Population overview
Ethnicity | Category | % of population |
---|---|---|
Black | Black: Afrian | 2.8% |
Black | Black Caribbean | 4.4% |
Black | Black: Other | 1.7% |
Black | Combined total | 9.0% |
14 more rows
What population of Birmingham is black?
Ethnicity in Birmingham – According to the latest 2021 census, the population in Birmingham is predominantly white (48.6%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 51.4% of the population. Asian people were the largest minority group in Birmingham accounting for 31.0% of the population.125,760 or 11% of the Birmingham population are black according to the latest 2021 census.
Is Birmingham racially diverse?
Today the 2021 Census data on ethnicity has revealed that Birmingham is one of the first ‘super diverse’ cities in the UK where citizens from ethnic minorities make up more than half the population. Cllr John Cotton reflects why this is not a surprise and also one of the city’s biggest strengths.
- Birmingham is famous for the warm welcome it offers to all who come to our city – it is one of our strengths and why it is home to people from 187 different nationalities,
- Figures from the 2021 census, reveal that the city’s ethnic minorities represent 51.4 per cent of the city’s population, making Birmingham one of the first super-diverse cities in the UK.
The notion of being Birmingham becoming a ‘super-diverse’ city – where ethnic communities represent more than half our population – has long been forecast by academics and also in our Community Cohesion Strategy, published in 2018. From the arrival of the Irish, who came to Birmingham looking for work, through to the Windrush era when people from the Caribbean answered the call to help rebuild the country after the Second World War – through to the expansion of the European Union, various conflicts and political situations, which most recently saw refugees arrive from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine – the city has a long history of welcoming people from around the world.
Birmingham is recognised as a City of Sanctuary, and last week it was officially named as a Local Authority of Sanctuary – part of the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network – recognising how we are working to support asylum seekers, refugees and migrants arriving in Birmingham, helping them to settle in local communities and embed this approach into the city council’s ethos.
Of course this doesn’t mean we are oblivious to the challenges welcoming more people to our city means – the impact this can have on services and the Government funding needed to ensure they can be supported accordingly. We also want to ensure that everyone in Birmingham, whether they are a longstanding resident or a more recent arrival, has an equal chance to share in our city’s success, which is why our Everyone’s Battle, Everyone’s Business strategy (EBEB) on tackling inequalities is so important.
- We want every citizen to prosper and thrive in our city.
- The EBEB action plan, which was refreshed earlier this year, outlines in detail the city’s commitment to levelling the playing field for all those working and seeking to work for the council – as one of Birmingham’s main employers.
- We want to see city partners follow our lead, if we are to embrace opportunities and address the challenges we face.
This is why Census data is so crucial, as it helps inform central Government in allocating resources, which we hope will help meet the needs of a super-diverse city like Birmingham. We need our fair share of funding and support, so everyone has a chance to prosper and succeed.
In February, Birmingham’s Levelling Up Strategy – Prosperity and Opportunity For All was published, setting out the council’s ambitious blueprint for inclusive and sustainable growth to improve the lives and life chances of people and communities across the city. This vision for unleashing Birmingham’s potential aims to tackle inequalities such as ill health, poor educational attainment, low skills and incomes, congestion and air pollution – while developing new homes, employment sites and community assets.
The idea is simple – to enable everyone to benefit from Birmingham’s growth and success, whoever they are regardless of background and wherever they live in our city The difference and diversity of our communities is a veritable strength. Look at how during the pandemic people came together to help one another in an unprecedented crisis.
We are seeing the same during the current Cost of Living emergency – further underlying the fact we have more in common than that which divides us. This was further evidenced as Birmingham hosted the Commonwealth Games in the summer – it was much more than 11 days of sport, it perfectly illustrated how people from all backgrounds and communities came together to celebrate the Games, what Birmingham represents and what it means to those who live here.
Birmingham is a booming city entering into a golden decade of opportunity – and we want everyone to be able to benefit from its growth and success. We are also a city experiencing rapid change, so it’s vital we continually observe, discuss and seek best practice when it comes to community cohesion.
Which city in England has the largest black population?
Distribution by local authorities in the 2011 census. | |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
England | 2,381,724 (4.2%) (2021 census) |
Scotland | 36,178 (0.7%) (2011 census) |
Wales | 27,554 (0.8%) (2021 census) |
Northern Ireland | 11,032 (0.58%) (2021 census) |
Languages | |
English ( British English, Black British English, Caribbean English, African English ), Creole languages, French, Jamaican Patois, Nigerian Pidgin, and other languages | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Christianity (69%); minority follows Islam (15%), other faiths or are irreligious (6%) 2011 census, Great Britain only Note
^ For the purpose of harmonising results to make them comparable across the United Kingdom, the ONS includes individuals in Scotland who classified themselves in the “African” category (29,638 people), which in the Scottish version of the census is separate from “Caribbean or Black” (6,540 people), in this “Black or Black British” category. The ONS note that “the African categories used in Scotland could potentially capture White/Asian/Other African in addition to Black identities”. |
Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent. The term Black British developed in the 1950s, referring to the Black British West Indian people from the former Caribbean British colonies in the West Indies (i.e., the New Commonwealth ) now referred to as the Windrush Generation and people from Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and are British.
- The term black has historically had a number of applications as a racial and political label and may be used in a wider sociopolitical context to encompass a broader range of non-European ethnic minority populations in Britain.
- This has become a controversial definition.
- Black British is one of various self-designation entries used in official UK ethnicity classifications,
Black residents constituted around 3 per cent of the United Kingdom’s population in 2011. The figures have increased from the 1991 census when 1.63 per cent of the population were recorded as Black or Black British to 1.15 million residents in 2001, or 2 per cent of the population, this further increased to just over 1.9 million in 2011.
Is Birmingham a segregated city?
Reflections on Birmingham, Site of America’s Newest National Monument Birmingham was once the nation’s most segregated city, home to brutal, racially motivated violence. Today, a new national park site commemorates the critical civil rights history that happened here. Last October, I was headed to Birmingham, Alabama, and my mother was worried. Victory In the 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the most segregated places in the United States. Nonviolent protesters suffered brutal mistreatment in the struggle for equality and ultimately changed the See more › The secretary of the Department of the Interior and the director of the National Park Service were attending a public meeting at the city’s 16th Street Baptist Church.
Their mission was to hear from residents whether they wanted a new national park site commemorating Birmingham’s civil rights history. And it’s that history that had my mother so concerned, because for her, the word Birmingham triggers sharp memories of a time when that part of the American South was the worst of bad places for black people.
She worried for her son that what’s past may be prologue. Eight years ago, the country elected its first African American president. Segregation, Jim Crow and the violence inspired by those two great national evils have largely dissipated. The Birmingham I know is home to great barbecue, friendly people and downtown sidewalks that tend to roll up on weekdays at 4 p.m.
But my mother remembers Birmingham as it was in the decades before I was born. When segregationist, state-sanctioned terrorism was commonly used to enforce a vicious brand of apartheid, and few African Americans felt truly safe in that city. The night before I headed to Alabama, my mother’s last admonition before she hung up was a plea.
“Please be careful,” she told me. Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s was known as the most segregated city in the United States. Jim Crow laws separated black and white people in parks, pools and elevators, at drinking fountains and lunch counters. African Americans were barred from working at the same downtown businesses where many of them shopped.
- Ordinances even outlawed blacks and whites from competing against each other on the same field during sporting events.
- At the heart of such strict segregation policies was the belief by some whites in the inherent inferiority of black people and the dangers associated with “race mixing.” That inequality sparked resistance in the African American community, which in turn drew the wrath of Alabama’s pro-segregationist leadership.
Those who dared to advocate for change were subject to harassment, job loss, beatings and arrest. And then there were the bombings. Between 1945 and 1963, there were 60 bombings of black homes, churches and businesses in Birmingham, all designed to intimidate or kill blacks who had the audacity to fight for basic human rights.
Bombingham was what my mother’s generation called that city. In January of 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace doubled down on the state’s pro-segregationist philosophy. He declared in his inaugural address that, “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod the earth” — his description for white people — he would defend Alabama against any efforts to integrate.
“Segregation today segregation tomorrow segregation forever” was the way he famously described his views on race. In the wake of the governor’s pledge to defend segregation against all comers, civil rights leaders Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., decided to target Birmingham. Google Maps A map of four of the key sites that could be become part of the proposed Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park. See more › While Shuttlesworth organized from Bethel Baptist Church, King set up a war room at the A.G. Gaston Motel.
- The Gaston was located one block south of the 16th Street Baptist Church and close to the heart of Birmingham’s black business district.
- Elly Ingram Park, a large open space about the size of a city block, was adjacent to both the church and the motel.
- The Project C protest marches began in April 1963.
Protesters gathered at 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park, intent on marching east into downtown Birmingham. From the start, Eugene “Bull” Connor, Birmingham’s ironically titled commissioner of public safety, deployed both the police and fire departments to brutally break up the marches.
Nonviolent demonstrators were beaten with police nightsticks and bitten by police dogs. The fire department sprayed marchers with water from high-powered cannons that had sufficient force to strip bricks from buildings. Those who weren’t immediately bowled over were pinned against the sides of buildings as pressurized water pounded mercilessly against their bodies.
After the adults had been arrested en masse, high school and elementary school students led a Children’s Crusade in another march for freedom and justice. City authorities chose to handle the young equally as roughly as their parents and older siblings.
- The world watched as events unfolded in Birmingham in 1963.
- And when people saw the lengths to which some would go to win freedom and justice and the extent to which others would attempt to deny them those rights, attitudes began to change.
- In May, under intense public pressure, Birmingham’s leaders came to the Gaston Motel to negotiate an end to the Project C protests, ultimately agreeing to end some Jim Crow practices.
History, unfortunately, is rarely a linear march from bad to good. In Birmingham it took one more bomb blast, this one on September 15, 1963, claiming the lives of four African American girls who were preparing for Sunday church services at 16th Street Baptist Church, to galvanize the nation into passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- At the October 2016 public meeting, Birmingham residents offered powerful testimony in support of the civil rights park in their city. Rep.
- Terri Sewell (D-AL) declared that to delay the designation would be to deny justice to all those who fought for equality and have worked tirelessly for decades to preserve Birmingham’s history.
The most poignant statements came from the aging veterans of Project C — the foot soldiers whose fight against racism and inequality in the 1950s and 60s enabled all of us to sit confidently in 16th Street Baptist Church without fear of violence or retaliation.
- Even the Birmingham Fire Department attended with a diverse coalition of firefighters determined more than 50 years later to show just how far the city and the nation have come.
- They too wanted a civil rights park in Birmingham.
- It is easy to think that the Birmingham story is a key component of our American narrative so strongly etched into the American consciousness that it will never fade.
But time and progress have their ways of shading over the significance of events and people, requiring that we become more deliberate in preserving our shared past. Thanks to the authority of the Antiquities Act, any president can protect significant places by designating them as national monuments.
Now, with the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Birmingham’s civil rights history is protected in perpetuity for the world to see. And with this new park site, we ensure that the past is less a prologue than a mile marker demonstrating how far we as a people may go when the better angels of our nature prevail.
: Reflections on Birmingham, Site of America’s Newest National Monument
Is Birmingham a white area?
29 November 2022, 23:14 | Updated: 29 November 2022, 23:24 White British people are a minority in London and Birmingham. Picture: Getty White British people are the minority in London and Birmingham, the UK’s two largest cities, for the first time since records began, according to new census figures. The white British population of London made up 37% of the capital in 2021, or 4.5 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS.
That was down from from 45 per cent, or 4.9 million people in 2011. Meanwhile the white British population of Birmingham made up 581,000, or 52 per cent of the city in 2011. That had dropped to 43 per cent, or 491,000 people in 2021. ONS researches say the figures show the “increasingly multicultural society we live in”.
Several other smaller cities like Leicester and Luton are among parts of the country where people identifying as white now form a minority of the population, the data shows. Some 14 local authorities recorded more than half of their usual residents as identifying with an ethnic group other than white, with the highest proportion in the London boroughs of Newham (69.2%), Brent (65.4%) and Redbridge (65.2%).
Outside London the highest non-white proportion is in Slough in Berkshire (64.0%), followed by Leicester (59.1%), Luton (54.8%) and Birmingham (51.4%). The number of people identifying their ethnic group as white in England and Wales overall has also fallen by around half a million over the last decade.
Some 81.7 per cent of residents in the two nations self-identified as white on the day of the 2021 census, down from 86.0 per cent a decade earlier, the ONS said. The second most common ethnic group in England and Wales was “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh” standing at 9.3 per cent, an increase from 7.5% in 2011.
Meanwhile the number of people who describe themselves as Christian in England and Wales also fell below 50 per cent for the first time, the ONS said. Every other religion in the country has seen an increase or stayed the same, as the data also shows number of people identifying as Muslim has increased by 1.2 million to 3.9 million between 2011 and 2021.
Christians are still the largest religious group in England and Wales at 46.2 per cent of the population, with those with ‘no religion’ in second with 37.2 per cent – a rise of 12 per cent during the same period. The data shows that England and Wales have “left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian,” according to the Archbishop of York. England and Wales’ ethnic breakdown. Picture: ONS The census data was taken in 2021. Picture: ONS
Is Birmingham more diverse than London?
London may be the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom, as it is a certified metropolis. Still, if you look for the country’s most culturally diverse city, that honour goes to Birmingham. Are you wondering what cultural diversity in Birmingham looks like? We’ve got you covered.
While the UK is a popular destination for immigrants from all over the world, Birmingham, in particular, has become the unofficial immigrant capital of the country. Situated in the Midlands, the city is well-connected to the rest of the country and enjoys a rich, vibrant culture teeming with tolerance and diversity.
With an estimated population of 1,017,000, nearly 33 percent are non-white. There is a sizeable immigrant population from Asian, African, and Caribbean countries. If you are contemplating moving to the UK for work, study, or starting a new life, then Birmingham is, without a doubt, the best destination to do so.
What is the blackest place in the UK?
‘Diversity is a beautiful thing’: the view from Leicester and Birmingham Leicester and have become the first “super-diverse” cities in the UK, where most people are from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, according to the 2021 census.
John Cotton, a Labour councillor, said Birmingham’s ethnic diversity was a “veritable strength”, though the milestone was not a surprise.”Ultimately, people make a city, people make a home, and that city and home are one and the same here in Birmingham – and that’s something we’re proud to be: a welcoming home to all who come here.”Though the what Birmingham council already knew about the make-up of the population, he said the data was “crucial” in informing central government when allocating resources so the city could get “our fair share of funding and support, so everyone has a chance to prosper and succeed”.
Dr Chris Zembe, a senior history lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester, who specialises in colonial and postcolonial history and the African diaspora, said Leicester was so diverse because of “evolving local political willingness to accept immigrants from outside the borders of Europe”.
- Welcoming and promoting integration – not assimilation – has allowed the city to be a melting pot of cultures, where cultural diversity is celebrated, making Leicester a global city with mutual respect for our differences,” he said.
- Sign up to First Edition Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties.
For more information see our, We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google and apply. after newsletter promotion Next year, the university is running a project marking 30 years since the murder of Stephen Lawrence in London through its, which focuses on the experiences of marginalised people, institutionalised racism and racial violence.
Prof Lisa Palmer, from the centre, said the census data showed “now, more than ever, all institutions nationally, from education, health and employment, need to take the issue of race and racism seriously in order to tackle deeply rooted forms of inequalities in society”. One example of Leicester’s “melting pot of cultures” is Prana cafe in the city centre, run by the couple Sukh and Andie Johal.
The vegan cafe employs staff from South Korea, Turkey, South Africa and Thailand, as well as a mix of people born and raised in Leicester, including Sukh himself. “From day one we’ve always been very diverse. It’s just naturally how it’s fallen into place.
What is the most white city in the UK?
Population and distribution – The White British census classification have their ages more evenly distributed in their and have the highest per cent female population of all ethnic-based classifications. The following numbers were based on the 2011 census conducted in each country.
In England and Wales, about 64 per cent of the White British classification are between the ages of 16 and 64 while about 18 per cent are under 16 and 19 per cent are over 64. All other census classifications have a higher percentage of their population under 16 and a lower percentage over 64. Of those aged 65 or over, White British are 8 per cent male and 10 per cent female, making them have the lowest per cent male population among all census classifications defined as “ethnic” in the census.
In Scotland, about 65 per cent of the White British classification are between the ages of 16 and 64 while about 17 per cent are under 16 and 18 per cent are over 64. Of those aged 65 or over, White British are 8 per cent male and 10 per cent female, the same percentages as in England and Wales.
In Northern Ireland, about 13 per cent of the White classification are between the ages of 16 and 24 while about 21 per cent are under 16 and 65 per cent are over 24. Of those aged 25 or over, white people are 32 per cent male and 34 per cent female. According to the 2011 UK Census results, White British people make up the largest percentage of the population in rural areas, such as (99.4%) and (99.3%) in, (99.4%) in North Yorkshire, (99.2%) and (99%).
Cities across the UK regions with high White British populations include (91.5%), (89.7%), (92.2%), (93.7%), (96.4% – NI classification “white”), (84.7%), (84.8%) and (90.0%). The highest with a White British proportion is (97.6%) followed by (97.2%), and (both 96.6%).
- The highest county is (93%) followed by, and, all above 92%.
- Within the London region, has the highest White British percentage with 83.3%, followed by with 77.4%, with 77.3% and with 71.4%.
- Since the 2011 UK Census was returned, London contains by far the lowest percentage of English and other White British people of all the UK regions, where they make up less than half of the population in 24 of the 32, including: (16.7%), (18.0%), (30.4%), (30.9%), (31.2%), (35.2%) and (36.2%).
Despite this, the White British population in London is still higher in numbers than the entirety of Wales or Northern Ireland, owing to London’s high overall population. The city with the lowest White British population as a percentage is (45.1%) – also the only city below 50% without counting Westminster – while the lowest for is (34.5%), followed by (44.6%).
United Kingdom NUTS 1 Region’s | Year | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 2011 | 2021 | ||||
Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
1,670,988 | 99.1% | 1,738,604 | 97.7% | |||
4,832,756 | 95.4% | 4,863,000 | 91.9% | |||
2,786,605 | 96% | 2,855,450 | 93.2% | 2,814,427 | 90.9% | |
42,747,136 | 87% | 42,279,236 | 79.8% | 41,540,791 | 73.5% | |
2,425,592 | 96.4% | 2,431,423 | 93.6% | 2,397,557 | 90.6% | |
4,701,602 | 95.3% | 4,855,676 | 91.8% | 5,008,149 | 87.8% | |
6,203,043 | 92.1% | 6,141,069 | 87.1% | 6,019,385 | 81.2% | |
4,551,394 | 91.6% | 4,531,137 | 85.8% | 4,431,265 | 80.9% | |
4,927,343 | 91.4% | 4,986,170 | 85.3% | 4,972,149 | 78.5% | |
3,807,731 | 91.2% | 3,871,146 | 85.4% | 3,882,390 | 79.6% | |
7,304,678 | 91.3% | 7,358,998 | 85.2% | 7,315,058 | 78.8% | |
4,537,892 | 86.1% | 4,434,333 | 79.2% | 4,275,557 | 71.8% | |
4,287,861 | 59.7% | 3,669,284 | 44.9% | 3,239,281 | 36.8% | |
Overall in the United Kingdom: | 52,728,717 (50,366,497 ) | 89.7% (88.2%) | 52,320,080 (49,997,686 ) | 82.8% (81.5%) |
ol>
- White British mapped out in local authorities
- 2001
- 2011
- 2021
What percentage of Birmingham UK is black?
Population overview
Ethnicity | Category | % of population |
---|---|---|
Black | Black: Afrian | 2.8% |
Black | Black Caribbean | 4.4% |
Black | Black: Other | 1.7% |
Black | Combined total | 9.0% |
Why is Birmingham called Smoke city?
Sponsored – Downtown Birmingham December 1966 – photo courtesy of Jefferson County Department of Health ” Smoke City,” In the 1960s, that is what truckers used to call Birmingham when they reached the outskirts of Alabama’s largest city – the self proclaimed “Pittsburgh of the South.” Before the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, soot and smog engulfed Birmingham.
Downtown Street in Birmingham December 1966 – Photo courtesy of the Jefferson County Department of Health Air pollution is part of our DNA. That all changed significantly in 1971. In Birmingham, a year after the passage of the Clean Air Act, the city’s pollution was so bad, a local federal judge on the behest of the Jefferson County Public Health Department ordered 23 industries shuttered in an effort to protect public health.
Why Birmingham over London?
10 reasons to choose Birmingham over London Midway between England’s big cultural powerhouses – London and Liverpool, Birmingham has often missed out on its share of the limelight. As a native Brummie this has always irked me somewhat. Having spent a number of years living away and abroad, I am very proud to call Birmingham home and no more so than right now.
- The last ten years have seen so much change going on in the city with the emergence of new and independent retail shops, coffee shops and bars, not to mention the transformation of Birmingham New Street into Grand Central, completely changing the central hub of travel.
- So what’s all the fuss about? Why should you consider choosing a job in Birmingham over a job in London.
Here are 10 reasons to consider!
The cost of living – it is still a lot cheaper to live and work in Birmingham than London and when it comes to getting on the property ladder you get a lot more for your money. Improved transport – we now have a tram running through Birmingham and improving City links and connections. Whilst HS2 is still a while off completion, the infrastructure and opportunities it will bring to the City are endless – travel from Birmingham to London in 48 minutes and Birmingham to Manchester in 41 minutes! Increased employment – according to a recent report from property experts Savills there will be a 29% increase in employment levels in the City over the next 10 years. See the full report at, Proximity to the coast – you can be lying on the beach in less than two hours.the time it can often take to drive into or out of London from the M25! Eastside Locks – the redevelopment of the east side of the City continues with the development of an urban business park which will eventually house the new home for HS2, alongside retail, leisure, learning, living and business all working together to form a new community. Education – Birmingham is the largest UK centre for higher education outside of London with two of the Universities ranked amongst the top in the World Rankings fro 2016-17. The University of Birmingham’s recent announcement that it is opening a campus in Dubai will serve to further strengthen its international ties. The sites – our City is awash with beautiful buildings, miles of canals and modern architecture. Over a million people visited the new library in its first year of opening and it is definitely worth a visit, not least for the views from the roof top gardens but also for the dedicated Shakespeare room. Culture and diversity – we are a varied bunch and we are proud of our heritage and diversity. Birmingham is a City renowned for the arts, music and festivals celebrating our history and individuality. Creative hotspots – continue to emerge in the urban sprawl, check out the old industrial district of Digbeth, where vintage shops and bars exist in and around the old Victorian buildings. We also have the UK’s oldest working independent cinema. Food and drink – we have more Michelin star restaurants than any other City outside of London and they are good. We also have an amazing street food scene going on, fantastic pubs and an award winning street food event every week.
For more information contact, She specialises in placing candidates into the top firms in Birmingham so if you are considering a move to Birmingham feel free to call her on 0121 237 5611 or email [email protected], : 10 reasons to choose Birmingham over London
What is Birmingham England known for?
11. Shopping – We’re one of the top three shopping destinations in the UK. With our high street, the Mailbox, Bullring, Grand Central, the world’s largest Primark, independents, vintage shops and so much more, there really is something for everyone! Birmingham’s Bullring is also one of the largest shopping centres in Europe, and has been ‘the place to shop’ since the Middle Ages.
How many Pakistanis are there in Birmingham?
Around 195,000 people of Pakistani descent who live in Birmingham are being urged to take part in a ground breaking survey to help raise their voices and standards of living. The first Birmingham Pakistani Report (BPR) is the brainchild of community partners, health organisations and local leaders who want it to inform future policy and identify the needs and dreams of those who make up the biggest minority group in the city.
- Questions about health, wellbeing, faith, culture and heritage will help paint the most detailed picture yet of the Pakistani experience.
- Those taking part are being asked about their work, income, sporting and cultural activities, use of local services, the role of faith in their lives, and their experiences of crime and racism.
According to the 2021 census data, Pakistanis make up the largest ethnic minority group in Birmingham with 17% or 195,000 people. The majority are believed to identify as Kashmiris. READ MORE: How many days till Ramadan as families start countdown to holy month of fasting Survey organisers and guests at the launch of the Birmingham Pakistani Report As well as analysing responses to the survey, the group will also hold themed focus group get-togethers on key topics, and hold detailed interviews with prominent Pakistanis in the city.
The information will form part of the Birmingham Pakistani Report – the first of its kind – which they aim to publish in May. If you are of Pakistani heritage please complete the survey here – this will take you to a new window. The Pakistani Consulate in Birmingham and invited guests took part in a launch event last month.
The initiative was the brainchild of community activist Atif Ali, who wants as many people as possible, of all ages, to get involved. Atif Ali speaking at the survey launch for the Birmingham Pakistani Report (Image: World News TV UK – Irfan Tahir) “I’m pleased that the questionnaire is now live. I encourage Pakistanis living in Birmingham to get involved. It is important for policy and decision-makers in our super diverse city to know about the needs and wants, which we hope to achieve through this grassroots approach,” he said.
- Consul General of Pakistan in Birmingham, Sardar Adnan Rashid, is supporting the campaign and intends to use the findings to support calls for improvements to the lives of local families, along with Councillor Zaker Choudhry and health campaigner Salma Yaqoob.
- If you are of Pakistani heritage please complete the survey here – this will take you to a new window.
Responses must be submitted by February 12. Got a story you want to share or an issue that needs investigating? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
Get more stories by Jane here See our top stories and avoid ads by downloading our app to your phone or tablet Or get stories direct to your inbox by signing up for our newsletters here
Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.
What is the difference between Birmingham and the Black Country?
Dialect and accent – Many people living in the Black Country are fiercely proud of where they come from and are keen to retain their local identity and distinguish the area from Birmingham. Although it is often confused with the Birmingham ‘Brummie’ accent due to the sing-song like qualities, the Black Country has its own dialect and vocabulary as opposed to just a different accent.
What is the most segregated city in the UK?
Let’s Talk About Nuance: Unpacking Data Presented on Social Media – Creative Practice Coordinator Eli explores a recent statement made on Rising’s Instagram. 21.07.2020 | Elinor Lower Social media is a tricky thing. We’ve become very accustomed to seeing information presented quickly and cleanly, in an “easy to understand” format.
- At the time of writing this, Instagram has become a hub for people across the world to share resources about defunding the police, prison abolition, #BlackLivesMatter, unionising, human rights, the crisis in Yemen, and more.
- Graphic designers and illustrators are flexing their muscles and producing beautiful infographics, comics and multi-image masterposts about Why You Should Be Angry and What To Do About It.
It feels exciting—and useful. But it also collides with another issue that the internet continues to battle with: the necessity of ensuring all data and information always comes properly cited and contextualised. And we are not immune. Last week, we shared the image below, reading “Bristol is the most racially segregated city in the UK”. When we posted the image, we included the following caption, drawing from the source that we named as “Runnymede, 2017”. ▪️Ethnic minorities in Bristol experience greater disadvantage than in England and Wales as a whole in education and employment and this is particularly so for Black African people.⠀ ▪️There was a decrease in the proportion of young people with no educational qualifications in Bristol, for all ethnic groups, between 2001 and 2011.⠀ ▪️ Black African young people are persistently disadvantaged in education compared to their White peers.⠀ ▪️ Addressing educational inequalities requires attention to: the unrepresentativeness of the curriculum, lack of diversity in teaching staff and school leadership and poor engagement with parents.⠀ ▪️Bristol was ranked 55th for employment inequality between White British and ethnic minorities.⠀ ▪️People from Black African (19%), Other (15%) and Black Caribbean (12.7%) groups had persistently high levels of unemployment.⠀ ▪️Almost all ethnic minority groups in Bristol experience employment inequality when compared to White British people.⠀ ▪️In order to tackle employment inequality both recruitment processes and office culture need to be revised.
RUNNYMEDE REPORT 2017 #whosefuture While it initially seemed okay to us (a team of people who have been neck-deep in reports and data like this for the last four years), we’ve realised there’s a problem here. We didn’t do enough work to tie our statement (“Bristol is the most racially segregated city in the UK”) to the data we presented in the caption.
We didn’t connect the dots. And we apologise. So, we want to clarify the journey we took between reading the source materials and posting on Instagram. Up front, here are our sources. Next, our thought process. Each element has been drawn out to correlate to a part of the original statement.
1. “CITY IN THE UK”: THE REPORTS
This information came from the 2017 Runnymede Report (Bristol: A City Divided?) and the 2017 Local Ethnic Inequalities Report which used data from the 2001 & 2011 census. This table ranked DISTRICTS in the UK by “multiple inequalities”, Bristol is 7th, but above it are Lambeth (London Borough), Haringey (London Borough), Rotherham (large minster town, Yorkshire), Oldham (large town, Greater Manchester), Tower Hamlets (London Borough) and Brent (London Borough).
2. “CITY IN THE UK”: WHAT ARE CORE CITIES?
Some of the narrative around this report listed Bristol as the most segregated “Core City” which has caused some confusion. Being a “Core City” is a title assigned by Core Cities UK. The Core Cities are Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
3. “MOST RACIALLY SEGREGATED”: THE METRICS
The metric used to rank the districts was the “Index of Multiple Inequality”. This index takes each district’s ranking on inequality in education, employment, health and housing and then draws an average. When averaging across the rankings of education, employment, health and housing, Bristol is the CITY that ranks HIGHEST on this index,
- Data is complicated, and there is a reason that complex information isn’t solely distributed on social media.
- We acknowledge that the statement we made was very strong, and elicited an equally strong reaction.
- Many of you asked for further citations, called for nuance, and made clarifications: we really appreciate that—it’s very important to interrogate information presented boldly online.
We apologise for not being more clear. In the future, we will be as upfront as we can about our methodologies and sources, and we encourage you to do the same! We hope that this clarification helps. We do not, however, apologise for the sentiment of the statement.
Why is there inequality in Birmingham?
Social and economic challenges – Urban decline – Birmingham used to have a large manufacturing industry, Due to competition from abroad, most of Birmingham’s manufacturing industry has now gone. This has led to urban decline as manufacturing buildings were left empty and became derelict. Longbridge car manufacturing is based in Birmingham Deprivation – with the closure of the manufacturing industry and high unemployment, parts of Birmingham experienced a spiral of social and economic decline leading to deprivation. Inequalities in housing – Birmingham’s high population has resulted in pressures on housing.
- There is not enough good quality and affordable housing for people in the city.
- Education – the quality of education was particularly poor in inner city areas such as Aston.
- Aston is an area of deprivation with an ethnically diverse community where many children struggled to access and succeed in education.
Health – in Aston, people with poorer English language skills found it difficult to access healthcare facilities. Unemployment – the closure of factories in the manufacturing industry led to high unemployment,
What percentage of Birmingham UK is Black?
Ethnicity in Birmingham – Birmingham is more ethnically diverse than most British cities. Over one third of people in Birmingham are non-whites, a larger proportion than any other major city in the UK (note: some smaller cities and towns do have a slightly higher percentage of non white population).
Is Birmingham a segregated city?
Reflections on Birmingham, Site of America’s Newest National Monument Birmingham was once the nation’s most segregated city, home to brutal, racially motivated violence. Today, a new national park site commemorates the critical civil rights history that happened here. Last October, I was headed to Birmingham, Alabama, and my mother was worried. Victory In the 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the most segregated places in the United States. Nonviolent protesters suffered brutal mistreatment in the struggle for equality and ultimately changed the See more › The secretary of the Department of the Interior and the director of the National Park Service were attending a public meeting at the city’s 16th Street Baptist Church.
- Their mission was to hear from residents whether they wanted a new national park site commemorating Birmingham’s civil rights history.
- And it’s that history that had my mother so concerned, because for her, the word Birmingham triggers sharp memories of a time when that part of the American South was the worst of bad places for black people.
She worried for her son that what’s past may be prologue. Eight years ago, the country elected its first African American president. Segregation, Jim Crow and the violence inspired by those two great national evils have largely dissipated. The Birmingham I know is home to great barbecue, friendly people and downtown sidewalks that tend to roll up on weekdays at 4 p.m.
- But my mother remembers Birmingham as it was in the decades before I was born.
- When segregationist, state-sanctioned terrorism was commonly used to enforce a vicious brand of apartheid, and few African Americans felt truly safe in that city.
- The night before I headed to Alabama, my mother’s last admonition before she hung up was a plea.
“Please be careful,” she told me. Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s was known as the most segregated city in the United States. Jim Crow laws separated black and white people in parks, pools and elevators, at drinking fountains and lunch counters. African Americans were barred from working at the same downtown businesses where many of them shopped.
- Ordinances even outlawed blacks and whites from competing against each other on the same field during sporting events.
- At the heart of such strict segregation policies was the belief by some whites in the inherent inferiority of black people and the dangers associated with “race mixing.” That inequality sparked resistance in the African American community, which in turn drew the wrath of Alabama’s pro-segregationist leadership.
Those who dared to advocate for change were subject to harassment, job loss, beatings and arrest. And then there were the bombings. Between 1945 and 1963, there were 60 bombings of black homes, churches and businesses in Birmingham, all designed to intimidate or kill blacks who had the audacity to fight for basic human rights.
Bombingham was what my mother’s generation called that city. In January of 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace doubled down on the state’s pro-segregationist philosophy. He declared in his inaugural address that, “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod the earth” — his description for white people — he would defend Alabama against any efforts to integrate.
“Segregation today segregation tomorrow segregation forever” was the way he famously described his views on race. In the wake of the governor’s pledge to defend segregation against all comers, civil rights leaders Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., decided to target Birmingham. Google Maps A map of four of the key sites that could be become part of the proposed Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park. See more › While Shuttlesworth organized from Bethel Baptist Church, King set up a war room at the A.G. Gaston Motel.
- The Gaston was located one block south of the 16th Street Baptist Church and close to the heart of Birmingham’s black business district.
- Elly Ingram Park, a large open space about the size of a city block, was adjacent to both the church and the motel.
- The Project C protest marches began in April 1963.
Protesters gathered at 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park, intent on marching east into downtown Birmingham. From the start, Eugene “Bull” Connor, Birmingham’s ironically titled commissioner of public safety, deployed both the police and fire departments to brutally break up the marches.
Nonviolent demonstrators were beaten with police nightsticks and bitten by police dogs. The fire department sprayed marchers with water from high-powered cannons that had sufficient force to strip bricks from buildings. Those who weren’t immediately bowled over were pinned against the sides of buildings as pressurized water pounded mercilessly against their bodies.
After the adults had been arrested en masse, high school and elementary school students led a Children’s Crusade in another march for freedom and justice. City authorities chose to handle the young equally as roughly as their parents and older siblings.
The world watched as events unfolded in Birmingham in 1963. And when people saw the lengths to which some would go to win freedom and justice and the extent to which others would attempt to deny them those rights, attitudes began to change. In May, under intense public pressure, Birmingham’s leaders came to the Gaston Motel to negotiate an end to the Project C protests, ultimately agreeing to end some Jim Crow practices.
History, unfortunately, is rarely a linear march from bad to good. In Birmingham it took one more bomb blast, this one on September 15, 1963, claiming the lives of four African American girls who were preparing for Sunday church services at 16th Street Baptist Church, to galvanize the nation into passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At the October 2016 public meeting, Birmingham residents offered powerful testimony in support of the civil rights park in their city. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) declared that to delay the designation would be to deny justice to all those who fought for equality and have worked tirelessly for decades to preserve Birmingham’s history.
The most poignant statements came from the aging veterans of Project C — the foot soldiers whose fight against racism and inequality in the 1950s and 60s enabled all of us to sit confidently in 16th Street Baptist Church without fear of violence or retaliation.
Even the Birmingham Fire Department attended with a diverse coalition of firefighters determined more than 50 years later to show just how far the city and the nation have come. They too wanted a civil rights park in Birmingham. It is easy to think that the Birmingham story is a key component of our American narrative so strongly etched into the American consciousness that it will never fade.
But time and progress have their ways of shading over the significance of events and people, requiring that we become more deliberate in preserving our shared past. Thanks to the authority of the Antiquities Act, any president can protect significant places by designating them as national monuments.
Now, with the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Birmingham’s civil rights history is protected in perpetuity for the world to see. And with this new park site, we ensure that the past is less a prologue than a mile marker demonstrating how far we as a people may go when the better angels of our nature prevail.
: Reflections on Birmingham, Site of America’s Newest National Monument
What percentage of London is Black?
Demography, London’s Population & Geography Data source: Mid-year population estimates, ONS (2021). Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality, 2021 Census. Ethnic group populations, 2021 Census. Around 8.8 million people live in London, which had overall growth since 2011 of 6.7% – slightly higher than the rest of England’s growth of 5.9%.
- This growth was strongest in East London which saw an increase of 10%.
- North, South and West London also had sizeable population increases of 5.6%, 6.5% and 7.5% respectively, but Central London only increased by 0.3%.
- Central London has the highest level of population density with 10,936 people per km2, which is almost twice the level of London overall.
Still, London overall is 15 times more dense than the rest of England, with 5,596 and 371 people per km2 respectively.46% of Londoners are Black and Minority Ethnic and 41% are not born in the UK. West London has the highest proportion (53%) of its population that are Black and Minority Ethnic and 47% who are not UK-born.
What is the most diverse city in the UK?
Not for the first time, Leicester lays claim to be a unique place in the UK. According to the 2021 Census data, it has emerged as the first plural city in the UK where no ethnic group has a majority. In the blog below, Professor Nishan Canagarajah, President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, describes the opportunities and challenges this presents.
A new age of ‘super diversity’ and ‘minority majority’ cities proclaimed The Guardian, as it cited Leicester in an article about the 2021 Census data. The Leicester Mercury was a little more direct in identifying Leicester among the first cities in the UK where white people are no longer the majority,
For those of us who are familiar with Leicester, and for a University that carries the city’s name, there is a heightened awareness of our distinctive credentials – as well as the way we are perceived by others. The Independent declared in 2013 that Leicester was the most multicultural city on the planet – so data a decade later showing Leicester to be the most plural city in the UK came as little surprise.
- For a city that was once the richest in the UK and the second richest in Europe, and which had seen settlement by different people since pre-Roman times, Leicester has a history that is as economically rich as it is ethnically diverse.
- Given our city’s history and ‘super diversity ‘, it is in many ways the perfect place for a university community – and this is reflected through the representation of ethnicities and nationalities across our staff and student communities.
The University has been shaped by the diverse make-up of its locality – and has in turn shaped the city in which it is located – and this informs our approach to research, education, and engagement with our local community. Leicester’s super-diversity has made our research more distinctive and world-changing.
- Our researchers were the first to identify the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minority communities.
- This was thanks to long-standing relationships with our communities and participation rates in COVID-19 clinical trials that were three times higher than anywhere else in the UK.
- Our Biomedical Research Centre has received a £26 million funding boost including for research addressing ethnic health disparities and ‘Big Pharma’ choose Leicester for clinical trials because of our ‘super-diversity’ – due to the recognition that most drugs have historically only been tested on white men,
Our Colonial Countryside project based at the University of Leicester’s Centre for New Writing involves 100 primary pupils, predominantly of African, Caribbean, Chinese and South Asian heritage, along with authors and historians producing creative commissions, exploring country houses’ Caribbean and East India Company connections.
In Museum Studies our researchers are emphasising the dynamic relationship between museums and society and the significant role museums can play in advancing equality and diversity. Their research explores barriers and issues faced by marginalised communities in accessing museums, galleries heritage and the arts.
Our Migration Mobility and Citizenship Network seeks to draw inspiration from the lived experience of mobility, migration and citizenship in the everyday lives of the residents of Leicester and beyond. Given the University’s location in a super-diverse city, the network has access to a migration resource, enabling comparisons with migration processes in other larger and smaller urban locations World-leading research by the School of Archaeology and Ancient History on Roman-era identities, and large-scale investigation of Roman Leicester by University of Leicester Archaeological Services has been synthesised and made accessible through a programme for schools called Life in the Roman World,
The programme has introduced new non-traditional audiences to the complex diverse communities of the Roman world through the prism of local heritage. The initiative has influenced the strategy of schools, heritage bodies and universities regionally and internationally, making Roman-era history, culture and language accessible to over 10,000 participants, including more than 7,000 pupils, many facing multiple intersecting disadvantages.
It continues to flourish, promoting social justice and transforming lives. Building on this, the University is leading research on the analysis of Census data to understand the socio-demographics of Leicester at a granular level and support policymakers.
59.1 per cent of people living in Leicester are from ethnic minority groups. Across England and Wales, 81.7% of individuals were of a white ethnicity.41.1% of individuals living in Leicester were born outside of the UK compared to 16.8% in England and Wales. There has been a 7.5% increase in the population born outside UK living in Leicester since 2011, compared to a 3.4% rise in England & Wales.There was an 8.9% increase in the number of residents who hold a non-UK passport since 2011, compared to a 2.5% increase in England & WalesEnglish is spoken as a first language by 70% of Leicester’s residents, compared to 91.1% for England & Wales.
We are based in UK’s first plural city and we are immensely proud to be a plural university: 42 per cent of our students identify as Asian, 34 per cent as white, 11 per cent as black, and 8 per cent as other ethnic minority backgrounds – with the remaining 5 per cent not declaring their ethnicity.
Our University is in many ways the ‘University of Inclusion’. Our diversity brings huge benefits to all our students. They receive a truly inclusive experience, make friends with people from diverse backgrounds and faiths, and enjoy a city that is an exciting melting pot of cultural experiences. They quite literally have the world on their doorstep.
Their education is global and truly prepares them for world that awaits them. We know that many employers come to Leicester because of the diversity of our student body, and because our graduates are able to articulate clearly their skills and the value they can add to an employer’s organisation.
- Our University draws on our local environment to deliver inspiring and relevant teaching and learning opportunities.
- In Modern Languages, students undertake ‘Linguistic Landscape’ induction activities which engage directly with the diverse languages of the local area, and in Sociology, innovative course design takes students into the city to explore ethnicity, migration, and social class in a ‘Live’ environment.
But diversity also brings challenges. On my first day at the University of Leicester, I vowed to eliminate the awarding gap for minority ethnic students, address the poor representation of minority ethnic staff, and ensure we create a truly inclusive curriculum.
Tackling these issues is a key focus for the University. Being home to a large ethnically diverse student community enables us to maintain and progress our commitment to ensure that our curriculum, student support and all services that we deliver create a truly inclusive environment for every student to flourish and achieve their full potential.
Having people of different faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds can also lead to flashpoints – as was the case recently in the city where there were disturbances involving different groups. But it also provides an opportunity – to lead the conversation nationally, and promote harmonious relationships between and across communities in a modern age.
At Leicester, we are having those conversations involving the city, faith organisations and universities. And we are celebrating our ‘super diversity’ and extolling the values of having such a varied population in our midst. We sponsor the Diwali festival which is the biggest outside of India and are involved in the local Curry Awards marking the diverse culinary delights of the city.
Our Migration Network led community events to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of South Asians into Leicester following their expulsion from Uganda, while we take a partnership approach to promote ethnic diversity across sport and physical activity in the UK, and address the lack of diversity among sports leaders.
- Leicester is the only university in the country with a unit specifically positioned to support Sanctuary Seekers,
- As we strive to create a more fair and humane society, the values of compassion, of justice, and inclusion enrich our University and mark our commitment to create a better world. Our approach harnesses the spirit of those who helped establish the University and of those activists who were pioneers in the fight for equality.
The international diversity of the University has had a profound impact on the city through the decades. Former Principal of the University Fred Attenborough, father of David and Richard, offered sanctuary to two German-Jewish refugee children, in their family home on campus, during the Second World War.
- His wife, Mary Attenborough, was active in providing homes for Basque children fleeing the Spanish Civil War.
- Today, our University is supporting Afghan and Ukranian refugees and asylum seekers and, for example, through the British Academy’s Researchers-at-Risk programme, we currently have two Ukrainian academic fellows in our Schools of Business and Law.
The city of Leicester has a unique place in the UK. The ‘super diversity’ of our city and University means we can lead the conversation that will provide important lessons for others within the sector and beyond. I welcome the opportunities that presents.