种族多元化的英国

黄薇薇

Influenced and even deceived by the presentation on mass media， people may hold the perspective that most British people are descendants of Anglo-Saxon， simply the white people， while American is a melting pot of different races， cultures and ethnicities.2 Compared with portraits3 of black people in American movies and dramas， it is indeed relatively less frequent to see black people in British TV programs and movies. The issue of multi-ethnicity in the UK is seldom considered as a hot public topic. However， evidence and reality can be drawn to support the fact that UK， like America， has already become a melting pot of different races， ethnic groups and cultures.

Migrant population was brought to America because of the huge demand of labour force in American colonies. But what trigger off4 the need of labour force varied. The farm owners in American colonies， generally white higher class sent by the Emperor， were not able to take care of cotton field and crops by themselves alone. Some smart businessmen took advantage of the disparity between supply and demand of labour and initiated the business of transporting and selling slaves to American farm owners， which led to the development and boom of slave trafficking.5 Slave traffickers kidnapped and transported black people from Africa as goods to America by stocking them under decks and laying them tightly one by one.6 Many slaves died on the way to the America. The survived slaves were presented in the open market for sale. Farm owners purchased their black human goods， overloaded them with forced work and treated them as their properties rather than human beings.7 Although the cruel system of slavery was terminated8 long time ago， black people have been fighting for their equality and human rights in America for centuries. Appreciation of African-Americans contribution to the development of America has been observed， but discrimination against African-American people and their culture and ideology can prevail in the modern society.9

Because of historical reasons， the conflict and discrimination among different races in the UK has not been as fierce as that in America.10 But there is also evidence of racial disparity and discrimination. After the Second World War， due to the lack of labour force and the urgent need to rebuild cities and to recover the economic power of the UK， a huge number of immigrants from continental Europe， Africa and West Asian countries were attracted to the UK.11 Many migrants came to the UK， to seek opportunities of development and to strive for12 a better life for both themselves and their descendants. Major proportion of migrant population was Indian people， since India was once the colony of the UK， which may explain why more Indian and Pakistan descendants than African descendants are observed in modern British society.

Some coincidence between the past and the present is still visible in both modern British and American societies， for example， stereotypes of different social classes.13 As the UK was conquered by the Roman and ruled by the French， the leading race of British ruling class has always been white， and the lower class has been other races， which shapes the social stereotypes of different races. The white people in the UK regard their social status naturally superior to others and hold the thought that they should enjoy the prestige， privilege and dignity.14 In the pursuit of prestige， self-esteem and decent life，15 descendants of ancient British higher class， mostly white people， prefer to develop their careers in offices so as to wear decent collar and tie to go to work every day. They may regard blue-collars as humble jobs.16 Ironically， this preference to mental work leads to the lack of the manual workers in modern society， which increases the demand of manual workers and consequently raises the wages for blue-collar workers.17 For example， a person who works on mass production manufacturing lines can earn more money per hour than the one who work at the reception.18 In the UK， cleaners and construction workers may make much more money than office assistants. Similar situations are present in the American society.

Limited positions of mental work are mainly occupied by white British， while immigrants， forced by living pressure and pursuit of higher income， may choose to take manual work. It is not hard to notice， according to skin color， most taxi drivers， bus drivers， outdoor stand19 sellers and cleaners are not white people but immigrants from India， Pakistan， Africa， and etc. Comparatively， in developed districts like CBDs， the majority groups are white British or half-white hybrids.20

Another representation of multi-ethnicity in the UK is the residential segregation within metropolis.21 In some big cities， like London， Birmingham， Manchester and Edinburgh， certain ethnic groups feature some residential areas.22 Since I lived in Manchester and London before， I will take London and Manchester for examples. In both cities， the majority of Chinese immigrants and their children live around China Town， the areas around which are famous for its Chinese style. In the other street where many Indian shops and restaurants are established， people may think they are traveling in India when they wander around that area， because they are overwhelmed by buildings，23 shops， restaurants and music of Indian style. Besides， most of the residents living there are Indian immigrants and their descendants， so most passers-by are not white British but people with brown skin colour. But when they talk to people， the former impression disappeared immediately. As they have settled down in the UK， some of their second generations regard themselves as British rather than Indian. One of my classmates was an Indian girl. But she firmly claimed she was British when we were talking about nationality， because she was born and raised in the UK.

As the globalization and internationalization of the whole world is in progress， there is no doubt that the level of multi-ethnicity in the UK is going to be higher and higher.

在大众的认识中，种族问题在美国比英国更受瞩目，但人们往往忽略了美国是受过旷日持久的民权运动洗礼的国家，但英国的种族问题却因得不到重视而暗流涌动。然而和美国相似，英国的种族问题也与历史、殖民、移民等问题息息相关，反映在经济、社会地位、文化等各个方面的不平等和歧视上，也导致了种种社会矛盾和隐患。

1. multi-ethnic： 多种族的。

2. 受大众媒体描述的影响甚至蒙蔽，人们也许持有这样的观点：大多数英国人是盎格鲁-撒克逊的后代，简单说就是白人，而美国是多人种、文化及种族的大熔炉。deceive： 欺骗；perspective： 观点；descendant： 后代；Anglo-Saxon： 盎格鲁-撒克逊，五至六世纪入侵不列颠的古代北欧日耳曼诸部族，包括盎格鲁人、撒克逊人和朱特人；melting pot： 熔炉；race： 人种；ethnicity： 种族。

3. portrait： 描写。

4. trigger off： 引起，激起。

5. 一些聪明的生意人利用劳动力供求之间的差异，开始向美国的农场主运送和贩卖奴隶，导致了奴隶走私贸易的发展和兴盛。disparity： 不同，不一致；initiate： 开始；boom： 繁荣，暴涨；trafficking： 非法交易。

6. kidnap： 绑架；stock： 放（常用在牲畜上）；deck： 甲板；lay： 放置。

7. purchase： 购买；overload sb. with： 用……使某人负担过重；properties： 财产，财物。

8. terminate： 废除，终止。

9. 非裔美国人对于美国发展做出的贡献是得到了肯定，但针对非裔美国人及其文化和意识形态的歧视在现代社会中依然盛行。ideology： 意识形态； prevail： 占上风，盛行。

10. conflict： 冲突；fierce： 激烈的。

11. 第二次世界大战之后，由于劳动力的紧缺和重建城市、恢复英国经济实力的迫切需求，大量来自欧洲大陆、非洲及西亚的移民被吸引过来。

12. strive for： 力求。

13. coincidence： 巧合，一致； visible： 明显的，看得见的； stereotype： 刻板印象。

14. superior to： 优于，比……优越；prestige： 声望；privilege： 特权；dignity： 尊严。

15. in the pursuit of： 追求……； self-esteem： 自尊；decent： 体面的。

16. regard： 把……看作；humble： （级别或地位）低下的。

17. 讽刺的是，这种对脑力工作的偏好导致了现代社会体力劳动者的紧缺，因此增加了体力工作者的需求，结果导致了蓝领工作的工资提高。ironically： 讽刺的是；manual worker： 体力劳动者；blue-collar worker： 蓝领工人，即体力劳动者或技工。

18. mass production manufacturing line： 大规模生产制造线； reception： 前台，接待处。

19. stand： 摊位。

20. CBD： 是Central Business District的简称，商务中心区；hybrid： 混血儿。

21. residential segregation： 居住隔离；metropolis： 大都市。

22. Birmingham： 伯明翰；Manchester： 曼彻斯特；Edinburgh： 爱丁堡； feature： v. 作……的特征，以……为主要内容。

23. wander around： 在……周边漫步；be overwhelmed by： 被……淹没。