Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom
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The classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom has attracted controversy in the past: particularly at the time of the 2001 Census where the existence and nature of such a classification, which appeared on the Census form, became more widely known than general.
Different classifications, both formal and informal, are used in the UK. Perhaps the most accepted is the National Statistics classification (identical to that used in the 2001 Census in England and Wales) which contains the following groups.
- Mixed: White and Black Caribbean
- Mixed: White and Black African
- Mixed: White and Asian
- Mixed: Other
ASIAN [South Asian]
- Asian: Pakistani
- Asian: Indian
- Asian: Bangladeshi
- Asian: Other
- Black or Black British: Black Caribbean
- Black or Black British: Black African
- Black or Black British: Other
CHINESE OR OTHER
- Chinese or Other: Chinese
- Chinese or Other: Other
In practice the 16 categories above are often supplemented with a 'Not stated' category, and this convention is known as the '16 + 1' classification. More detail on this classification is available on the National Statistics website.[1]
Different classifications were used in the 1991 Census in England and Wales, and in the 2001 Census in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Other classifications also appear. For example UK police began to classify arrests in racial groups in 1975, but later replaced the race code with an Identity Code (IC) system.[2]
- IC1 White person
- IC2 Mediterranean or Hispanic person
- IC3 African/Caribbean person
- IC4 Indian, Nepalese, Maldivian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, or any other (South) Asian person
- IC5 Chinese, Japanese, or South-East Asian person
- IC6 Arabic, Egyptian or Maghreb person
- IC0 Origin unknown
This classification is still referred to on some police websites and police chase TV shows, e.g. "Driver is IC1 male, passenger is IC3 male".[3]
However, from April 1, 2003, all police forces were required to use the new 16 + 1 system described above). The IC classification is still used for descriptions of suspects amongst police which often leads to people being incorrectly identified (e.g. a light skinned Indian could be incorrectly identified as IC6) however once the suspect is caught and asked to give their information, they are asked to pick their "ethnic background" from the 16+1 classification.
In terms of use as opposed to official policy there is one main difference, the use of the term Oriental is widespread and without negative connotation in the UK and Europe while in the UK Asian is generally reserved for people from South Asia (see Oriental and British Asian for more details).
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Classification of Ethnic Groups. National Statistics (2001-02-16). Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ Mackie, Lindsay. "Race causes an initial confusion", The Guardian, 1978-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ "Abbreviations Used", Freedom of Information Act, Sussex Police Online. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
