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| Hideously diverse Britain: what do the census figures tell us? | Hideously diverse Britain: what do the census figures tell us? |
| (4 months later) | |
| This is different. Forty five per cent of Londoners describe themselves as "white British", according to the census, a drop from the 58% in 2001. The majority group has shrunk. London is the most diverse area of the country. Another nugget; the 10 local authorities with the highest proportion of foreign-born residents were London boroughs. Three million foreign-born residents live in the capital: that's 37% of its population. Bald figures; real lives. | This is different. Forty five per cent of Londoners describe themselves as "white British", according to the census, a drop from the 58% in 2001. The majority group has shrunk. London is the most diverse area of the country. Another nugget; the 10 local authorities with the highest proportion of foreign-born residents were London boroughs. Three million foreign-born residents live in the capital: that's 37% of its population. Bald figures; real lives. |
| But then, you see change all around you. I grew up in Forest Gate, east London, a stone's throw from West Ham football ground. It's in Newham, said to be the most ethnically diverse district in western Europe. Newham was a predominantly white suburb. We, relatively speaking, were the novelties. That said, there was always a mix. Next door, the English guy who worked at Ford and his wife, originally from Korea. Next to them, the very English civil servant who thought the area was going to pot and let us know it. On the other side, the Jamaican factory worker. Next to him, the white English guy whose wife and mother-in-law would grab a shoulder each to retrieve him, legless, from the pub. Up the road, some Italians. | But then, you see change all around you. I grew up in Forest Gate, east London, a stone's throw from West Ham football ground. It's in Newham, said to be the most ethnically diverse district in western Europe. Newham was a predominantly white suburb. We, relatively speaking, were the novelties. That said, there was always a mix. Next door, the English guy who worked at Ford and his wife, originally from Korea. Next to them, the very English civil servant who thought the area was going to pot and let us know it. On the other side, the Jamaican factory worker. Next to him, the white English guy whose wife and mother-in-law would grab a shoulder each to retrieve him, legless, from the pub. Up the road, some Italians. |
| I went back there last week: spoke to Carlos, a big guy, originally from west Africa. He lived in the house once owned by the English guy with the Korean wife. "There isn't much of a mix here," he said dolefully. "Those over there are Somalian. Almost everyone else is Asian." The black Caribbeans have moved out and the whites have gone, said Carlos. Asians, mainly Pakistani Muslims, predominate. What's that like? "It's OK." | I went back there last week: spoke to Carlos, a big guy, originally from west Africa. He lived in the house once owned by the English guy with the Korean wife. "There isn't much of a mix here," he said dolefully. "Those over there are Somalian. Almost everyone else is Asian." The black Caribbeans have moved out and the whites have gone, said Carlos. Asians, mainly Pakistani Muslims, predominate. What's that like? "It's OK." |
| I knocked at my old house, and met Abrar, a 16-year-old engineering student in Muslim robes. I showed him my family pictured in the doorway after church in the 70s. He recognised his porch and let me in. | I knocked at my old house, and met Abrar, a 16-year-old engineering student in Muslim robes. I showed him my family pictured in the doorway after church in the 70s. He recognised his porch and let me in. |
| We are renting, he said. This is much bigger than the flat we had before. The house was a step up for his family. It was a step up for us, too. | We are renting, he said. This is much bigger than the flat we had before. The house was a step up for his family. It was a step up for us, too. |
| Abrar showed me around, the old lounge, the old garden. That's where I did my studying, I told him gesturing to the room at the top of the stairs. He laughed. "I want to be an aircraft engineer," he said. Bare stats; rich lives. And the difference? Everything, and nothing. | Abrar showed me around, the old lounge, the old garden. That's where I did my studying, I told him gesturing to the room at the top of the stairs. He laughed. "I want to be an aircraft engineer," he said. Bare stats; rich lives. And the difference? Everything, and nothing. |
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