. . To hate that there's not enough black people on tv

[Iloverusks]

Yesthey are flittered into the soaps and some tv shows. But since Desmond's there has not been a tv show where the majority of the cast are black. Of course there are countless "all white" shows.

In these multicultural times why is this the case?

Tower Hamlets (which is where Walford is if you look at the tube map) is 41.2% Asian (most of those Bangladeshi), 31.2% White, 7.3% Black, 4.1% Mixed, 2.3% Other (as of 2011).

Google tells me that the black population of the UK is 3.3%. The black population in the US is about 12% so having an all-black TV show, like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air or the Cosby Show makes more sense there as that is more representative of parts of the US, especially big East Coast cities (although Fresh Prince was West Coast, ironically!). There are not many areas of the UK with a large black community apart from London and Birmingham.

An all-Muslim TV show would actually be more representative of the UK's multicultural make-up, to be honest! Muslims are 4.8% of the population and more evenly spread throughout the country e.g. Glasgow, Manchester etc.

it's pockets, though, isn't it - where I live is 85% black, 5% white (not sure if this is white British only), 10% 'other'. So I am always astonished to read that the overall black population of Britain is only 2%!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Khan

There is a Muslim sitcom. Can't comment whether it is representative or even amusing as I haven't watched it.

Why when people talk about racism & multiculturalism do they so often mean black people or Muslims? I rarely see Chinese families represented on TV, likewise I rarely hear anyone being vocal about the racial abuse of Chinese people in this country, I'm just wondering why.

FlobberWobber - I have to confess that I haven't considered the Chinese population. From my experience they are welcomed in the UK and I was unaware that there is a significant amount of abuse.

I agree that they are not significantly represented on TV but as they make up only 0.5% of the population perhaps this is why?

Sorry - I missed a sentence. I was really unaware that the Chinese population suffer racial abuse. I am in the NW where there is a reasonably large Chinese population and I have never heard abuse against Chinese people.

I thought it was much more than that, there must be a larger than average Chinese population where I live.
I think there is a lot of racism aimed at Chinese, all over the UK, from mimicking accents/eyes to using the word 'chinky'. It's somehow seen as less racist than calling a black person certain offensive words. I just wonder why?

While we're at it, 1 in 30 people in the UK use hearing aids and about the same number have significant visual impairment. Around 1 in 50 are wheelchair users. I don't think we see them in anything like those proportions outside children's programming.

maybe people from ethic groups unrepresented on telly should be given grants to produce their own dramas/comedys etc

it is a well know fact that british TV is run by cambridge graduates

footlights should be banned imo for producing such a banal look at british culture

Does anyone remember this short series on C4? It was ten years ago, 5 minute slots.

Perhaps these shows use actors who resemble their viewers, maybe there aren't a large number of Chinese or Muslims who watch Corrie?

Where are you based FB? As I said we are in the NW and the Chinese people I know appear to be welcomed. Although it is a generalisation the children work hard and get on well their peers. I haven't heard 'chinky' used as an insult since the 1980s. I admit when I was growing up there was racial abuse but I can't say I have been aware of it recently.

In response to OP. I have been asking this for years. Loved Desmond's, Brothers and Sisters, The Real McCoy etc. Where have all these shows gone? I don't have a problem with watching British TV programmes, as long as I like the show doesn't matter what race, but I do like to also watch shows as a representative of myself/culture. I can say the same for black presenters - is Alesha Dixon/Reggie Yates the only talent out there?? For what is lacking on British TV, I watch the BET channel on Sky and catch Oprah on TLC. I will watch The View over Loose Woman any day- a more representative and interesting panel I find and plus I love Whoopi.

Argh I hate this positive discrimination. It should be about the best person for the job.

Thats goes for everything be it females, religion, race etc and any job.

I know plenty of capable people who havent got jobs because of their religion. In NI a lot of places need 50/50 protestants and Catholics especially police and im sick of this discrimination.

Best person for the job!

It's not so much about the best person for the job though, is it? The job has been created in a discriminatory way, that's the problem - it's not the actors, it's the writers/producers/directors who only make roles for white, middle class, Oxbridge-type men. Maybe they need to look outside the box a little bit...

True but black, asian, chinese etc doesnt have to mean foreign for example. Any role can be played by someone able. Its stereotypical to cast them otherwise.

I just get fed up with the stereo types.

Yes I am white and live I a predominantly white village. I see more black people on TV than I do in my day to day life. I never see any Polish or Eastern European people on TV though, they must surely be underrepresented.

In addition to a lack of BME actors on tv I have recently been confronted, but sadly not shocked, by the lack of representation in magazine media. I teach PSHE to Year 5 & 6 classes in a predominantly white urban area of Britain and hoped to broaden the children's horizons and draw attention to stereotyping through a lesson using images taken from magazines. Despite spending an evening trawling through a varied (IMO) range of mags kept casually in my home (Closer, Obs Weekly, Heat, Radio Times, Weight Watchers Mag, various supermarket mags, National Trust mag etc) I found 3 out of over 40 I ages to be BME and two of these were well known celebraties rather than general models. I cancelled my planned lesson as I was too embarrassed/ashamed to pass off a lesson to which I was not fully committed. Where was I to find a range of images which represent the society I feel I live in?

I live in the countryside and don't know any black people - the only black faces I see are on TV where they seem over-represented to me. The only non-white people I see in real life are in the curry house.
Don't assume that the whole of the UK is like London!

Selsifach - I find that shocking but I guess its not unusual as this is a white country.

There are lots of programmes made based in the country that rightly have a predominant white cast but we know all cities are not like this.

I blame the writers/producers/directors who are afraid to cast a normal family, couple, children etc who just happen to be black/Asian/Chinese etc

YANBU in general. Has anybody linked this yet?
www.leeandlow.com/images/emmy_awards_infographic-lg.jpg

Given that so much of the TV we see is American, it's even more ridiculous. There are now more Americans with Spanish as a first language than English, yet the shows are still pretty much all standard white, with the odd black, gay or Hispanic character thrown in. There was a controversy over the film "Girls", set in Brooklyn (32% black, 10% Asian, 20% Hispanic,) which was supposed to be realistic but everyone was white Jewish!

Catching up on East Enders, I thought it was nice that there were so many mixed couples (I was watching Wednesday's lurve episode.) I only recall one Eastern European in Stenders, though, and only in two episodes. Coronation Street's worse - it's supposed to be Manchester, and all the diversity we have is Dev & Lloyd!