The Study of Racialism

Liana · Guru Joined: 30 Nov 2004 {Posts: 352 }

Black Wales - Cymru Ddu
Category: News Dated: 19/04/2005
A new book by Alan Llwyd, writer and poet provides an insight into racism in Wales. It shows that racism in Wales is still alive despite it being one of the European nations where black people's roots run deepest

Ever since the days when Wales was a part of the British Empire and slavery was at the heart of the regime, attitudes towards black people in Wales have changed for the better. But racism still exists ...

Mr. Wyn Thomas - Producer, Cymru Ddu
A new book by Alan Llwyd, writer and poet provides an insight into racism in Wales. It shows that racism in Wales is still alive despite it being one of the European nations where black people's roots run deepest.

Mr. Alan Llwyd, compiled the bilingual volume Cymru Ddu - Black Wales while researching and scripting a TV documentary Cymru Ddu.

Welsh people see themselves as welcoming however there is also a history of race - related tensions stretching back centuries which endures today.
But it is a mixed history,

Interviews with prominent Welsh people of African descent, including athletes Nigel Walker and Colin Jackson and former rugby star Billy Boston, reveal a mixed reality.

In the week commencing 03 April 2005, Mr. Trevor Phillips, Chairman, Commission for Racial Equality said he believed it was easier for Asians and black people to consider themselves Welsh than English.

Speaking to Mr. Gareth Morgan, of Western Mail Mr Llwyd said: ”In truth, attitudes in Wales are no better and no worse than those found in other countries of the UK.

Produced by Mr. Wyn Thomas, the documentary Cymru Ddu is the first series to chronicle the history of Wales' black communities comprehensively and chronologically.

Mr. Thomas stated that despite its image as a modern, progressive nation with, contemporary Wales is far from being free of racism. He added, "Ever since the days when Wales was a part of the British Empire and slavery was at the heart of the regime, attitudes towards black people in Wales have changed for the better. But racism still exists and we're a long way from a tolerant and all-encompassing welcoming Wales."

Figures currently available show that between 2000 and 2004 racist incidents reported to the police in England and Wales rose from forty-eight thousand (48,000) to fifty-two thousand seven hundred (52,700).

Mr. Gareth Morgan, of Western Mail reports that it is in sparsely populated of Wales that the problem runs deepest.

North Wales Police recorded eighty (80) racist incidents in 2000. However in 2004, that figure was three hundred and thirty-seven. This means more than four per cent (4%) of the region's 6,000 ethnic minority population experienced some form of racial intolerance.

Mr Thomas stated further, "These figures turn last week's claims by the Commission for Racial Equality on their head. North Wales, South Wales and Dyfed-Powys are all in the worst seven areas for racism in the UK. And what about politics - isn't it sad that we have no black AMs in the Assembly."

Ms. Gaynor Legall of the Welsh Assembly's public health protection division, said, "Within Wales there is still lots of racism. It is still difficult to achieve senior positions in the private and public sector - so racism still exists in institutions that govern Wales."

Mr. Thomas compared present day Wales to Wales in the 1950s when Boston, a promising Cardiff rugby star.

He stated "He wanted to play for Wales but he said there were players, who he refused to name, who just would not share a field with him when he was in Wales. It has happened more recently too when you consider what Nigel Walker has to say …”

Nigel Walker, former Welsh athletics and rugby international, now head of BBC Wales Sport:

"When I went through the Welsh schools rugby system I did not get into the under-11s side although I felt I was one of the two best wingers in Wales. It would be easy to say it was because of the colour of my skin but I cannot prove that. But if I were to run faster than anyone else in athletics, then they would have to pick me."

Colin Jackson, former Olympic hurdler:

"I do not think I have had any problems in Wales having been brought up as a black person. I think I should sing the praises of Wales as a Welshman. It shows how good and easy we are. People who come from England have had much more problems than I have had."

Colin Charvis, the first black man to captain the Welsh rugby side:

"Being the first black person to captain Wales makes me immensely proud. I find Wales very tolerant and the people extremely welcoming.",

Powell · Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2179 }

The article is very hard to understand because the reader has no idea who these "black Welsh" are. How many of these alleged "blacks" are the mixed-race children of native Welsh women or men? How many of these people are immigrants from the Commonwealth who happened to settle in Wales instead of England? How long is this "history" the article mentions?

G-Man · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2652 }

The introduction to the book suggests that Wales isn't a racial utopia, but what country is?.

At the very least, as evidenced by the statements of the two sportsman, Wales appears more racially enlightened than other places in Britain and Europe.