England’s population has been overwhelmingly Caucasian throughout its history.
By Kevin McCandless
(CNSNews.com) – The population of some English cities is changing to such a degree, that within several decades, whites will be the largest among ethnic minority groups, according to a new report.
Scholars and others here agree that England’s population is growing more ethnically diverse, but they differ on whether various groups are becoming more or less segregated.
University of Manchester academics Ludi Simpson and Nissa Finney predict in a report that in Birmingham, the second largest city in England, the white population will become a minority by 2024 — still the largest group by far, but no longer accounting for a majority of the total population.
The cities of Leicester and Bradford will likely reach the same point in about 30 years, with white residents matched in number by the descendents of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, they say.
England’s population has been overwhelmingly Caucasian throughout its history. The shift began shortly after World War II, when the government encouraged men from the former colonies to fill factory posts left empty by the casualties of war.Although Wales and Scotland remain largely homogeneous, a 2001 census found that England’s white, native-born population had dropped to 87 percent.
Simpson predicts that the white population of England will plateau at around 75-80 percent in a couple of decades, depending on the vagaries of future immigration and the social dynamics of the individual groups.
In recent years, as tensions have risen between the Muslim community and others in Britain, commentators have frequently warned that some ethnic groups are becoming isolated from the rest of society.
Simpson, however, said recent government studies show that ethnic minorities are increasingly moving out of the cities and into the suburbs, merging with the broader population.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200710/CUL20071003b.html