Britains Minority Groups in the UK - Essay Example

In what ways have Britains minority groups made a substantial economic, social, political and cultural contribution to the life of the UK? What factors may have impeded that contribution? Introduction The British Isles’ history has a lot to tell about extensive inflows of migrants from different parts of the world. The first large-scale migration of ethnic population from the Caribbean to the UK has occurred in the middle of the 20th century, followed by the inflow of Indian and Pakistani migrants in the 1960s. In the 1970’s the UK has given refuge to many East African Asians from Uganda, and during 1980’s and 1990’s the British Isles were flooded with Black African migrants (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2003). Nowadays, it is recognized that Indian minority group is the largest one, followed by Pakistani, Caribbean, African and Bangladeshi (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2003). The spread of British ethnic minorities has occurred not only because of the historical colonial expansion in India, Africa, and the Caribbean and refuge sheltering due to political and economic instability but also because of the need to seek employment, education, and higher fertility rates (Makgosa 2012). While there is information available to the overall demographics of these ethnic minority groups living in the UK, there is not much evidence about their contribution to the various aspects of the life of the UK. In addition to ethnic minority groups in the UK, there are religious (Muslim) and sexual minorities that have influenced the life of the UK. The aim of this research is to investigate in what ways have various Britain’s minority groups made a substantial economic, social, political and cultural contribution to the life of the UK and to analyze what factors may have impeded that contribution. The research does not include individual contributions of the famous people representing ethnic or race minority in Britain, but only the contributions of the minority groups. Britain’s Minority Groups in the UK Minority group can be defined as group of individuals “whose physical appearance or cultural characteristics are defined as being different from the traits of the dominant group and that result in their being set apart for different and unequal treatment (Dunn 2010, 4). While there are recognized various minority groups based on the ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender, sex, and other characteristics, this research is focused on the race/ethnic, religious, and sexual minority groups. As it has been already mentioned, there was a significant inflow of migrants over the UK’s history. This historical aspect makes Britain a multi-ethnic society, where a considerable share of the population of the country is belonging to an ethnic group (Ghilardi 2006). Even though ethnic minority groups have made more substantial contribution in relation to all aspects of the Britain’s life, contributions of religious and sexual minorities are also worth to mention. At the moment, the religious minority groups in Britain include Muslims (1.6 million, or 2.7%), Hindus (almost 600,000 or 1%), Sikhs (more than 330 000), Jews (approximately 270, 000), and Buddhists (almost 150,000) (Minorityrights.org, n.d.). Taking into consideration the forecasts that the ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity of the British population will likely grow in future (Socialwelfare.bl.uk, n.d.), it is possible to suggest that the contributions of these minorities groups will increase, unless these minority groups will become majority or dominant groups Contributions made by the Britains Minority Groups to the Economic Life of the UK Ethnic minority groups have definitely made a substantial contribution to the economic life of the UK. This statement can be easily supported with the fact of considerable expansion and development of ethnic minority businesses (Ghilardi 2006). According to the data reported by the Barclays Bank, the percentage share of the ethnic minority businesses comprises approximately 7% of the total business stock in the United Kingdom (Ram 2006). There are some obvious economic benefits of the ethnic minority business and entrepreneurship. Ethnic minority entrepreneurship enables self-employment of significant share of the ethnic minority groups, such as the Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Black African, Black Caribbean and White Irish groups. London is full of ethnic minority businesses owned by second and third generation of ethnic minority groups, especially Asians (Ghilardi 2006). Asian entrepreneurs (including Chinese) comprise more than 40 % of the total minority group entrepreneurs, followed by Pakistani (17, 2%) (Ram 2006). Another significant share of ethnic minority businesses is owned by: Black African (6,8%) and Black Caribbean groups (6,5%) with turnover over £10 billion, the Indian group (14,8%) with turnover of £20 billion, the Pakistani group (4000), and the Bangladeshis group (11,1%) (LDA 2005 cited by Ghilardi 2006; Ram 2006). In addition to self-employment, ethnic minority businesses provide jobs to the UK’s citizens (Ghilardi 2006). Thus, for example, as of 2002, there were 100,000 ethnic businesses in the London area employing around 800,000 people (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2003). And of course, as any business, ethnic minority entrepreneurs pay taxes to the country’s treasury. According to the estimates of the Small Firms Minister as of November 2002 there were 250,000 ethnic minority enterprises in the UK contributing £13-15 billion a year to the UK economy per year (Griffiths cited by London Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2003, 1; Ram 2006). While the businesses established and owned by the ethnic minorities have had direct effect on the UK’s economy, it also has some indirect effects. For example, development of entrepreneurship activity in the country has significantly fueled the competition among market players. As the majority of ethnic minority businesses operate in narrow sectors (catering and retailing) it has influenced on the spread of ethnic minority’s cuisines (will be discussed in more details in the next section). Asian entrepreneurs have made a significant contribution to the transformation of working hours from 8 to 24 hours seven days a week (Dhaliwal n.d.). Asia business model (in case of small business) is heavy reliable on the cheap family labour, cultural values and hard working approach (Basu & Goswami 1999). It is important to mention that ethnic minority groups has contributed not only to the development of small and medium business in the UK but also has made a shift towards development of more favorable policies related to the ethnic minority business sphere. Thus, for example, there were developed various finance initiatives/programs and designed specialist agencies focused on ethnic minority entrepreneurs, launched some strategic initiatives, and developed sector-based approaches (Ram 2006). Contributions made by the Britains Minority Groups to the Cultural Life of the UK Food Among many different aspects, the cuisine of several minority groups has made a massive contribution to the UK’s cultural life. One of the major contributors are British Indians and their food culture. As Daliwan (n.d.) said, “Indian cuisine and restaurants became a key part of the British lifestyle.” The total number of the Indian restaurants across the UK exceeded already 9,500 locations. Moreover, in result of mixed marriages between the British and British Indians, many families tend to cook Indian food as a dominant one (Conservativefriendsofindia.co.uk, n.d.). Another ethnic cuisine, dominant in the UK, is the Chinese food, which has been popularized in the 1950’s - 1960’s. The popularity of both Chinese and Indian takeaways and restaurants indicate on the strong influence of the Britain’s minority groups on the food culture of the UK’s residents (Warwicker 2014). Music As music is part of culture of any society, it is worth to mention ska and reggae as two major music styles that have contributed significantly to the British music. Ska music has appeared in the middle of the 1960’s in the UK due to the emigrants from Jamaica. The Skatalites, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan were the first groups that have successfully adopted ska motives. Even though the popularity of ska as a music direction has been lowered later because of the reggae, it has definitely made significant contribution to the music life of the UK. Reggae was brought to the UK by the African descents from the Carribean. As it has been once stated in the article of the Guardian: “Reggae: the sound that revolutionised Britain” (Spencer 2011, n.p.). Thus, some famous groups and musicians such UB40, The Police, Madness, Led Zeppelin (D’Yer Mak’er), Bob Marley and many others have integrated reggae-style into their own music works (Flavourmag 2012). Art/Design South Asian minorities have also made its contribution to the cultural life of the UK, mainly related to the art and design. Indian decorative arts, textiles and craft have inspired many British designers, sculptors, and architects (Bl.uk, n.d.). There are also some instances of Muslim contributions to British culture and art, varying from music forms such as Bengali, Punjabi, or Gujarati to dances and performing arts and literature (Minorityrights.org, n.d.). Contributions made by the Britains Minority Groups to the Social Life of the UK British identity Britain’s minority groups have also made significant contributions to the UK’s social life. One of the key contributions can be referred to the development of British identities and British citizenship. According to the results of the recent study, Britain’s minority representatives express stronger British identities that the White British majority group (Nandi & Platt 2013). These results indicate that Britain’s minority groups tend to accept shared national values and adopt the national story of the majority society (Nandi & Platt 2013). Religion Britain’s minority groups have made a substantial contribution to the religious life of the UK as well. The key contributors were Muslims and Indians. Muslims have brought Islam to the UK, while Indians have brought and spread Hinduism (Hussain 2005). These religious minorities have contributed to the establishment of many charitable trusts, community organizations and Hindu/Muslim temples (Hussain 2005). Contributions made by the Britains Minority Groups to the Political Life of the UK Britain’s Minority Groups are well integrated into the political culture of the country (Duyvene & Koopmans 2005). British minorities are actively involved into the public debate, in which they take active participation regarding various issues, especially related to integration. Thus, for example, the percentage share of minorities in political claims made in the field of ethnic relations and immigration politics, anti-racism politics and integration politics comprised 18, 9% (Duyvene & Koopmans 2005). This active position indicated on the substantial contribution of the Britain’s minority groups to the political life of the UK. Minority groups, especially from Asia, have been actively participating in the political struggles against inequality and discrimination. Muslims, as the Britain’s religious minority groups also have taken active political participation in the UK’s political life. Thus, for example, Muslims participated in voting and party membership and also in standing as candidates for election (Hopkins and Kahani-Hopkins 2006). Moreover, there were established many national organizations representing the rights of Britain’s Muslims. These organizations have addressed and continued to raise the problems of Muslim discrimination, employment inequality, health provision, access to education, etc. (Hopkins and Kahani-Hopkins 2006). Community activists and Muslim representatives also have spread the term of ‘Islamophobia’ in the UK since the end of the 1990’s. Jewish minority also was actively involved in the local politics of Britain as Jews were one of the groups that experienced overt discrimination and anti-Semitist accusations. Anti-Semitism was common in British society for many centuries, but nowadays Jews are treated in respectful and non-discriminatory way. They are involved in medicine, business, law, politics and cultural life of the UK (Refugee Week n.d.). While these achievements can be viewed solely as contribution to the Britain’s ethnic/racial communities’ life, in a broader scale it can be perceived as the next stage of anti-stereotyping and democratic behavior in the UK’s society and business. The factors that may have impeded contribution of Britains minority groups While there is not much evidence and literature available on the factors that may have impeded contribution of Britain’s minority groups to economic, social, political and cultural life of the UK, it is possible to suggest that some of the key factors relate to racism, anti-Semitism and discriminatory behavior towards ethnic/race/religious minorities of the UK. Ethnic and race minorities were facing obvious discrimination in employment and other utilities offered to British population. Conclusion This research was aiming to investigate in what ways have various Britain’s minority groups made a substantial economic, social, political and cultural contribution to the life of the UK and to analyze what factors may have impeded that contribution. The research was focused mainly on the race/ethnic and religious groups as these are major groups that have really contributed something to the various aspect of the UK’s life. The key findings have shown that different ethnic and religious groups have made contribution to different categories. Thus, for example, Asian-British minorities made the most substantial contribution to the economy of the UK due to their entrepreneurship efforts. Ethnic minority businesses contribute a significant share to the UK’s GDP, and have positive impact on the employment rate of the country, especially this relates to self-employment and employment of ethnic minorities. As the majority of these businesses operate in catering and retailing business it is logical to suggest that the culture and cuisine of the various countries are actively integrated into culture and social life of the UK. This statement can be perfectly illustrated with the popularity of Asian and Indian food in urban regions of the UK. The Chinese and Indian food is so popular among the British population that families tend to visit the restaurants or cook at home this food. In addition to food, Britain’s minority groups have made their contribution to the music as one more aspect of any culture. In this field the major contributors were Caribbean minorities who have brought such music styles as ska and reggae. South Asian and Indian minorities have made some contribution to the art in the UK. In addition to the cultural aspects, Britain’s minority groups have made some contributions to the political life of the UK. The key achievements are referred to the integration issues, as the minorities groups have addressed actively the issues related to equal rights, racism, religion, discrimination, etc. Thus, the efforts undertaken by various minority groups have enabled to address certain politically sensitive issues that enabled the UK as to become globalized and even more integrated a state. Britain’s minority groups have also made significant contributions to the UK’s social life. One of the key contributions can be referred to the development of British identities and British citizenship. Even though there were many statements regarding the substantial contributions of the Britain’s minority groups to the social, economic, political, and cultural life of the UK, there was not much evidence in the literature to support these claims. Especially, there was not much information related to the factors, which might have impeded that contribution. Based on the research, it is possible to suggest that the major factors were discriminatory treatment and inequality of rights of ethnic/race minorities. Because of lack of evidence, the further research is required to analyze in what ways have Britains minority groups made a substantial economic, social, political and cultural contribution to the life of the UK and what factors may have impeded that contribution. References: Basu, A., & Goswami, A. (1999). South asian entrepreneurship in great britain: Factors influencing growth. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 5(5), 251-251+. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/212170912?accountid=32521 Bl.uk, (n.d.). Activism and Politics. [online] Available at: http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/asians/activismpolitics/activismandpolitics.html [Accessed 8 Aug. 2014]. Conservativefriendsofindia.co.uk, (n.d.). The British Indian Community | Conservative Friends of India. 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