Is Britain really a ‘post-racial’ society?

At first glance, the increase in the mixed-race population, and a non-white prime minister, shows our social cohesion

Today, the ONS has released its figures on the ethnic make-up of Britain and there has been an expected rise in the Bame population. However, we must not allow these figures to distort our view of Britain’s race relations, especially with the existence of mixed-race people.

I was born to a Black father and white mother the year after the UK Census first asked about mixed-race identity. On the census, over 650,000 people were “classified” as mixed-race: 1.2 per cent of the UK population. In the next census, 2011, that figure rose to 2.2 per cent – just over 1.2 million. This trend has increased, with the ONS revealing that the number has increased to 1.7 million across England and Wales – a rise to 3 per cent.

Being mixed-race is something even other mixed-race people can understand only if their “mix” lends itself towards understanding.

Thankfully, my parents, and the diversity of the two cities I have lived in (London and Paris), have allowed me to grow up validated, accepted, and protected. However, despite the diversity of London, I am often the only mixed-race person in the room and often seen as a representative of all mixed-race people.

Of all the assumptions I have met, the most inaccurate and alarming is the argument that the increase in the mixed-race population means Britain is now a “post-racial” society. This belief was visibly expressed across social media and political discourse when Rishi Sunak become Britain’s first non-white prime minister and with the inclusion of Black and Asian Brits in his cabinet.

At first glance, the increase in the mixed-race population, and a non-white prime minister, shows Britain’s social cohesion. People are putting aside racial differences, having children together, and building a post-racial society where skin colour does not matter – and does not disadvantage anyone anymore.

If this were true, the world would be a far better place than it is today. There are millions of mixed-race people all over the world in almost every country on earth, yet racial tension and violence remain an ever-present tragedy.

Black people first arrived in Britain as Roman legionnaires in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Skeletal remains of ancient Britons with African heritage have been found near York, one of Britain’s most ancient settlements. African and Caribbean men fought in the Napoleonic wars and documents reveal that there were Black Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians, Victorians, and Edwardians. Recorded history shows us Britain has a centuries-long interaction with Black and mixed-race people on British soil, yet we know that race relations remain a problem in the UK.

One has only to think of what motivated the injustice of the Windrush scandal, slave trader statues being toppled, and BLM protests. All is not well. Far more recently Awaab Ishak, a Black toddler, died shortly before his second birthday due to extensive mould exposure, with the family accusing the housing association of racism.

Even though mixed-race people are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the country, structural and institutional racism still plague the nation. Policing, the justice system, healthcare, education and housing are all areas in which official reports and studies have found that racism is harming people’s lives.

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So why, despite contrary evidence, do so many people believe the mixed-race population shows Britain is post-racial?

Dr Remi Adekoya, associate politics lecturer at the University of York, and author of Biracial Britain: What It Means To Be Mixed Race, believes the belief exists because it is a “feel-good idea”.

“The idea for people that there is this kind of buffer group, or in-between group, which understands perspectives from ‘this side’ and ‘that side’ is a comforting thought.”

However, he warns that there is a grave and dangerous error in, “seeing the mere existence of mixed-race people as evidence of the ‘race problem’ being solved”. His view, based on his findings, is that “those who point to the fact that the UK has an increasing mixed-race population means we cannot speak of structural racism, is nonsense from a demographic viewpoint.”

Today’s ONS statistics may encourage some to reach the conclusion that we have reached post-racial harmony. However, the facts and statistics sing a different song. We can absolutely celebrate the increase of racial mixing, social cohesion and diversity, but we mustn’t assume a colourblind outlook on life, because this does not reflect reality and does a massive injustice to all.