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Mixed White and Black African people in the United Kingdom

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Mixed White and Black African people in the United Kingdom are a multi-ethnic and biracial group of UK-residents who identify with, or are perceived to have, both White and Black African ancestry.[3][4][5]

Mixed White and Black African people in the United Kingdom
Total population
 England and  Wales:
249,596 – 0.42% (2021)[1]
 Scotland and Northern Ireland:
Figures unavailable
Regions with significant populations
Languages
British English · Multicultural London English · African languages
Afrikaans · French · Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly Christianity (49.2%);
minority follows Islam (9.2%), other faiths (1.1%)[a] or are irreligious (33.1%)
2021 census, England and Wales only[2]

They constitute a growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 165,974 (0.3% of the population) persons identifying as 'Mixed White and Black African' in the 2011 United Kingdom census. This represented a national demographic increase of 54% from the 107,700 persons (0.2% of the population) in 2001.

In the United Kingdom censuses, 'Mixed White and Black African' is one of four subcategories of self-reported mixed ethnicity. The others are 'Mixed White and Black Caribbean', 'Mixed White and Asian', and 'Other Mixed'. Outside of the census, academics have studied the grouping, and resources regarding self-identity have explored emerging versions of mixed, white, black, and African identities in the United Kingdom.

Terminology

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Mixed White and Black African people are referenced and categorised across a multitude of areas of media, journalism and academia, as well as in relation to perceptions of personhood and self-identity. At times informally, they have been referred to as Mixed or Mixed-race White and Black African persons, people, and other variants,[3][4] in the study and reporting of the group in the United Kingdom.[5][6][7]

Within government-derived naming conventions, such as within the corresponding Office for National Statistics 'ethnic group' census category ('Mixed White and Black African'); the grouping is also widely referenced in relation to demographics of the country. This census category has been utilised by government, policing, the NHS, as well as non-governmental agencies, including charities, universities and other organisations.

Census

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The option for the 'Mixed White and Black African' ethnic group was first introduced in the 2001 United Kingdom census. The category was listed alongside, and distinct from, various 'Mixed' subcategories, including 'Mixed White and Asian', 'Mixed White and Black Caribbean', and 'Mixed Other'.

Other organisations and government

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Kirklees Council uses the abbreviated 'Ethnicity Code' of MWBA for Mixed White and Black African persons.[8] The Equality and Human Rights Commission use it to study ethnic groups in the United Kingdoms.[9] In the country's education system, UCAS and HESA collect statistics on the grouping, providing analysis to improve participation in higher education for person who identify with both white and black African ancestry.[10] NHS in Central Bedfordshire defines members of the group as an ethnic minority.[11] The Welsh Government has used the category to analyse different ethnic minority groups and population compositions in the UK.[12]

Use in academia

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Ethnicity expert Peter J. Aspinall has made use of the category to evaluate changing perceptions of self-identity within the grouping between UK censuses.[13] Professor of infectious disease epidemiology Ibrahim Abubakar has co-authored research in relation to COVID-19 which uses the grouping to analysis health outcomes of people with white and black African heritage within Britain.[14]

Demographics

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White and Black African population by region and country
Region / Country Population Per cent of region
England 241,528 0.43%
Greater London 77,341 0.88%
South East 38,633 0.42%
North West 30,011 0.40%
East of England 27,376 0.43%
West Midlands 16,011 0.27%
Yorkshire and The Humber 15,644 0.29%
South West 15,644 0.27%
East Midlands 14,341 0.29%
North East 6,527 0.25%
Wales 8,068 0.26%
Figures based on the 2021 United Kingdom Census[15]
Figures unavailable for Scotland and Northern Ireland[b]
 
Mixed White and Black African population pyramid in 2021

Population and distribution

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The population of persons of Mixed White and Black African ancestry rose from 107,700 to 165,974 between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. This represented a national demographic rise from 0.2% to 0.3% for the whole UK population.

In England, the share of the population of persons identifying as Mixed White and Black African declined from 0.4% to 0.3%.[16] With regards census-based identity, according to research by academic Peter J. Aspinall, 56.8 percent of those identifying with the category, chose the same ethnic group in the following UK census.[13][17]

Religion

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Religion England and Wales
2011[18] 2021[19]
Number % Number %
  Christianity 94,405 56.88% 122,830 49.21%
No religion 39,204 23.62% 82,522 33.06%
  Islam 15,681 9.45% 23,078 9.25%
  Judaism 432 0.26% 447 0.18%
  Buddhism 464 0.28% 552 0.22%
  Hinduism 339 0.20% 208 0.08%
  Sikhism 105 0.06% 51 0.02%
Other religions 708 0.43% 1,477 0.59%
Not Stated 14,636 8.82% 18,441 7.39%
Total 165,974 100% 249,596 100%

Culture and society

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Education

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In 2016 data, Mixed White and Black African pupils had a 20% eligibility rate for free school meals. Of those eligible, 43% achieved 5 or more A* to C grade GCSEs, while those uneligible had a 60% rate, representing an 18% achievement gap. Chinese Britons had the smallest gap at 3% and White British had the highest at 33%.[3] In contrast with other mixed groupings in the local authority, Mixed White and Black African pupils performed near to the group's national average in Lambeth.[4]

People who identify with mixed white and black African ancestry are eligible for Newcastle University's Partner Programme.[20] The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, along with the Higher Education Statistics Agency, has attempted to identify underrepresentation within the grouping, and encourage higher education participation.[10]

Health

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In 2020 research on COVID-19-related deaths on different ethnic groups in the UK, data for standardised mortality ratios and confidence intervals showed that, while White British persons were at lower risk than the national average, and Black African persons were at higher risk; persons identifying as Mixed White and Black African demonstrated neither increased or reduced risk of mortality.[14] A 2010 study also found the group demonstrating a median data position between the same two other census categories. They were found to be less likely to consume alcohol than White British persons, and more likely than Black African persons.[6]

Representations

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Many public figures from various fields and professions in the United Kingdom have spoken about their experiences as mixed race persons who possess what they, or various media, have defined as white and black African ancestry. Raised in Wales by an English mother and Nigerian father, singer Shirley Bassey's upbringing as a "mixed-race child brought up by a white mother" has been described as "highly unusual" for 1930s Britain.[21] Also a singer, Emeli Sandé has referred to "the Talk" as a conversation that parents are faced with when black and mixed-race children first experience racism. Sandé, who has a white mother and black Zimbabwean father, was responding to the George Floyd protests in 2020.[22] Fellow singer Raye, who has English, Swiss and Ghanaian heritage, believes that being mixed race has contributed to her ability to span music genres.[23]

Actress Ashley Madekwe has stated "I'm mixed race, and I'm very proud of that fact." Madwekwe suggested that "I don't look white. I can't really play white" characters.[24] Also relating to casting in the film industry, Carmen Ejogo, who has Scottish and Nigerian ancestry, has proposed that her mixed-race heritage made her susceptible to a form of exoticism-based typecasting.[25] With English, German Jewish, and Ghanaian ancestry, journalist Afua Hirsch concurs that the perceived exoticism of mixed race people has been exploited in media and advertising:[26]

And where as a child I longed for the normality of seeing a physical resemblance in others, now images of mixed-race people are everywhere. The trademark look; curly hair, brown skin, features that are a touch exotic but not so different as to be threatening to the mainstream, is used to sell sofas, house insurance, gym memberships and mobile phones. It's as if we have become the new, acceptable face of blackness.

Politicians Chuka Umunna and Helen Grant self-identify as mixed race; both being of English and Nigerian extraction.[27] Actress Tupele Dorgu believes that her black Nigerian father and white English mother's marriage was judged in a discriminatory manner by members of her community growing up in Manchester, England.[28]

Notable contributions

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Arts and entertainment

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Notable actors and actresses who are from or based in the UK have been described as being mixed race, and either referenced in media with or identify themselves as having both white and black African ancestry. Thandie Newton has English and Zimbabwean ancestry.[29] Nimmy March,[30] and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are of South African and English ancestry.[31] Sophie Okonedo has maternal Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish heritage, and paternal Nigerian ancestry.[32]

Actors O. T. Fagbenle,[33] and Luti Fagbenle,[33] and actresses Ashley Madekwe,[24] Fola Evans-Akingbola,[34] Nina Sosanya,[35] and Tupele Dorgu are of English and Nigerian heritage.[28] Carmen Ejogo has Scottish and Nigerian ancestry,[25] while Richard Ayoade,[36] and Hannah John-Kamen are of Norwegian and Nigerian descent.[37] Kananu Kirimi has Scottish and Kenyan ancestry,[38] and Adjoa Andoh is of English and Ghanaian descent.[39]

Broadcasting and journalism

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Afua Hirsch is of English, German Jewish, and Ghanaian descent.[40]

Music

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Many notable musicians and singers based in or originating from the United Kingdom have been identified as having both white and black African ancestry. Sade[41] and Shirley Bassey are of English and Nigerian extraction.[21] Emeli Sandé has English and Zimbabwean ancestry.[42] [22] Raye is of English, Swiss and Ghanaian descent,[23] and MC Harvey has English and Sierra Leonean heritage.[43]

Politics

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Several notable politicians, including current and former members of Parliament, have self-identified, or otherwise have been described as being of mixed heritage, with both white and black African ancestry. Helen Grant has English and Nigerian ancestry,[44] whereas Chuka Umunna is of English, Irish and Nigerian descent.[27] Adam Afriyie is of English and Ghanaian,[45] and Paul Boateng of Scottish and Ghanaian extraction.[46] Linda Bellos has Polish Jewish and Nigerian,[47] Vaughan Gething is of Welsh and Zambian,[48] and Mark Hendrick has English and Somali heritage.[49]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Including Buddhism (0.2%), Judaism (0.2%), Hinduism (0.1%), Sikhism (0.02%) and others
  2. ^ The censuses for Scotland and Northern Ireland only provide data for a 'Mixed' category. No breakdown of the mixed ethnicities is provided.

References

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  1. ^ "Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ "RM031 Ethnic group by religion". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Kirstin Lewis; Feyisa Demie. "The School Experiences of Mixed Race White and Black Caribbean children in England" (PDF). Goldsmiths, University of London. pp. 4–8. As a white mother of a mixed white and black African child the lead researcher's capacity for empathy was useful in building rapport with participants
  4. ^ a b c Feyisa Demie; Andrew Hai. "Mixed Race Pupils' Educational Achievement in England" (PDF). Lambeth London Borough Council. p. 4. The attainment of Mixed White and Black African pupils was similar to the national average. In contrast, Mixed Other and in particular Mixed White and Asian pupils were consistently achieving above the national average.
  5. ^ a b Ravinder Barn; Vicki Harman (2006). "A Contested Identity: An Exploration of the Competing Social and Political Discourse Concerning the Identification and Positioning of Young People of Inter-Racial Parentage". The British Journal of Social Work. Vol. 36. Oxford University Press. Mixed white and black African people accounted for 78,911 people (11.9 per cent of the mixed population).
  6. ^ a b Rachel Hurcombe; Mariana Bayley; Anthony Goodman (2010). "Ethnicity and Alcohol: A review of the UK literature" (PDF). Joseph Rowntree Foundation. For example, Mixed White and Black African people show a greater likelihood of drinking than Black African respondents, though they are less likely to drink than White British people.
  7. ^ "NMC response to the Department of Health and Social Care consultation on Appropriate Clinical Negligence Cover" (PDF). Nursing and Midwifery Council. p. 9. 19 per cent of 'mixed –white and black African'people have indemnity cover through membership of a professional body, compared with 7 per cent ofall people on our register who have indemnity cover through membership of a professional body.
  8. ^ "Ethnicity Codes" (PDF). Kirklees Council. MWBA - Mixed White and Black African
  9. ^ Lucinda Platt. "Ethnicity and family - Relationships within and between ethnic groups: An analysis using the Labour Force Survey" (PDF). University of Essex: Equality and Human Rights Commission. p. 13.
  10. ^ a b "Ethnicity in admissions data" (PDF). UCAS. 2016. UCAS: White/Black African 42; HESA: 42 Mixed White and Black African
  11. ^ Nicola Stokes (May 2017). "Ethnicity In Central Bedfordshire". Central Bedfordshire. 10.3% of people in Central Bedfordshire were from ethnic minority communities in 2011 ... Mixed: White and Black African; 520; 0.2%
  12. ^ Clive Lewis (19 March 2003). "Census of Population: First Results on Ethnic Groups and Identity" (PDF). Welsh Government. 6,100 (10 per cent) being of an African (including mixed white and black African) background
  13. ^ a b Peter J. Aspinall (2018). "What kind of mixed race/ethnicity data is needed for the 2020/21 global population census round: the cases of the UK, USA, and Canada". Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol. 41. Routledge. Only modest proportions stayed in the same "mixed" group from one census to the next: Mixed white and black Caribbean, 76.4 per cent; Mixed white and Asian, 58.8 per cent; Mixed white and black African, 56.8 per cent
  14. ^ a b Robert W. Aldridge; Ibrahim Abubakar (24 June 2020). "Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups in England are at increased risk of death from COVID-19: indirect standardisation of NHS mortality data". Wellcome Open Research. 5. Wellcome Trust: 88. doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15922.2. PMC 7317462. PMID 32613083. There was no statistical evidence that SMRs were increased or reduced for Chinese (1.14; 95% CIs 0.87-1.45), Mixed White and Black African (1.31; 95% CIs 0.70-2.25)
  15. ^ "Ethnic group - England and Wales regions". Office for National Statistics. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Population of England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. Other ethnic groups whose percentage of the population decreased were White Irish (from 1.2% to 0.9%), and Mixed White and Black African (from 0.4% to 0.3%)
  17. ^ Ludi Simpson (May 2014). "How have people's ethnic identities changed in England and Wales?". Dynamics of Diversity: Evidence From The 2011 Census (PDF). Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The Mixed categories were asked only from 2001, and so their stability in the census can only be measured for the period 2001-2011. It is lower than the 'non-mixed' groups, with over 40% of those choosing 'Mixed White and Asian' or 'Mixed White and Black African' in 2001 moving to a different category in 2011.
  18. ^ "DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion - 2011 census". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  19. ^ "Ethnic group by religion - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  20. ^ "Black and Minority Ethnic Groups". Newcastle University. As a white mother of a mixed white and black African child the lead researcher's capacity for empathy was useful in building rapport with participants
  21. ^ a b TP O’Mahony (23 October 2010). "Brassy side of Bassey". Irish Examiner. When she was born, in the late 1930s, to be a mixed-race child brought up by a white mother in Britain was highly unusual ... Her father was Henry Bassey, a merchant seaman from Calabar, in Nigeria.
  22. ^ a b Katie Rosseinsky (27 July 2020). "Emeli Sande: I was five when I became conscious of being judged for my skin colour". Evening Standard. "That was the beginning of my version of 'the Talk', the conversation many black and mixed-race parents – my father is black, my mother white – are obliged to have with their children".
  23. ^ a b Alicia Adejobi (29 September 2019). "Raye proudly calls Beyonce a friend after working on Lion King album: 'We got on like a house on fire'". Metro UK. 'Being a mixed race artist, I've always been somewhere in the middle of so many different things. And as a writer, I adore all genres,' she admitted.
  24. ^ a b Liz Hoggard (15 March 2016). "The Ballsy Move That Scored Ashley Madekwe Her Acting Career". Elle. As mixed race woman, there were times she felt too black or not black enough. "There's an archaic view of what it means to be a black woman sometimes in TV and film," says Madekwe. "I'm mixed race, and I'm very proud of that fact. I don't hide it. I don't look white. I can't really play white.
  25. ^ a b Alexis Soloski (18 January 2019). "Carmen Ejogo of 'True Detective' Dangles in a Circus". New York Times. Though Ms. Ejogo usually plays American characters, she was born in London, the daughter of a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father ... looking for roles that wouldn't typecast her as the "mixed-race sort of 'exotic' pretty girl"
  26. ^ Afua Hirsch (25 January 2018). "Afua Hirsch on race and identity in 2018". Evening Standard.
  27. ^ a b "Britain now has enough MPs of African heritage to form the fourth largest party in parliament". Quartz. 14 May 2015. British-born second-generation children of African immigrants, are Helen Grant, Chi Onwurah, Kate Osamor and Chuka Umunna (all of Nigerian origin - Grant and Umunna self-identify as being mixed race on account of having one white parent)
  28. ^ a b "Tupele's tribute to her dad". Manchester Evening News. 20 April 2010. When neighbours ignored him, whispered behind his back or gave him sideways glances, for being the black man who married a white woman from Manchester
  29. ^ Paula Cocozza (4 September 2016). "Thandie Newton: 'I wake up angry – there's a lot to be angry about'". The Guardian. Newton grew up in Penzance, Cornwall, where her parents – her dad is white British, her mother black, from Zimbabwe – sent her to a Catholic school.
  30. ^ Victoria Young (2 April 2003). "March to the top". Evening Standard. Yet life as a mixed-race girl in a white family was never going to be a bed of roses ... She was born the illegitimate daughter of a white mother and a black father in the Sixties.
  31. ^ Megan Conner (18 March 2018). "Gugu Mbatha-Raw: on Oprah, race and Hollywood". The Guardian. Born in 1983, Mbatha-Raw would have been just a year old when Prince picked up his Academy Award for Purple Rain. At this peak in his career, her mother, a white British nurse, and father, a black South African doctor, would more likely have been fans.
  32. ^ Liz Hoggard (20 February 2005). "'I guess I'm up for grabs now'". The Guardian. Okonedo was born in 1969. Her father, a government worker, left the marital home to return to Nigeria when she was five, leaving her mother to raise Sophie. ... All the usual tabloid elements are there: errant black father, brave white single mother and, of course, the plucky young actress who defies the odds to win through.
  33. ^ a b Ellen E Jones (31 July 2017). "The Handmaid's Tale's race problem". The Guardian. Played in flashbacks by OT Fagbenle, the British son of a Nigerian father and a white English mother.
  34. ^ Rebecca Hawkes (29 April 2019). "Game of Thrones and race: who are the non-white characters and where are they from in the books and show?". The Daily Telegraph. British actress Fola Evans-Akingbola, who played one of his wives, is mixed-race with Nigerian heritage.
  35. ^ Mark Lawson (11 Jul 2016). "Nina Sosanya: 'I was always a minority – even in my own family'". The Guardian. Through Sarah/Anna, who endures rural Russian antisemitism, Chekhov explores the tensions of identity, a question that, as the child of a white English mother and Nigerian father, Sosanya has presumably had to address.
  36. ^ Andrew O'Hehir (9 May 2014). ""The Double": Two Jesse Eisenbergs and one gripping dystopian satire". Salon. If you've ever heard of Ayoade, it's almost certainly as a British actor and writer best known for sketch comedy. He played Moss, the biracial guy with big hair, on seven seasons of "The IT Crowd,"
  37. ^ Jen Yamato (5 July 2018). "Meet Hannah John-Kamen, breakout super-villain in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'". Los Angeles Times. When they cast John-Kamen, who is biracial, the character of Ghost became not just a woman, but a woman of color
  38. ^ William Shakespeare (2013). "Introduction". In David Lindley (ed.). The Tempest (The New Cambridge Shakespeare). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107619579. Caliban was played by the black actor Geff Francis, and Ariel by the mixed-race Kananu Kirimi.
  39. ^ "Adjoa Andoh is the black Chekhov". Evening Standard. 2 June 2010. Andoh was born in 1963 in Bristol to a white English mother who taught modern dance and history, and a black father who had been a folk musician and journalist in Ghana
  40. ^ Alex Clark (4 February 2018). "Leïla Slimani and Afua Hirsch: 'People have a cliched way of looking at race'". The Guardian. Hirsch's mother is Ghanaian, while her father is white, with a Jewish, German and Yorkshire family background.
  41. ^ "From the archive, 25 February 1984: The north London kid with the late-night voice". The Guardian. 25 February 2015. Her father came from Nigeria to be a student at the LSE. Her mother is a nurse, and white.
  42. ^ Sandé was raised in Scotland by a white English mother and a black Zambian father. (2 August 2020). "Emeli Sandé and other celebrities on having 'the talk' about racism". The Times.
  43. ^ In the 1950s Norah was waitressing in a cafe in Plymouth's Union Street when a young merchant seaman from Sierra Leone called in. ... Norah's father was against the multiracial relationship, but they married anyway ... Eventually they moved to multiracial Tiger Bay in Wales and raised four more children, making six in total ... Norah moved back to her beloved Devonport, bringing with her daughter Jennifer. And Jennifer gave birth to Harvey or 'Junior' (27 January 2003). "So Solid Crew". BBC.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ Patrick Barkham (29 August 2008). "'I always knew I was different'". The Guardian. Perhaps most formative was the fact that she was virtually the only non-white person in Carlisle - her mother was white, and her father was black. "I was always noticeable and I always knew I was different," says Grant.
  45. ^ Tania Branigan (25 March 2005). "New face of the party previously known as 'just a bunch of racists'". The Guardian. But Mr Afriyie, the child of a white British mother and Ghanaian father, said that Tory problems around race were "historic".
  46. ^ Katharine Hibbert (16 November 2008). "Profile: Paul Boateng: Our man in ... a little bit of bother". The Times. Like Obama, Boateng was the child of a black African father and a white mother and made a meteoric ascent through the political firmament.
  47. ^ Katharine Hibbert (25 February 2007). "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Linda Bellos". The Times. Now a racial-equality consultant, Bellos, 56, is best remembered as an activist and leader of Lambeth council in the 1980s. Here she recalls the constant racism she experienced as the child of a white Jewish mother and a Nigerian father growing up in south London.
  48. ^ Paul Owen (3 Aug 2009). "Black Welshman aims to take the fight to the BNP". The Guardian. Gething was born in Zambia in 1974 to a black Zambian mother and a white Welsh father, a vet who had moved there to work.
  49. ^ Aisha Gani (13 May 2017). "Black Men Say The Labour Party Excluded Them From Standing As MPs". Buzzfeed News. Mixed race candidates of African or Caribbean descent contesting seats. Of that 13, eight are seeking re-election, half of which are men (Chuka Umunna in Streatham, Mark Hendrick in Preston
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