The Development of New Ethnic Identities such as Black British or British/Asian

The Development of New Ethnic Identities such as Black British or British/Asian

When referring to British Asians, the majority of us often fall into

the trap of understanding the Asians referred to are linked to the

Indian Subcontinent, i.e. India, Pakistan etc. What we tend to forget

is that Asians are associated with a number of different countries and

with Asia being the largest continent in the world, what exactly is

meant by the term 'British Asians?'

Generally, here in Britain, they are perceived to be the 'brown' kind

and are often associated with the Indian subcontinent. This may seem

like a genuine error, but colloquially speaking we have come to accept

this fact and refer to it commonly without thought. Such examples can

be seen in various places where we tend to overlook the deeper

article. A radical example can be seen in perhaps the way we describe

'Hoovers', we all know that the correct term is 'Vacuum Cleaner'

however we use Hoover and the rest of us know what is being referred

to is actually a 'Vacuum Cleaner'. In not so many words the British

Asian community has been innocently branded to mean those people that

are British and associated with the Indian Subcontinent i.e. India,

Pakistan, Bangladesh and perhaps in extreme cases neighbouring

countries such as Burma and Iran.

The Asian community living in Britain not so long ago used the term

'coconut' commonly. To an outsider of the Asian culture this term may

have seemed a harmless comment passed from one Asian to the next, and

colloquially speaking, this to a certain extent may be true, but the

term is used in ways which may offend or demeanour many others.

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Muslim Youths to go to the mosques with friends and attend a multitude

of religious seminars and lectures that give them an insight and

educate them further into their faith.

It seems that the British Asian community has increased and that to a

great extent in many areas. To see the impact on individuals and how

they have generally changed would just be skimming the surface. With

the emergence and continual growth of Asian community and it's fertile

culture it seems that nothing is impossible and many seeds are set to

grow and germinate into other areas of interest that will be concerned

with the Asian community in Britain. A trend has started and the

continuation of such trends seems inevitable, to analyse the situation

and see the extent of what it has done, one can only argue that the

sky's the limit.