Is Britain's countryside racist
Dr Hillary Shaw
Visiting Fellow - Centre for Urban Research on Austerity at Dept of Politics and Public Policy De Montfort University
BBC article from 2021, was also on the BBC news this morning
However, when one looks at the census data on NOMIS - and this is for the 2011 Census, 2021 data to follow here shortly, only certain areas of the England and Wales countryside are almost totally 'White-British'. For example the Lake District, mid Wales, the north-east, and northern Devon/Cornwall. I expect that the 2021 data will show increased diversity on the 2011 figures.
Yes the countryside is considerably Whiter than the cities - is this linked to wealth? Of course this implies a racial distibution of wealth, or is it that migrants tend to be poorer than te indigenous population when they arrive (migration would tend t be from poor to wealthier countries)? Will this wealth gap tend to narrow with time? How long a time?
The E+W countryside also has a substantial population of non-British White, e.g. East Europeans - how do we see this? They are of course consiuderabaly represented in agricultural labour, and is this a form of racism, as they are on low wages, often, which is a reason they are in this employment. Brexit has disrupted this sector, too.
The maps here show relative populations of Asian, Black and non-British White - essentially the shading for each MSOA area is,
More yellow/brown = more Asian population, more purple/pink = more Black population, more blue = more non=British White population. The paler to white shades indicate a higher White British population.
You decide.....