Let's say farewell to the 'ethnic minorities'

[Epicurus]

Quote:- Ten per cent of the British population come from “ethnic minorities”, a reporter on the BBC Today programme told us solemnly on Monday. He was discussing the Conservative Party’s drive to make the choice of candidates better reflect what Tories, too, call the “ethnic minority” population. The reporter added that this should be 10 per cent. By “ethnic minorities” he didn’t (and the Tories don’t) mean Albanians (Christian or Muslim) or the Irish, or Australians, Japanese or Jews.
Labour, meanwhile, has established an “ethnic minority taskforce” chaired by Keith Vaz, MP. His roadshow will not be visiting the Ukrainian community in Derby, or the Polish community in West London. It will not be talking to the substantial number of more recent immigrants from Eastern Europe who do not yet even speak English. Its remit includes third-generation black Christians whose only language is English. It does not include (white) Bosnian Muslims who speak no English at all. Mr Vaz is himself described as coming from the “ethnic minorities”. He (a Roman Catholic whose English is rather plummier than mine) is of Indian (Goanese) origin.
Full article here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1065-2490974,00.html

Since being in the UK I have used the word to mean everyone or anyone who isn’t British born but lives in the UK and I have had some very strange comments when I’ve used the term Ethnics, I’m beginning to understand why now.

 

[TAE]

I'm half german, do I count as being part of the ethnic minorities in this country?

 

[Fruitloop]

Fuck I hate Keith Vaz. What a cunt.

 

[JHE]

I'm half german, do I count as being part of the ethnic minorities in this country?

Do you think you should?

Anyway, Matthew Parris's point is that the expression is in fact used to mean non-white.

Oh, come on. Ethnic means “coloured” doesn’t it? If not, tell me in what respect not. The word is an adjective. The noun “minorities” is increasingly and unceremoniously dumped these days in favour of a new usage of “ethnic” as a noun in its own right — as though “ethnics” were members of a single tribe. Only one thing unites this wholly imaginary tribe: not their language, not their religion, not their background, not their culture — but the colour of their skin.​

 

[dennisr]

Anyway, Matthew Parris's point is that the expression is in fact used to mean non-white.

the liberal council style literature i see tensd to talk about 'BME 'at the moment - 'Black and Minority Ethnic'

Still fart-arseing around with words rather than underlying socio-economic disparities though

 

[JHE]

the liberal council style literature i see tensd to talk about 'BME 'at the moment - 'Black and Minority Ethnic'

Yes, 'BME' is used a lot - and I think Matthew Parris is slightly mistaken, because sometimes 'BME' is taken to include white Irish people, for example, and will often be taken to include 'travellers'. I think that in Hackney it includes the strangely-dressed Hassidic types in Stanford Hill.

If fact, I think 'BME' may have been coined to maintain an odd 'right on' usage from the 70s and 80s. 'Black' was interpreted to mean subject to racism. South Asian people counted as black, though I doubt that many of them agreed.

The strangest use I came across was when a white friend successfully applied to join a housing co-op in south London in the 80s. He told me that the ernest members had decided they didn't have enough black members and wanted to get more - but it was OK because he was Jewish (atheist, in fact, but from a Jewish family). As a Jew, he was subject to racism, they explained. Therefore he was black. Oy vey! as he didn't say.

 

[TAE]

Do you think you should?

I don't know. I'm also 1/4 irish. I think my mixed background is why I'm so pro-european.