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Black Mumsnetters

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Who ticks Black British: Other Black on forms?

20 replies

mumsqna · 31/01/2022 00:21

I was just curious as to who ticks that option as opposed to Black African/Black Caribbean.

I think I once saw that some Somalians don’t feel fully African so they might tick it

OP posts:
Gruach · 31/01/2022 07:29

Plenty of people have both African and Caribbean parental heritage, so have no (other) suitable option on the form.

Alonelonelylonersbadidea · 31/01/2022 13:46

All the Black Britons I know tick Black British. British people who are black. Surely.

mumsqna · 31/01/2022 14:07

@Gruach Ahh yes that’s true. I didn’t think about that

OP posts:
LiterallyKnowsBest · 31/01/2022 14:39

There’s quite a lot of unthinking assumption that black people only procreate with the person from the hut next door. Whereas many people are well travelled and may end up with a partner from a different continent. (And then live in a third country / continent, which may include the UK.)

mumsqna · 31/01/2022 15:02

@LiterallyKnowsBest generally think you shouldn’t be using the term ‘hut’ to refer to peoples homes.

OP posts:
emuloc · 31/01/2022 16:27

@LiterallyKnowsBest

There’s quite a lot of unthinking assumption that black people only procreate with the person from the hut next door. Whereas many people are well travelled and may end up with a partner from a different continent. (And then live in a third country / continent, which may include the UK.)
Really? This is news to me.
madisonbridges · 31/01/2022 16:33

[quote mumsqna]@LiterallyKnowsBest generally think you shouldn’t be using the term ‘hut’ to refer to peoples homes.[/quote]
I think the poster was being sarcastic.

wannabeamummysobad · 01/02/2022 21:06

I'm born and raised in London but and I tick black British- African. My heritage is Yoruba so this seems fitting to me.

WildBactrian · 02/02/2022 20:52

All the Somalis I know tick Black African.

Maze76 · 02/02/2022 23:54

I tick Black British as I’m mixed heritage, but honestly I could just as easily select African and/ or Caribbean, as those options also apply

TheSpottedZebra · 03/02/2022 00:51

My friend's family come from Yemen. She's British-born, her parents are Yemeni and they don't identity as African.

TottersBlankly · 03/02/2022 00:52

What do they think of themselves as?

NotSoNewAndShiny · 03/02/2022 06:45

Yemen isn't in Africa, although it shares borders with some African countries.

They're in Asia and ethnically Arab; some are Afro-Arab.

minorityrights.org/country/yemen/

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen

LizziesTwin · 03/02/2022 06:52

People of black Central American/South American descent. A friend of mine is black Brazilian.

NotSoNewAndShiny · 03/02/2022 07:21

I think I once saw that some Somalians don’t feel fully African so they might tick it

I've never heard this. Somalia is in Africa so Somalis are fully African. What I've heard instead is that some or most don't consider themselves 'Black' or 'fully Black'; and other arguments about some being ethnically Arab or not.

TheSpottedZebra · 03/02/2022 19:02

[quote NotSoNewAndShiny]Yemen isn't in Africa, although it shares borders with some African countries.

They're in Asia and ethnically Arab; some are Afro-Arab.

minorityrights.org/country/yemen/

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen[/quote]
True. Their forebears would have migrated from Africa though (as I'm writing this I'm aware that I actually don't know under what circumstances Sad ).

Friend is 40ish and she'd say Black British, and would tick the 'other' box is the further choices are Black British Other or BB African / BB Caribbean.
Her parents would probably say Yemeni.

NotSoNewAndShiny · 03/02/2022 20:45

Thanks for this @TheSpottedZebra. Yes that's true - that would be the Afro-Arabs, I believe. There's been a lot of genetic and cultural exchange between Yemenis and the Horn of Africa, with cross-migrations at different times. Some of the 'African Yemenis' are Ethiopian and Somali refugees.

There's also the 'Black Yemenis' or 'Black Arabs' who're known as Muhamasheen or al-muhamasheen, who're considered to be either descendants of African slaves or of Yemeni origin. Your post got me looking some things up and it's worth a read, although some of it could be quite upsetting.

  • Black and Yemeni: Myths, Genealogies, and Race
pomeps.org/black-and-yemeni-myths-genealogies-and-race

Muhamasheen- Minority Rights Group
minorityrights.org/minorities/muhamasheen/

Tracing the ancestry of Middle East populations
www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2013.24

GreenLunchBox · 15/02/2022 01:02

I tick 'refuse to say' quite a lot. Especially on job applications

Aswad · 14/03/2022 22:34

my Somali friends identified as Black African, same for an Ethiopian friend I had

britneyisfree · 22/03/2022 01:42

Me. I always tick other if it's there (isn't always, annoyingly) because one parent is African the other is Caribbean. Pisses me off that there is often not an option for me. There must be loads of us!

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