To ask where ethnic minority Brits holiday in U.K.?

[CluelessBint]

I know I'm going to be flamed for asking this, but I can hardly ask irl!

I live in south devon in a very popular holiday area. The area is very white middle class. I noticed a few years ago that almost all the people who holiday here are also white Brits. Since noticing this I keep wondering where all the ethnic minorities British people go on holiday.

I travel to other south westerly holiday resorts a lot with my work (hotel industry) and it seems to be the case there too.

If 82% of the population are white, why are at least 95% (a rough estimate from looking out at the harbour the last few days) of grockles white?

My OH is Asian (parents are from India, he was born here) and he and his sisters avoid seaside holiday resorts as much as possible due to the overt stares and often racist verbal abuse they get. As a white girl I was really taken aback when I first invited him to one of my fave seaside towns for the day (Brid) and he explained he would rather I go with friends as it's so stressful and unpleasant to be there for him. He gets stared at like they've never seen anyone with brown skin before. I've noticed it myself in very white areas. People make no effort to hide it either. I doubt I'd fancy a nice day out if I was going to be gawked at like an alien all day and made to feel so unwelcome.

Obviously it perpetuates the issue as most Asians he knows won't go to those all-white areas for the his reason, leaving them to be all white, so the residents never get used to seeing Asians around as standard. I don't expect him or anyone else to put up with that though so I reckon it'll be that way for a long time.

As a white person I had absolutely no idea the almost daily overt and covert racism experienced by non white people in this country, I naively thought we were mostly past outward racism. It's only since being with him I've realised the daily aggressions he faces, before that I was blind to it.

I'm white and have been stared at/gathered a crowd in both Nigeria and Cameroon. It's not the same.

Being white and stared at in large parts of Africa is more akin to being a minor celebrity- or at least an object of benign amusement. People are overwhelmingly friendly and curious and happy to help you and interact with you. There is (virtually) no suspicion or hostility and very little threat (unless you are doing the wealthy naive traveller in Lagos/Doula routine in which case you may be robbed).

The only time I've felt uncomfortable with being stared at or sensed fear/hostility as a minority white is in South Africa and even that's not comparable. There you can induce fear as a representative of the repressors. White suspicion of black people in the UK does not spring from the same source.

I'm a British Asian (was born here) and I've been to Cornwall on holiday and I have to admit it was a bit uncomfortable feeling out of place - I grew up in London and still live there, so I'm used to being amongst a mix of different ethnicities. Not racism/hostility exactly but just feeling out of place.

These days we often go abroad - Italy, China, USA, Portugal. We tend to take UK breaks to cities - Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, so they are more multicultural than the rural areas and we don't feel out of place. Our dc are teens now so they aren't interested in seaside holidays any more.

I think the only place I've experienced covert racism is in the south of France - I've be overlooked for service when queuing and a taxi driver even refused to take us at all. Not surprising when you think about their support for Le Pen.

I am sorry it's like that for ethnic minorities in some parts of Britain. It's shameful. It's got worse since Brexit because of a sizeable minority have blamed everything on immigration.

It can't be that difficult for you to understand that the question about their country of origin sounds very similar to the racist chant, 'Go back to your own country.'

as non white person you never know if those states and whispers are because people are curious or because they are racist.

This^^

Even if it is just curiosity, it's a very sore point and what they want is acceptance that they belong in this country.

I'm dual heritage, my father's family is Czech, but it's not something I want to be asked about.

Do ethnic minority Brits think of the UK as their home in the same way as the dominant white pooulation?
I'm only asking because of the numbers who say they 'go home' for their holidays.
White brits don't have another
'home' to go to

@Jamie2 Most of the white brits I know are children of Irish or French inmigrants and they always say they're going home when talking about Ireland/France despite being born here. A colleague has just confirmed that most 2nd Gen Spanish and Polish people do the same. It's not a race problem, it's a UK problem - people who want to hold onto their cultural and social values aren't often made to feel at home or welcome in the UK.

You can have more than one home! My mum has lived in the UK much longer than she lived in her birth country now, so both are 'home', in different ways. I live on the Continent and consider the UK and here my home now. As well as my mum's country of birth - that's home no 3

Yes Nuttynoo I agree we all want to hold onto our social and cultural values

jamie2 I was born in the UK and I see the UK as my home. I've only been to my home country once and that was as a tourist (I don't have family living there and I don't even speak the language). My extended family also don't 'go home' for holidays - most of them have only been back once (in 30+ years) as tourists as well. Although I don't fully feel rooted to the UK as a white Brit would, I think.

I don't even understand why it should matter? I don't refer to the Czech Republic as home but that's because I have no personal connection with the country and don't speak the language. But so what? People move around for all sorts of reasons, but if you have close family in your family's country of origin then of course you'll visit.

Absolutely detest the fact that people from ethnic minority backgrounds have been stared at/commented at/get told to go back to where they came from.
For fucks sake, it's 2017!!!
My own personal observations have been that (being a frequent holidaymaker in the Lakes, one doesn't seem to see too many people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
BUT...this seems to be changing, and that is a bloody good thing.

My ethnic offspring enjoy tenby, anglesea and the west coast of Scotland. So far they haven't been harassed or chased with pitchforks.

I was at a museum in a northern city during the holidays, I've been there loads of times & have never experienced anything negative. This time it was different, there was a children's entertainer who started to mimic an Asian/English accent as soon as we walked in. He was talking in his usual northern accent until we walked in & then adopted this subtle Indian accent.

Then at lunch time as soon as we walked in the family at the table in front of us started to stare at us. Firstly, the dad looked up & nudged the grandad who then whispered something to his wife who then whispered something to her daughter. It went all the way down the table like a row of dominoes. They just kept staring, they weren't even discreet about it. My ds picked up on it and asked why they were looking as he started to feel anxious. This was the first time in a long time that I felt uncomfortable in a public place.

In Woolacombe this year quite a few tourists weren't white, including quite a few wearing hijabs. In Yorkshire Dales recently again quite a few. There are very few black people where I live, but quite a lot of Asian or British Asian background. Those I've asked have mostly been going abroad either to see family or places like Turkey.

I'm in Scotland and, not that I'm keeping count or anything, I think we get quite a lot of ethinic monority tourists, especially asian (Indian/Chinese etc). However I don't know if they are holidaying here from elsewhere in Britain or from abroad.

It would be a sad thing if people were put off seeing parts of their own country as they felt uncomfortable. We tend not to go abroad every year but regardless we would be more likley to holiday in the UK during the shorter holiday times (Easter/October etc) so maybe it gets more diverse during these times?

I am brown British, born here. As a child we NEVER holidayed in Britain. (Once we did a road trip... to visit universities when I was in sixth form!) We were quite well-off and travelled to my mother's home country to see my grandparents around every 18 months (long-haul). Not so much my dad's home country as his parents live in London (as did/do we). We went to loads of places... Dubai, Mauritius, Canada, Greece, Morocco, Portugal, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt. My parents liked hot sandy beaches, exotic night markets and interesting cities. We did occasionally visit relatives in other parts of Britain but they weren't so much "holidays".

Now... Well, I do try and visit my grandmother but with a husband and two kids and a considerably less well-paid job than my parents, I've only taken the children twice, and once was because my grandmother paid for the flights and we stayed with her. My children are 3 and 4 and other than the above, we've never taken them for a "holiday". There's been a couple of family weddings where we've gone elsewhere in the country with them. Day trips to Brighton. That's it. If I could afford to take them away I would probably want to show them a bit more of the world. Somewhere where they speak another language, so they could learn a little bit. A week in France or Italy or Spain can cost the same as a week in a nice English seaside town, tbh.

@Waxon -most Asian tourists to Scotland tend to be from Asia. Scotland has become a prestigious tourist destination for Indian and Chinese people, and it's usually visited as part of a whistlestop UK/Europe tour.

Using my British-Asian background as an example - I'm the only one out of the many, many British-Asian people I know who has gone to Scotland for more than visiting family. In terms of tourist experiences - it was far, far more inclusive than down south. Scottish people tended to be really friendly on the West Coast, Highlands, Glasgow, Aberdeen (due to more Indian migrants in these areas maybe). Edinburgh wasn't as friendly but most of the abuse there, like in London, came from white non-UK tourists.

Thanks Nutty that was my perception but couldn't say for sure. It's also a small University city and has a high level of Asian (Chinese?) students added to a lot of overseas lecturers so possibly feels a bit more "ethnic" than average.

Oh, and sorry that you had a hard time in Edinburgh :( It's my home city and doesn't deserve it's repuation as being stand-offish and less fiendly than it's west coast neighbour. My view is that local people tend to be quieter and shyer but are very friendly when you actually get them engaged.

@WaxOnFeckOff - Glasgow was wonderful - dh and I will def go back. Felt far safer than Manchester even at night.

I feel very sad and angry that so many ethnic minority people are made to feel unwelcome in many parts of the UK.
Also that the St Helrge flag has. been hijacked by racists

I never feel that safe in Glasgow tbh, but I know realistically it's becasue I'm not very familiar with it. Although we visited Liverpool recently and I felt really safe even walking about by myself at night.

St George flag