| Ethnicity United Kingdom |
Article Index for Ethnicity |
Website Links For Ethnicity |
Information AboutEthnicity United Kingdom |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ETHNICITY UNITED KINGDOM | |
| ethnic groups | |
|
Different classifications, both formal and informal, are used in the UK. Perhaps the most accepted is the National Statistics classification (identical to that used in the 2001 Census in England and Wales) which contains the following groups. WHITE MIXED
ASIAN
BLACK
CHINESE
In practice the 16 categories above are often supplemented with a 'Not stated' category, and this convention is known as the '16 + 1' classification. More detail on this classification is available on the National Statistics website.1 Different classifications were used in the 1991 Census in England and Wales, and in the 2001 Census in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Other classifications also appear. For example UK Police began to classify arrests in racial groups in 1975 , but later replaced the race code with an ''Identity Code (IC)'' system.2
This classification is still referred to on some police websites and police chase TV shows, e.g. "Driver is IC1 male, passenger is IC3 male".3 However, from April 1 , 2003 , all police forces were required to use the new ''16 + 1'' system described above). The IC classification is still used in relation to descriptions whereas when suspects are asked to indicate their "ethnic background" for statistical purposes they are asked to pick from the 16+1 classification. In terms of use as opposed to official policy there is one main difference, the use of the term Oriental is widespread and without negative connotation in the UK and Europe while in the UK Asian is generally reserved for people from the Indian subcontinent (see Oriental and British Asian for more details). NOTES |
|
|