutions – the Black evangelical churches – are dominated by the urban poor. That has to do with the way the Caribbean was missionised: the hotter brand of Christianity gained most converts among the dispossessed, who then re-exported it to Britain."[229] The manner of worship in some of these churches is more akin to that of African-American practices than to traditional English Catholic or Anglican liturgy. Gospel music also came to play a part in British cultural life. African-Caribbean people played a central role establishing British gospel choirs, most notably the London Community Gospel Choir.
Some British African-Caribbean people continue to practise other religious beliefs such as Rastafari, which developed in Jamaica. The Rastafarian belief system, associated personal symbols such as dreadlocks and cultural practices concerning cannabis have influenced British society far beyond the African-Caribbean community, being adopted by both white British and others.[230]
English is the official language of the former British West Indies, therefore African-Caribbean immigrants had few communication difficulties upon arrival in the UK compared to immigrants from other regions.[63] As integration continued, African-West Indians born in Britain instinctively adopted hybrid dialects combining Caribbean and local British dialects.[231] These dialects and accents gradually entered mainstream British vernacular, and shades of Caribbean dialects can be heard among Britons regardless of cultural origin. A Lancaster University study[citation needed] has identified an emergence in certain areas of Britain of a distinctive accent which borrows heavily from Jamaican creole.
Jamaican poet James Berry was one of the first Caribbean writers to come to Britain after the 1948 British Nationality Act. He was followed by writers including Barbadians George Lamming and Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Trinidadians Samuel Selvon and C. L. R. James, Jamaican Andrew Salkey and the Guyanese writer Wilson Harris. These writers viewed London as the centre of the English literary scene, and took advantage of the BBC Radio show Caribbean Voices to gain attention and be published. By relocating to Britain, these writers also gave Caribbean literature an international readership for the first time and established Caribbean writing as an important perspective within English literature.[233]
Some Caribbean writers also began writing about the hardships faced by settlers in post-war Britain. Lamming addressed these issues in his 1954 novel The Emigrants, which traced the journey of migrants from Barbados as they struggled to integrate into British life.[233] Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners (1956) details the life of West Indians in post-World War II London. Writing much later, Ferdinand Dennis both in his journalism and novels, such as The Sleepless Summer (1989) and The Last Blues Dance (1996), deals with "an older generation of Caribbean immigrants, whose narratives, stoical and unpolemical, rarely find expression".[234]
By the mid-1980s, a more radical wave of writers and poets were addressing the African-Caribbean experience in Britain, promoted by a group of new mainly black-led publishing houses such as Akira, Karia Press (founded by Buzz Johnson), Dangaroo Press, and Karnak House (founded by Amon Saba Saakana), alongside the older established New Beacon Books (founded in 1966 by John La Rose), Allison & Busby (founded in 1967 by Margaret Busby) and Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications (founded in 1969 by Jessica Huntley), and the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books (1982–95).[233][235]
In 1984, the poet Fred D'Aguiar (born in London to Guyanese parents) won the T. S. Eliot Prize, and in 1994 won the Whitbread First Novel Award for The Longest Memory. Linton Kwesi Johnson's rhyming and socio-political commentary over dub beats – including such favourites as "Dread Beat An' Blood" and "Inglan Is A Bitch" – made him the unofficial poet laureate of the British African-Caribbean community.[236] Another dub poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, born in Birmingham to Jamaican parents, overcame a spell in prison to become a well-known writer and public figure.[237] In 2003 he declined an OBE, stating that it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised".[238]
African-Caribbean British writers have achieved recent literary acclaim. In 2004, Andrea Levy's novel Small Island won the Whitbread Book of the Year and the Orange Prize for Fiction, one of Britain's highest literary honours. The book also earned her the 2005 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Levy, born in London to Jamaican parents, is the author of four novels, each exploring the problems faced by Black British-born children of Jamaican emigrants.[239] In 2005, Dreda Say Mitchell became the first black British writer to be awarded the Crime Writers Association's John Creasey Dagger for her debut book Running Hot. The book drew upon Mitchell's experiences of working with prisoners and is a chase thriller about a young man trying to break the cycle of going to prison.[240] Mitchell is of Grenadian extraction. In 2006 Zadie Smith won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Best Book Award (Eurasia Section) and the Orange Prize for On Beauty. Smith's acclaimed first novel, White Teeth (2000), was a portrait of contemporary multicultural London, drawing from her own upbringing with an English father and a Jamaican mother.[241] White Teeth was an international best seller and won multiple accolades, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, the Whitbread Book Award in category best first novel, the Guardian First Book Award and the Betty Trask Award. Time magazine included the novel in its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.[242]
The UK also has a modest output of African-Caribbean popular fiction. A widely known example is Yardie, a work of Urban fiction written by Victor Headley in 1992, describing the life of a Jamaican courier carrying cocaine from Jamaica to London. The book was published by Steve Pope and Dotun Adebayo of Xpress books.[243] Spare Room was Dedra Say Mitchell's first psychological thriller. Published in 2019, the book became a critically acclaimed international best seller.[244][245] At the 2020 British Book Awards, Candice Carty-Williams became the first black woman to win the "Book of the Year" accolade, for her novel Queenie.[246] The novel, which describes the life and loves of Queenie Jenkins, a vibrant, young British-Jamaican, received positive reviews and was marketed as "a black Bridget Jones".[247] Queenie entered the Sunday Times Bestseller hardback chart at number two and went on to win numerous accolades.[248]
The Voice newspaper was the primary African-Caribbean newspaper in Britain, and was founded in the early 1980s by Val McCalla. However, today it is owned by a Jamaican publisher and has a Caribbean focus. Pride magazine, which has been going for 21 years, is the largest lifestyle magazine for the community and was described by The Guardian newspaper as the dominant lifestyle magazine for the black community in the UK for more than 15 years. Its owner Pride Media also specialises in helping organisations target the community through a range of media. Other publications have included the Gleaner, Black Voice, New Editor and The Caribbean Times. The growth of such media is a response to the perceived imbalances of "mainstream" media. In 2006, Sir Ian Blair, Chief Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, joined a long list of commentators in branding the mainstream media as "institutionally racist" for its alleged failure to offer a proper balance in reporting affairs related to the community.[249]
Trinidad-born Sir Trevor McDonald is one of the community's best-known journalists, having been the main presenter (newscaster) for the national ITV network for more than 20 years.[250] Other notable media figures include Gary Younge, The Guardian columnist, Clive Myrie, Gillian Joseph, Charlene White, Darren Jordon and Moira Stuart, the veteran BBC news presenter.[251] Trinidadian-born Darcus Howe wrote regularly in the New Statesman and fronted a number of documentary series, including the Channel 4 current affairs programme Devil's Advocate. Much of Howe's work related to the experiences of British African-Caribbean people and racism faced by the Black community.[252] Other notable producer/directors are Terry Jervis (Jervis Media) and Pogus Caesar (Windrush Productions); both have made multicultural, entertainment and sports programmes for Carlton TV, BBC TV and Channel 4.[253]
The community has a strong tradition of "underground" pirate radio broadcasters. Among the most established are London's Lightning Radio, Genesis Radio and Galaxy Radio, which play a mix of ragga, reggae, bashment, hip hop and R&B. Pirate radio stations such as Supreme Radio, Galaxy Radio (which calls itself "the only de-brainwashing station"), Genesis Radio (known as "the people's station" or "the black power station") and the more recently emerged radio station Omega FM Radio are particularly highly regarded in the Afro Caribbean community for not only playing a variety of music such as soca, soul, dancehall, jazz, hip hop, Reveail and Funky House, but also for dedicating time to have "talk shows" and "information shows" often taking an uncompromising stance in view. Thus giving the community the opportunity to phone in and participate in an array of subjects that mainstream radio, wider media and even other pirate radio stations refuse to address.
In 2002, the BBC established its digital broadcasting strand, BBC Radio 1Xtra, to focus on new Black music – which in effect means catering to the tastes of the country's African-Caribbean youth.[254] The Internet has afforded the community the opportunity to publish en-masse, and there are now thousands of websites and blogs produced by or for African-Caribbean people in the UK such as the BBC's Family History page,[255] and The African-Caribbean Network, Blacknet UK, launched in 1996.[256]
Award-winning Myrna Loy, a female poet and published writer who has recited poetry alongside Linton Kwesi Johnson is a poet in her own right. Her poetry radiates passion for political situations, rages against hypocrisy and abuse and balances it with appreciation and gratitude. She came second in the Bridport Prize, which is one of the UK's notable and prestigious poetry competitions; and came second for her poem "The Last Poem", performed at the Castillo Centre in Manhattan. Loy is three-times published, her book The Other Side of Tourism shares her conflict between her British and Jamaican roots, and her two poetry books Poetry's Teacher and Poetry's Promise share her person and professional life experiences. As a Black Briton, she says: "British culture teaches us to conform, to hide our light under a bushel, to not sing our praises, so as a result I reveal "my light" through my poetry, paintings and my quarterly magazine called Blackbright News, which celebrates the wonderful works Black People (not only in Britain) have done. I may eventually be relegated to the area where tyrants and revolutions belong, but in the meantime, I intend to shout from the roof-tops what I feel and why I feel it!" Myrna (aka Lady Loy) is a radio presenter on Jamrock Radio, and uses this arena to promote black music and black talent.
The period of large-scale immigration brought many new musical styles to the United Kingdom. These styles gained popularity amongst Britons of all cultural origins, and aided Caribbean music in gaining international recognition. The earliest of these exponents was the calypso artist Lord Kitchener, who arrived in Britain on the Windrush in 1948 accompanied by fellow musician Lord Beginner.[257] Already a star in his native Trinidad, Lord Kitchener got an immediate booking at the only West Indian club in London. Six months later, he was appearing in three clubs nightly, and his popularity extended beyond the West Indian and African nightclub audiences, to include music hall and variety show audiences.[257] Kitchener's recording "London is the place for me" exemplified the experience of the Windrush generation.[258] Other calypso musicians began to collaborate with African Kwela musicians and British jazz players in London clubs.[258]
Jamaican music styles reached Britain in the 1960s, becoming the staple music for young British African-Caribbean people. Tours by ska artists such as Prince Buster and the Skatalites fed the growing British-Caribbean music scene, and the success of Jamaican artists Millie Small, Desmond Dekker and Bob and Marcia propelled Caribbean music and people into mainstream cultural life. British African-Caribbean people followed the changing styles of Jamaican music and began to produce homegrown music appealing to both Black and White communities. In 1968, The Cats released a cover of Swan Lake, which became the first Top 50 by a British reggae group and the following year, the British African-Caribbean ska band Symarip recorded "Skinhead Moonstomp" – a cover of the Derrick Morgan song Moon Hop – which had a huge effect on the British ska scene. The ska sound and rude boy imagery inspired a generation of White working-class youths (especially mods and skinheads), and later helped spawn Britain's multi-cultural 2 Tone movement in the late-1970s.[259]
As Jamaican ska gave way to the slower styles of rocksteady and the more politicised reggae, British African-Caribbean people followed suit. Sound systems to rival those in Jamaica sprung up throughout communities, and "Blues parties" – parties in private houses, where one paid at the door – became an institution. The arrival of Bob Marley to London in 1971 helped spawn a Black British music industry based on reggae. His association with the Rastafarian movement influenced waves of young people, reared in Britain, to discover their Caribbean roots. British Barbadian Dennis Bovell became Britain's prominent reggae band leader and producer, working with many international reggae stars, and introducing a reggae flavour to the British pop charts with non-reggae acts such as: Dexys Midnight Runners and Bananarama. Bovell also worked extensively with London-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson.[261]
British music with reggae roots prospered in the 1980s and early-1990s. British African-Caribbean artists Musical Youth, Aswad, Maxi Priest and Eddy Grant had major commercial successes, and the multicultural band UB40 helped promote reggae to an international audience. Birmingham-based Steel Pulse became one of the world's foremost exponents of roots reggae and accompanying black consciousness, their 1978 debut album Handsworth Revolution becoming a seminal release.[262]
British African-Caribbean music had been generally synonymous with Caribbean styles until the 1990s, although some artists had been drawing on British and American musical forms for several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, British African-Caribbean artists such as Hot Chocolate and Imagination became leaders of the British disco, soul and R&B scenes.[263] By the mid-1980s, British African-Caribbean people were also incorporating American hip-hop and House styles, becoming leading figures in Britain's developing dance music culture. This led to an explosion of musical forms. British artists created musical hybrids combining many elements including European techno, Jamaican dancehall, dub, breakbeats and contemporary American R&B. These unique blends began to gain international acclaim through the success of Soul II Soul[264] and the multi-racial Massive Attack.[265]
British African-Caribbean people were at the leading edge of the jungle and drum and bass movements of the 1990s. Although the fast-tempo drums and loud intricate bass lines sounded fresh, Caribbean roots could still be detected.[266] Two successful exponents of these styles were DJs Goldie and Roni Size, both of Jamaican heritage.[260][267] Later, British African-Caribbean musicians and DJs were at the forefront of the UK garage and Grime scenes.[268]
Historically, community centres have sought to address issues that arise within the community, including problems of police harassment and concerns about the housing of African Caribbeans, which was viewed as discriminatory during the early decades of mass immigration. One such community centre was the Gloucestershire West Indian Association, which was formed in 1962. The formation of this group was in response to a number of issues that arose within the community at this time. These included problems around police harassment and concerns about the housing of Black people on certain council estates in the city, which was viewed as discrimination and segregation.[269] The centres also allowed African-Caribbean peoples to socialise without risking the potential racial discrimination and aggression of "unfriendly pubs".[224] Many of these associations appointed a Community Relations Officer, whose role was to liaise between the community and wider British society, including the establishment.
Although the community does not face any official or informal restrictions on political participation, Britons of Caribbean origin are under-represented in local and national politics.[63] British African-West Indians have long asserted that they encounter discriminatory barriers to most middle- and higher-status occupations, as well as discrimination in hiring practices at all levels of employment. There is also considerable evidence that African-Caribbean people experience differential treatment at the hands of public officials, the British courts and penal system, and the police.[63] Studies have proposed that the isolation of certain regional urban areas by financial institutions such as insurance brokers disproportionately affects the community to its detriment.[63]
Britain's school system, despite efforts to address issues of discrimination,[270] has often been accused of being racially biased to a perceived lack of representation of Black history and culture in the cirricula.[271] Grenadian author Bernard Coard published How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System in May 1971. For example, the distinct Caribbean dialects, creoles and patois (patwah) spoken by many African-Caribbean immigrants and their descendants, have been problematic in the field of education. In a study by language and education specialist professor Viv Edwards, The West Indian language issue in British schools, language – the Creole spoken by the students – was singled out as an important factor disadvantaging Caribbean children in British schools. The study cited negative attitudes of teachers towards any non-standard variety, noting that:
The teacher who does not or is not prepared to recognise the problems of the Creole-speaking child in a British English situation can only conclude that he is stupid when he gives either an inappropriate response or no response at all. The stereotyping process leads features of Creole to be stigmatised and to develop connotations of, amongst other things, low academic ability.[272]
Although there are hundreds of African-Caribbean teachers in the UK, it has been suggested that their under-representation in inner-city schools is a major factor in the failure, particularly of secondary-level schools, to achieve a satisfactory average of achievement for the community's children (see Bernard Coard and the Swann Report of 1985).[273]
In 2004, Greater London Authority Economics produced a report to examine the economic contribution black businesses made to London's economy. The report found that black businesses made up 4% of all London's businesses, provided more than 70,000 jobs and had a total turnover of almost £4.5 billion. Of this total, 42% of the businesses were owned by Black Caribbeans or those of partial Black Caribbean origin.[274]
Businesses owned by Africans and Caribbeans generate more than £10bn for the UK each year, according to the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME).[275]
Notable high profile Black Caribbean business successes include Levi Roots, whose Reggae Reggae sauce and Levi Roots brand has grown into a multi-million pound enterprise.[276] Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones' The Black Farmer range of food products has annual revenues of more than £7m.[277] Pat McGrath Labs has an estimated value of $1 billion.[278]
They believe enslaved Nigerians were transported from the British Caribbean to other areas, "presumably to maintain the slave economy as transatlantic slave-trading was increasingly prohibited" ... Researchers said a strong bias towards African female contributions in the gene pool – even though the majority of slaves were male – could be attributed to "the rape of enslaved African women by slave owners and other sexual exploitation".
Around a quarter of Afro-Caribbean British men are directly descended from white Europeans, according to a new study ... The study also found that around 13 per cent of the DNA inherited by Afro-Caribbean men and women did not originate from Africa ... Most of Britain's black community are descended from the millions of Africans who worked as slaves on the Caribbean sugar plantations. The DNA tests were carried out on 229 British volunteers with four Afro-Caribbean grandparents
They were from a group of British people who held what became CUKC (citizens of the UK and Colonies) citizenship, and their children, who came to the UK between 1948 and 1973, mostly from Caribbean countries ... Chartered Institute of Housing: "the Windrush Britons often had compelling anecdotal and other evidence demonstrating their lengthy residence in the UK".
White: White Caribbean; Mixed/multiple ethnic group: Caribbean Asian; Mixed/multiple ethnic group: White Caribbean
White: White Caribbean; 569
My father, Claude, who was from British Guiana ... Britain wasn't as welcoming as it should have been for him with his dark skin and hair, West Indian accent and gold tooth.
Moffat said the show had tried to go one further by casting the first non-white Doctor, but the choice later fell through.
Jade was mixed-race herself (her late father had been half-Jamaican)
It's also an easier story to focus on than our own complicity in her prolonged abuse and belittlement, our somewhat baffling "people's princess" reaction to her demise (the BBC defended itself in 2009 against accusations that its coverage of Goody's final weeks was "excessive"), or our eagerness to forgive a wealthy white woman for hurling racist abuse against a woman of colour.
He can now be seen playing mobster Anthony Provenzano in Martin Scorsese's film The Irishman. The director had previously cast him in Gangs of New York and as Al Capone in HBO's Boardwalk Empire. ... One of Graham's grandfathers was Jamaican, and he told Laverne that at times in his youth he didn't know where he "belonged". "There were times there growing up when I was slightly unsure where I fitted in," he said, referencing his white and black cousins.
Last night the narrative came full circle. A young black man, Milky (Andrew Shim), got revenge on Combo (Stephen Graham), the white racist who had beaten him to a pulp in the original film.
He knows that part of what people react to is what they think they see: a shaven-headed young white guy, "EDL, Brexit". In fact, Slowthai's mum is half-Bajan, and he grew up knowing his background was mixed. "It's not that being called white bothers me," he says. "It's like: 'You don't know me. You don't know my family's struggles, when my great nan came here in the Windrush generation, or my family being from the Caribbean.'
His father, Jay, separated from Anne soon after his birth and returned to Trinidad and Tobago. While he has remained in contact with his dad, and is amused to point out that he and his mother are the only white members of an extended Caribbean family, Cipriani insists...
We selected 416 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to estimate and compare admixture proportions using STRUCTURE in 906 unrelated African Americans (AAs) and 294 Barbadians (ACs) from a study of asthma. This analysis showed AAs on average were 72.5% African, 19.6% European and 8% Asian, while ACs were 77.4% African, 15.9% European, and 6.7% Asian which were significantly different.
According to IMDB, Frank Dillane is biracial (his father is white and his mother is of Afro-Jamaican heritage). The character Nick is apparently white ... the Nick role was originally cast with white actor Robert Sheehan before Dillane took over ... For an example, see "Why We Should Talk About Nick Being White,"
Tina Barrett: "I am half South American, my mum's South American"
Robinson's mother is Scottish and his biological father William Thorpe, a Jamaican living in Leeds, abandoned him before he was born. ... "I played for England throughout my career but I'm actually half-Jamaican and half-Scottish," says the 45-year-old ... Jamaica can call on several Super League players with Jamaican heritage such as Ben Jones-Bishop, Ashton Golding and Michael Lawrence.
Soul II Soul, by the end of the 80s, created and released their own music which [...] topped the charts around the globe.