To ask if you’ve noticed this? Race-related.

[OffRampHilton]

I grew up (not UK) in an area that was entirely populated by white people but that’s changed since I was a child (I’m 40) and I’ve moved away to live in a big city so my friends and colleagues now are very racially diverse. I know couples of all races/ethnicity from same-race/ethnicity to every mix you can think of.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been really happy to see more diversity on tv, especially in terms of race. I grew up seeing nothing but white people on tv shows, unless it was a programme specifically about black or Asian families. I remember the fact that Coronation St was introducing their first non-white family was covered in the newspaper. The default was white people unless non-white people had a specific “reason” to be there- and that reason was pretty much always race-related.

I’m noticing lots more diversity, especially on ads. However, I still don’t see a lot of black or Asian families. I see mixed families where one parent (normally the mother, for some reason), is white, then a black parent (usually a dad) and two mixed children (normally a boy and a girl!). Great, it certainly represents a lot of families, but there seems to be a lack of depiction of families that are entirely black or entirely Asian or entirely anything other than white.

From paying attention to a few ad breaks tonight, I saw the following, in order of most common-

White families.
Mixed-race families.

I didn’t see many wholly non-white families.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, if I’ve used any clumsy wording in this, please don’t jump on me, but educate me instead.

@Backhills

What I find interesting and appaling in equal measure is that black families on TV almost always live white middle class lives.

They might look black but they are much more like the white middle classes than they are the black communities I know, in every other aspect.

What makes a ‘white middle class life’ that couldn’t equally be lived by a black person? I know black and mixed race families who live much as my family do, in terms of housing, furnishings, schools, hobbies etc etc. How would you like to see black family life depicted?

I knew that would come PottedPalm and of course some (many) black families have achieved professional careers and a middle class life, but knowing what we know about the disadvantages black people have, this is not the reality for the majority and even where it is, culturally their lifestyles are often quite different.

YANBU, also there seems to be a lot more fairer skinned black people in TV programmes, as if they think people can only handle a certain amount of blackness. American TV is particularly bad for this but you see it in British TV too.

@Backhills

I knew that would come PottedPalm and of course some (many) black families have achieved professional careers and a middle class life, but knowing what we know about the disadvantages black people have, this is not the reality for the majority and even where it is, culturally their lifestyles are often quite different.

Would advertising companies not be criticised if they showed black families to be living a less ‘glossy’ lifestyle though?

Advertising perpetuates a glossy lifestyle (apart from the odd Hovis salt of the earth working class type adverts). So that is what is portrayed.

@Bythemillpond

White British makes up 44.9% of the London population, white makes up 59.8%. So no, they’re not a minority whatsoever.

Its It's not just advertising though. Apart from the occasional "hard hitting" drama, all black families on TV are like this.

The reality is that tv should have programs and adverts representative of the UK population as a whole. 3% of our population is black and similar for Asian. I would say though, currently, that TV adverts specifically show very much a larger percentage of none whites, and certainly do not reflect the above figures. Generally speaking, the average advert is less than a minute, with often minimal characters, so they have to be careful that they appeal to all sections of society, but in a way that reflects the population. It would therefore be difficult to incorporate every race in a one minute advert. I really can’t see how the current crop of adverts can accommodate any more none whites without cancelling out white people completely.

@SallySycamore

Could it partly be because having two parents of different races plus their mixed race children is a very easy way of representing three different groups in one advert?

YANBU OP and I think this is part of the reason, it's an easy win to have a black/white mixed family

It's interesting isn't it.
My DCs (mixed race) feel it may be because TV tends to appeal to an older demographic.
They hardly ever watch TV unless it's a covid broadcast.
On social media they say things are a lot more balanced. My DDs partner is from Korea and Korean music/drama/culture, is huge on a world wide platform but hardly ever appears on mainstream UK TV.

Maybe but some groups are massively overrepresented on ads and some under white people make up 85% of the UK population but often don't get anywhere near that ad representation. likewise black people make up 2 percent or well less than half the South Asian population but seem to be on massively more TV adverts. Really to be in line with the countries makeup one in 50 should be black, one in 20 Asian 17 in 20 white British with another 1 in 20 maybe white European. Of course people often go quite when quotas get used in a way they aren't happy with.

TV tends to appeal to an older demographic.
They hardly ever watch TV unless it's a covid broadcast

I don't understand this. TV appeals to the older generation but only if it's about covid?

I don't understand this. TV appeals to the older generation but only if it's about covid?

Ah, sorry. Misread

@Bythemillpond

These are the same people who claim that the country is filling up with non-whites, and that white British will become a minority

White British is a minority in London.

Where do you get this figure @Bythemillpond? 2011 census puts white Brits at around 44% so while not the majority overall, by far the hugest single racial group in London with other ethnicities not making up more than about 18%. Interestingly mixed race was only listed at 5% which surprised me. I must have believed all the interacial family ads!

[quote WhatTheFlap]@Bythemillpond

White British makes up 44.9% of the London population, white makes up 59.8%. So no, they’re not a minority whatsoever.[/quote]
Why can’t we just see people as people.

Using selective statistics doesn’t help. London is not representative of the population as a whole. 2011 census revealed:

86% identify as white of which 80% identify as White British
7.5% identify as Asian/Asian British
3.3% identify as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
2.2% identify as Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups
1% identify as Other Ethnic Groups.

Within each category there are multiple sub groups e.g. Chinese and Indian. These are as diverse as Black and White.

The 2021 Census stats will obviously reflect changes in the last decade when published in 2022.

It’s hard to be truly representative of a country with such wide variations in the ethnic make up of countries, counties, cities etc. I don’t want tick box exercises that say we need 7.5 Black actors etc, I would like to see fictional characters that anyone can play. But I also want real historical figures to be accurately represented.

I agree to a certain extent.

But I also see that asians are extremely unrepresented in media and we need to look at the reasons why. Being able to see yourself represented is important.

@Ohmygoshandfolly

It’s just a box ticking exercise. I cringed a bit last year following BLM movement when companies were falling over themselves to suddenly include black and Asian models. I must have had about 10 emails from different companies telling me how they were going to get better and had woken up. Yawn. Shouldn’t take something like BLM to cause that shift, we’re 2 decades into the 21st century ffs.

I remember reading about a footballer speaking out about BLM. He said it shouldn't take him having to tell people that his life mattered, it should be something that was a given.

I think we definitely need more Asian representation in the UK media, most of the racists I've encountered here have been far more vehemently hateful of Asians than of black people, but it's not something I see discussed nearly as much. My FIL has never made a comment worse than referring to "the blacks" but frequently rants and raves about "p*kis" and the like. I may have only noticed this as I am ME mixed, not white passing.

Only last weekend I ended up getting into an argument with my aunt and uncle about why it's not acceptable to refer to someone as a Pk

Where do you get this figure @Bythemillpond? 2011 census puts white Brits at around 44% so while not the majority overall, by far the hugest single racial group in London

44% is then a minority. To be a majority it would be over 50%

How can it be a miniroty when it is the largest single group?

@Serin

It's interesting isn't it. My DCs (mixed race) feel it may be because TV tends to appeal to an older demographic. They hardly ever watch TV unless it's a covid broadcast. On social media they say things are a lot more balanced. My DDs partner is from Korea and Korean music/drama/culture, is huge on a world wide platform but hardly ever appears on mainstream UK TV.

This is a really good point, it sounds true to me too.

If you look at YA type shows on Netflix for example, the casting tends to be more diverse than what you see on old school TV

I have noticed this.
I am mixed race and have noticed that mixed race in advertising is almost always black-white and far more common than in real life where parents are usually both black or both white.

Livelovebehappy and Whoarethewho have managed to explain this accurately

A PP has mentioned Turkey and how the majority seemed to be not represented in their ads. Well, the same could be happening in the UK if marketing centres only around one group and leaves other larger groups out

Customers need to see themselves represented in marketing campaigns (for instance to see how clothes would look on them, etc). It's human nature.

Otherwise it's preferable to leave everyone out and just focus on the product

[quote TheLovelinessOfDemons]@MaskingForIt I used to share a dorm in a hostel with a woman who insisted that interracial marriage was wrong because Adam and Eve were white. My half brother's mixed race, so that enraged me.[/quote]
Wait till that person finds out Jesus was Middle Eastern!