BritInParis

There are a number of overlapping reasons - a more familiar language, existing family ties, a perception that work and housing is easy to find - but the impression of the UK being a more safe, tolerant and open society compared to the one they are currently in is certainly a factor. One only has to look at how France treat its ethnic minorities in the banlieues to see where that perception has come from.

'Nothing's changed': 10 years after French riots, banlieues remain in crisis - The Guardian

Fears the banlieues could burn again - BBC News

The Other France - The New Yorker

Editha

I agree with you that France's treatment of its ethnic minorities is poor, but I still don't think that provides evidence that asylum seekers prefer Britain because it is less racist, for the simple reason that overall they don't prefer Britain:

2015, France, 80,075 asylum requests.

2015, UK, 38,878 asylum requests.

BritInParis

The raw figures don't mean much as it is far easier to reach France or any other country in continental Europe than it is the UK as there isn't 20 miles of open water in the way.

Richard8655

East Europeans are not less tolerant or racist, at least any more than any other ethnic group. That's a racist slur in itself. I think it was East Europeans who recently felt the brunt of racism by a small minority of Brits after the Brexit vote. So the other way around, with property damage and graffiti with some calling them vermin. Pretty nasty.

Xcelency

Guys, I asked the question simply because I have a 2.5 year old son who is easily singled out because of his beautiful skin colour (slightly darker than olive). I don't want him to go through the same rubbish I went through in a very expensive private school.... granted, this was in the early/mid 70's when Blondie's Heart of Glass was #1 on top of the pops.

It is not my intention to have anyone in particular singled out either as a country or an ethnic group. We live in a global village and I want my son who is already multilingual to experience all the wonderful things that make up the country that I have always loved... England.

I have made a bunch of bad decisions in my life, most recently to invest my life savings into a microbrewery and restaurant in Vietnam which was just starting to take off. Then the owner of the building decided that he loved it so much, he took it! I went to the cops, the cops answer was.. oh you are not Vietnamese, we can't help you!

No matter what, something like this would never happen in the UK.

I realise I can't protect my kids from everything, I guess I am just being a overly cautious dad.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, please don't get into a fight because of it. Just imagine you are all in my pub enjoying my craft beers as my guest and having an adult discussion about "back home".

UkWinds5353

I can speak to this issue a bit. I have found the best source for learning about a situation is to ask people that have first hand knowledge. People that have been affected in some profound way. Obviously that would include people directly affected by the circumstances of racism.

In the same way it would be quite questionable to ask a man about the issue of rape unless he had been the victim of such a horrible crime or married(partnered) to a person that had been harmed by it.

In that vein it does make sense to hear the opinion of people that have been on the receiving end of racism, and who have been around long enough to witness societal change. Based on several opinion of those in the minority community living in the UK, things have improved a great deal.

Minorities make up such a small percentage of the Uk. And despite Brexit and the anxiety that many Brits feel due to a struggling economy, many Brits don't hold a racist view toward minorities. Some question the intelligence of open boarders and all that entails, but I don't think as a minority there is any reason you need to be overly concern. The UK is one of the least racist countries in the world.

Minorities make up such a small percentage of Great Britain. Only 14% of the over all population. I don't think it fair to compare the UK to the States. So I won't go there. But there are huge population size differences, as well as demographic and historical differences. Minorities in America are more focused on power sharing for obvious reasons and many ethnic groups have been there really since the formation of the country. While many in the minority community in the UK make up such a small percentage of Great Britain, and are first, second or third generation citizens. Assimilation has taken place in America. Not sure if that is as true in the UK.

Only 14% compared to the minority population of the USA at nearly 38%. Those numbers alone play a role in how minorities might be viewed. The majority could view a 14% minority population as being less of a threat. So for the most part they, minorities, are not viewed as a major threat. And for that reason I don't believe you will witness any special tension. There is racism in the UK as well as xenophobia but the latter is mostly due to fears of the economy and Brussel's over reach.

Pulaski

I understand what you're trying to do, but it would be a bit like the people who post on BE asking for anecdotes of problems with visa applications - mostly what you will hear about is problems. So if you ask for people who "have been affected in some profound way" your responses are going to be skewed towards reported "issues" which are not typical of the experiences of millions of minorities living in the UK, AND, per my first reply above, might well include many examples that are not even relevant to the community in which the OP settles.

Still Game

Mods. Please would you be kind enough to remove my post from this thread? They've brought unwanted private messages from one of the posters on this thread and I'd rather just step back. Thanks

spouse of scouse

I've had the same thing in the past - Mods advised the best way to handle it is to report the PMs to them and they'll deal with it.
You can also put the poster on your ignore list, then they won't be able to contact you.

michali

I married my husband, who is black, in 1966. He had come here in the early sixties and experienced the odd incident of prejudice but generally had no problems. He was such a hard worker, and a law student, that everyone liked and respected him. After our marriage, I cannot say we had any problems but we left England a couple of years later anyway.

Our mixed race son came to a state boarding school in 1985 in Lancaster. He never experienced any racism and was very popular. My daughter came here in 1992 to go to art college and then university and she too had only good experiences. Certainly nothing negative that they both felt worth mentioning.

Now we are here again and don't sense any racism against us personally. We are in London and there are now many mixed race partnerships and children.

I know the recent Brexit seems to have caused an increase in racial attacks but I am wondering too if they are now being reported more than they were before. I have a friend who, years ago, suffered the most brutal racial attack and nearly died so I am aware that such horrible incidents occur. The British for the most part do not disclose how they feel and there may be much more prejudice than we are aware. There is, I am sure, an underlying resentment but certainly no worse than in many other countries. As a white woman in a predominantly black/Indian country, I had a few racial comments flung at me!

UkWinds5353

Your point is understood, valid, and 100% correct in the right context. But my response to the OP was about real life experience. It wasn't about discussing a incident that is best described as an outliner.

If you want to learn about the true to life daily experiences of minority communities in a particular city, or country, a group of minorities that live there can certainly bring to the table context, understanding, and in this case reassurance.

And I use that last description to make the point of how comfortable many people of color are with living in the UK. As a country it compares well with major American cities like Seattle, NYC, San Fran.

My previous post simply brought a understanding that maybe other posters may not have gained . There is a song called "The hard knock life" by Jay-Z.

Some things you have to have lived, in order to share and inform others about. I can possibly quote statistics about certain live experiences, but unless I've lived it , I can't truly tell others what it's like. The UK is an awesome place to call home for minorities.

Xcelency

Thank you all for your informed and considered responses to what one poster correctly called an "odd" question. If I was to take the responses here as an indicator of the wider society back home, I think my son is going to be in an awesome place and my fears are unfounded.

Thank you all!

Jerseygirl

Please forward the PMs to me http://britishexpats.com/forum/priva...=newpm&u=46095 or BEVS http://britishexpats.com/forum/members/bevs-16446/. Abusive messages will not be tolerated.

Thank you.

Still Game

Thanks Jerseygirl. No abusive messages - just unwanted - someone using the karma button for reasons that it wasn't meant for! I have asked this person not to contact me in future. Thanks for info (and private message from BEVS too - appreciated)

robin1234

Yup it is odd. I once had a sarcastic, not friendly, comment in karma. (Not something I'd report.) you've got to wonder where these people could be coming from. It was from a well informed, usually helpful member too. I say, if you have a criticism of a post, lay it out in a message on the thread, don't send it as karma...