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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be staggered that >95% of the population of Wales is White?

176 replies

ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 09:46

Or, I should say, that it was at the time of the 2011 census (almost 94% White British and Irish combined).

I had absolutely no idea that it was so high.

I vaguely thought that, like Liverpool, parts of Wales had been at the vanguard of multiculturalism, for seafaring reasons.

Am I just thinking too much of Cardiff?

OP posts:
Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:25

'expected' and continue Blush

OP posts:
Amummyatlast · 30/03/2015 13:28

My MIL keeps asking 'but where do her feet go?' with erf. If they got a car seat I think this would be their main concern, but fortunately they are good grandparents and would buy a erf seat if I said so. OP, in your situation I would be insisting that they take it back and either replace it with a erf seat or use yours. Otherwise it will be just an expensive car ornament that no baby ever travels in.

Amummyatlast · 30/03/2015 13:28

Sorry, wrong thread. Not sure how that happened, hadn't even read this thread.

Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:29

We could of rules where if an area went over a certain ethic group percentage there had to settle somewhere else and built up to the national average...no didn't think so!

No that would be silly. And pointless. And unnecessary.

OP posts:
Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:31

Amummy Grin

OP posts:
MonstrousRatbag · 30/03/2015 13:33

I come from a large-ish town and diversity is shockingly low.

Why is 'low diversity' shocking though?

Akire · 30/03/2015 13:37

No problem, I think apart from natural growth in families so that the one Chinese family who run the take away in a tiny Welsh village have their own kids, the % stays in line with the rest of the growing population. Think boils down to the fact that 60years ago when the UK started to become home to many Differnt cultures they would have gone to towns with jobs and prospects which lots rural areas have in little supply. Once a community is established there is little incentive to move away and be out of your comfort zone I'm guessing.

LotusLight · 30/03/2015 13:37

It's not shocking at all if areas are of one group of people. Go to many towns in Japan or China and people are the same race and culture. There is no right or wrong. Most immigrants don't want to look at sheep in acres of Northumbrian countryside or sit by a loch with no jobs on Skye.

People in towns forget that the UK is only something like 87% white.

Akire · 30/03/2015 13:39

Colehawkings I did say I don't think so... To moving to areas if the % was higher! That's the point It would be stupid to say that people had to live somewhere on the basis of race or culture yet in the same sentence some areas that are higher % of white it's shocking. You can't have it both ways.

Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:42

Think boils down to the fact that 60years ago when the UK started to become home to many Differnt cultures they would have gone to towns with jobs and prospects which lots rural areas have in little supply

Yes. That's the difference from England without a doubt Akire (or one of the big ones).

(Lotus and Monstrous I didn't say the 'shocking' thing so can't comment.)

OP posts:
EddieStobbart · 30/03/2015 13:45

The vast majority of children in my DCs' school are white. Many aren't from the UK though (or predominantly Eastern Europe). Parents are French, German, Canadian, Swiss, Icelandic, Spanish, American, Australian, Pakistani, Chinese - haven't spoken to everyone so I don't know the rest. You might stick your head around the classroom door though and think the class was over 90% white British but it isn't.

Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:51

Sorry Akire. I was AGREEING with you that it would be silly Smile

OP posts:
NobodyLivesHere · 30/03/2015 13:52

Wales is mainly rural. That's why the statistic for the whole country is that high.
There are only 4 children out of the 200 in my children's School who are not white. I live relatively close to Swansea, but in a rural agricultural area.

Original poster
ColeHawlings · 30/03/2015 13:53

I don't think I can fully grasp the size of Wales v the population Nobody. I.e. that the density is so low.

OP posts:
TheWildRumpyPumpus · 30/03/2015 13:59

We've just moved to a large rural village of 2000 people, I've seen one other non-White resident other than myself. The couple who run the Chinese takeaway travel in from the nearest town, just a couple of miles away.

There are 5 minority students at the DS' school but they all live in the town too.

Sallyingforth · 30/03/2015 13:59

There used to be a lot more black people in Wales, OP.

But that was before the coal mines closed.

keepitsimple0 · 30/03/2015 15:02

coming from america, where many cities are really ethnically mixed, even London seems quite white to me. Compared to New York, Toronto, or Chicago, it's only recently that London is starting to compare to the mix over there.

and yes the rest of britain is much less mixed than London.

HesterShaw · 30/03/2015 15:20

I don't know. There are parts of Wales where seeing a different colour face is more unusual certainly. I wouldn't know what it would feel like obviously, given that I am white. I grew up in the rural Vale of Glamorgan. In my juniors there was a pair of black sisters and the children from the Chinese takeaway. In my secondary, there were a few mixed race children (both black and Asian) and a couple of Japanese children - that was all. However we were close to Cardiff where there have been Somalis round the docks for longer than in most of the UK. It always had a very cosmopolitan make up of people far earlier than other places. I did a lot of sport and was very used to playing girls of all colours and creeds, and we also had Sony in Bridgend the other way, so therefore a fair few Japanese knocking about. In then at University in Swansea there are lots of people from Bangladesh. People go into Cardiff, Bridgend and Swansea a lot so even if they are from the sticks it doesn't mean they never see a black or Asian face.

It is certainly far more ethnically diverse than Cornwall where I ended up.

HesterShaw · 30/03/2015 15:22

Why is 'low diversity' shocking though?

And I agree with this question. Why is low diversity "shocking"? Surely it just is what it is. Doesn't mean a place is horribly racist. You can't manufacture communities just because you want lots of different ethnicities. Some places are very mixed - some places remain much less so.

RufusTheReindeer · 30/03/2015 15:27

Had this conversation with mil and FIL the other day

They were very surprised to hear that the local schools are over 95% white British (my statistic but if I'm wrong then it's even more than 95%)

Temporaryanonymity · 30/03/2015 15:52

Yes, there's always been a large Bangladeshi community in Swansea. Italians too. That's why we have the best ice-cream and turn our noses up at Costa.

There are 45 different languages in my son's school. Singing happy birthday takes ages because they've taught each other the words in their own language so after the inevitable welsh and English they crack on with Spanish and Polish and so on...

TiggyD · 30/03/2015 16:07

The other 5% of people in Wales are actually dragons. True fact.

Welshmaenad · 30/03/2015 16:11

It does surprise me, I live in the Valleys which is not historically a very ethnically diverse area, but there are significant Polish and Portuguese communities in my town. I've always found Cardiff quite diverse. Hmmmmm!

kwerty · 30/03/2015 16:29

There are no non-white families in our village. ( rural Warwickshire but only 7 miles from several towns and a city)

fourteen · 30/03/2015 16:42

I'm in North Wales and you'd probably do a double take if you saw a black face, and that's in a medium sized town.

Same story as a lot of other places - the Chinese family are from the takeaway, the Turkish family are from the kebab shop.

I teach at the local catholic primary and we don't have any non white faces at the moment.

There are a fair amount of polish but of course they don't stand out on the street do they?

Plus it doesn't mean that racism is any more prevalent here so I would resent that implication...