Letter: Black and British

Sir: Could companies and organisations that use application forms containing an ethnic monitoring policy make sure that the words "black British" appear at the top of the list of options and that the term "black other" is removed?

I am a 34-year-old black British man, born in England, and I constantly come across application forms which have options for "black African", "black Caribbean", "black other" and "Afro-Carib-bean", but there is no column for "black British".Up to 90 per cent of people here with dark skin are British-born and have made a massive contribution to the British economy. This anomaly seems to deliberately try and deny them their British birthright and heritage.

Why is it that in 1998 it is still automatically assumed that everyone with dark skin has travelled from abroad and could not possibly have been born in Britain?

MILTON N WESTCARR

Abbeymead,

Gloucester