Ethnic identity in Britain is about minorities. Ethnicity is noticed because the individual is different from dominant forms of whiteness. 'I'm Jewish', 'I'm Black Caribbean' or 'I'm Pakistani' are statements of difference: 'I'm not English (or Scottish) White', for example. British people see the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh as nationalities, not ethnic groups.

In-depth interviews in four areas in and around Manchester in the late 1990s revealed that white respondents were remarkably reluctant to identify themselves in any kind of ethnic terms. 'I see ethnic groups as anything other than my own' said one white, middle-class English woman, '...ethnic groups are anything that isn't British. And I suppose ethnic group then would be all coloured...'1Mike Savage, Gaynor Bagnall & Brian Longhurst, Globalization and Belonging, London: Sage, 2005, p. 183.

Non-white people comprised 7.9% of the UK population in the 2001 census – up from 6.6% a decade earlier.2Daniel Dorling & Bethan Thomas, People and places. A 2001 Census atlas of the UK, Bristol: Policy Press, p. 45. But this clearly understates the total ethnic population, since there are a number of ethnic groups that are not coloured.

Ethnic groups have a strong sense of identity. Many people, for example, identify more readily with their ethnic group than with being British. A 1994 survey found that 89% of respondents from ethnic backgrounds identified with their ethnic group, against 63% who thought of themselves as British (see chart below). More than 40% thought of themselves strongly in terms of their ethnicity.3Tariq Modood et al., Ethnic Minorities in Britain. Diversity and Disadvantage, London: Policy Studies Institute, 1997, p. 329.

'In many ways I think of myself as (i) British, (ii) respondents' ethnic group'.

Ethnic identities are frequently constructed from a mixture of cultural traditions. The following pattern is a bit simplistic, but has been largely true in many cases:

Ethnic identities can be highly fluid, therefore, precisely because they are not given but constructed. Some members of Rwanda's diaspora around the world have relabelled themselves as 'Congolese' to dissociate themselves from the Rwandan atrocities in 1994. After 9/11 a number of Hindus and Sikhs asked no longer to be called 'Asian' because they did not want to be lumped together with Muslims. 'Black' has been redefined, referring, no longer to non-whites in general, but to people from a specific background – 'Black Caribbean' for example.

Muslim identity has begun to supersede identities based on countries of origin, particularly among south Asian communities. In the Tower Hamlets, East London Bangladeshi community, for example, young women reported that the Bengali aspect of their identity was less pronounced for them than for older women. 'More people know me as a Muslim; they don't know that I am a Bengali', said a 21 year old student.10Nilufar Ahmed, 'Tower Hamlets: Insulation in Isolation' in Tahir Abbas (ed.), Muslim Britain. Communities under Pressure, London: Zed Books, 2005, p. 200. Though 74% of British Muslims are of south Asian origin, the younger generation seems to getting more 'Arabised'. A noticeable minority are adopting the religious habits, customs and clothing (such as the jilbab or niqab) of the Middle East.11Munira Mirza, Abi Senthilkumaran & Zein Ja'far, Living apart together. British Muslims and the paradox of multiculturalism, London: Policy Exchange, 2007, p. 41.

A number of factors have encouraged this growing emphasis on Muslim identity, not least:

Is this Muslim identity a form of religious or political identity? The experience of individuals of course varies. For some people, affirming their Muslim identity has a strong religious component: they are devout in saying their prayers and giving to charity. But for many others Muslim identity is mainly about making a visible statement of belonging to a group. In the highly charged atmosphere of the 'war on terror' and fears about a clash between Islam and the West, this statement is inevitably political.

For many it is a statement of Muslim solidarity. For a growing minority of young people it is a way of identifying with militant Islam. Opinion polls since July 2005 suggest that 100,000 people in Britain think that the 7/7 bombings in London were justified.16'The international terrorist threat to the UK', speech by the Secretary General of the security service, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 9 November 2006, http://www.mi5.gov.uk. For a tiny but important minority, their Muslim identity requires active militancy.

Among many who see themselves as Muslim, might ethnic identity be in transition? Identification with the global Islamic communion complements or perhaps even becomes more important than being, say, Pakistani or Bengali.17Parveen Akhtar, '(Re)turn to Religion and Radical Islam' in Tahir Abbas (ed.), Muslim Britain: Communities under Pressure, London: Zed Books, 2005, pp. 164-176. Could we be seeing not the (re-)emergence of religious identity, but the development of a new form of ethnic identity, centred on the ummah? (See also Religious identities » What might be the implications?)

Multiculturalism is being redefined, partly as a result of the spread of radical Islam. During the 1980s and 90s multiculturalism became the dominant view on how Britain's race relations should be conducted. Racial equality was understood, not as enabling ethnic minorities to become more like the dominant whites, but as the equal right of each ethnic group to assert its own identity.

Multiculturalism in Britain has a number of roots – not least:

Britain's multicultural tradition has come under the spotlight following the 2001 riots among ethnic communities in several Northern cities, the spread of Islamic radicalism and the growth in net immigration. Increasingly the question is being asked: will all these new arrivals, together with ethnic groups already here, live comfortably with the rest of the population?

Some, like Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, believe that Britain has gone too far in a multicultural direction. Not enough is being done to encourage minorities to integrate with the rest of society. A better balance should be struck between affirming ethnic identities and encouraging identification with the whole of society.

Some steps have been taken in this direction – for example, a stronger requirement for immigrants to demonstrate an understanding of British society before receiving citizenship. But other recent measures (such as legislation to ban incitement to religious hatred) may have the effect of reinforcing multiculturalism. Will this be the pattern in future – initiatives to protect multiculturalism on the one hand, but measures to put limits round it on the other?

Ethnic groups are spreading out. 'The UK remains a White desert with a few oases of colour, but these oases are spreading out.'18Daniel Dorling & Bethan Thomas,People and places. A 2001 Census atlas of the UK, Bristol: Policy Press, p. 36. Census data show that the Indian, Chinese, 'Other Asian' and Black Caribbean populations are moving out of the cities to more distant suburbs and small towns. People of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin remain very concentrated in particular areas, but they too have become somewhat more dispersed. Groups not (yet) spreading out appear to be the very recent new arrivals from countries without a tradition of sending people to Britain (such as Somalia). 'Increased segregation by ethnicity is not a feature of mainland Britain.'19Daniel Dorling & Bethan Thomas,People and places. A 2001 Census atlas of the UK, Bristol: Policy Press, p. 36.