Mixed race family want to leave London.. :(

[Clebaby]

Hey! Please help if you can (but also please do not comment if you do not support anti-racism. Thank you!) We want to leave the rat race by buying a more rural/village/town outskirts house where mortgage repayments are way less so we can work less and be with our 2 young kids more. But outside of London we are so worried about racist attitudes. We’ve worked out a few areas that may be more diverse than others - like Leamington Spa - or places that may be white but more liberal and welcoming - like Stroud and Malvern. We have (white) family in the middle of these 3 places. Are we accurate in our assumptions? Is there anywhere else in midlands/cotswolds or even wales that would either be diverse or open minded and less racist? I spend so long looking up racist attacks on twitter every time we find a good place that I end up back at square one: London is the only safe ish place. But we don’t want to work 24/7 and never see our kids for the privilege. Over it. Maybe we have no choice but cities? :(

[JaJaDingDong]

@OverTheRubicon

Where non-white/non-British people are in the minority, they are more likely to be magnimous and non-racist to people not like them.

To me this is the kind of attitude that puts me off places like North Wiltshire. 'Magnanimous'?!?

It's also completely unsupported by evidence, which strongly shows that people living in more diverse areas have far less racist views, driven in large part because you see more of others and realise that Ahmed from next door and Babatunde from one street over also have kids who feel shy at the school Christmas concert, or you take out each others bins when going on holiday. Or even if not, you see enough black faces every day to recognise which child is which, but also not so few that all local minorities are known by name.

At minimum, you wouldn't suggest how white people might be so kind as to be 'magnanimous' to 4th generation British people who have decent jobs and families and different coloured skin.

Sorry - bad choice of wording. I didn't want to use "tolerant", or any other word that can be mis-contstued.

What I mean is that people don't turn an eye if they see any non-white or non-British faces around. There are enough people in either of those demographics for it not to be unusual.

[JaJaDingDong]

And when I said non-British, I mean eastern Europeans mostly. I don't mean that anyone with black skin isn't British (unless they aren't, obviously!).

[GoGoPowerScooter]

Oxford is fab - v multicultural and diverse, particularly East Oxford. Rest of the county not so much 🙄

[Longtalljosie]

Maybe if you look at the Ofsted reports for the schools local to the areas you’re looking in - they usually note how diverse or otherwise the school is?

[UnconsideredTrifles]

I can second Cardiff - I'm white, so obviously would not be as aware of race issues, but the city is pretty multicultural (and excellent value for money compared to London prices!)

[123lja]

If looking at the Midlands the obvious choice would be Leicester. Pulled this off google: In Leicester City, no one ethnic group is in the majority. The White British (45%) and Indian (28%) are the largest ethnic groups. The remainder of the population comprises a diverse mix of ethnic groups, including White Other (5%), Asian Other (4%), African (4%) and Pakistani (2%).

Leicester is very multicultural they have Diwali celebrations and a large Caribbean carnival every year lots of religions and ethnicities host celebrations.

[lazylinguist]

I could be wrong, but I doubt that choosing a place on the basis of the number of racist attacks would be a particularly good way of finding somewhere diverse and friendly to people of different races. Attacks are surely going to be higher in urban areas, where there is more diversity. Whereas a Surrey village, for example, might have no overt racist behaviour but plenty of passive hostility.
Oxford is a great place to live, and pretty diverse. Midlands too, maybe outskirts of towns.

[tara66]

My son, who is not entirely white, says he will not go outside M25 (which is not true as he just went to Scotland for a week). He says the people there (the other side of M25) are ''different'' - prejudiced, inward looking, racist etc . He has multiple degrees, is very well travelled and has a very well paid job - in London.

[planplan]

You mention Malvern which is where I live.
It's not very ethnically diverse but I do know a few families from other cultures and none have had any issues. You'd be welcome and absorbed as a member of the wider community straight away.

It's a bit posh and hippy, welcomes all!

This said I am a wb female who will never know what it's really like from experience just from the people I know. It's also easy for me to assume that because I don't see it or feel it it doesn't exist.

[OpenlyGayExOlympicFencer]

You'll need to narrow down your specifications, I think.

If you don't want your children to be a minority, does that literally mean you want there to be fewer white kids in their class than not, or do you just mean you don't want them to be the only ones? And will being BAME suffice, or do you want diversity/your group? I ask this because if you're eg mixed WB and Jamaican, there are suburbs of Leicester that are mainly Indian, but is that going to suit you any more than being somewhere that's the same prevalence WB?

[drspouse]

@Longtalljosie

Maybe if you look at the Ofsted reports for the schools local to the areas you’re looking in - they usually note how diverse or otherwise the school is?

You can drill down on these spreadsheets quite nicely.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018

It was very interesting for our area - which has schools that have 98% White British and schools that have 75% White British (the actual proportion in the primary school population).
The geek in me was very happy when I discovered these.

[planplan]

Seconding what pp said about avoiding g the Forest of Dean. They don't seem to like any incomers there, regardless of race.
Speaking as someone who worked for social services in the area for a few years.
If you go Cotswolds do Stroud, also v hippy and welcoming.

[woodlandwalker]

Re the suggestion for SE London/Kent border/zone 6: I would avoid going towards Dartford and look more towards the south London/Surrey side e.g. Dartford and parts of Bexley can be racist. Bromley is okay but Croydon/Sutton is both more diverse and cheaper.

[BlueJag]

North Birmingham should be quite nice.

[Didiusfalco]

@tara66 despite his multiple degrees your son is being ridiculous. We’re mixed, he has clearly never been to Birmingham. Which incidentally I would recommend. There are nice leafy suburbs that might suit Op.

[hoping4onlychild]

@Clebaby Hi DH and I are a mixed couple too. We stayed in London zone 3, but would consider zone 6 north london- high barnet and St Albans. St Albans is not as diverse but it seems very liberal minded as a lot of Londoners and City types(including expats) have moved there due to the 20 minute commute and it is a lovely town. However it is just as expensive as London so it doesn't really solve your problem.

If I wasn't a commuter, I would choose Manchester and Edinburgh. I felt very home in Glasgow too. Also I love Brighton.

[hoping4onlychild]

@lazylinguist

I could be wrong, but I doubt that choosing a place on the basis of the number of racist attacks would be a particularly good way of finding somewhere diverse and friendly to people of different races. Attacks are surely going to be higher in urban areas, where there is more diversity. Whereas a Surrey village, for example, might have no overt racist behaviour but plenty of passive hostility.
Oxford is a great place to live, and pretty diverse. Midlands too, maybe outskirts of towns.

What you said is spot on. As someone who looks visibly non white, I have suffered racial abuse in London once or twice but they were always from homeless people or people who looked like they had serious mental health issues. London has very high income inequality so meeting a few crazies is something that white people would encounter too.

However, I was turned away from a pub in amersham while the waitress happily admitted a lot of white patrons- that was something I don't feel I can stomach in the place that I live.

[AvaloniaFunk]

Another Leicester recommendation here. Nicest part of the city is the Clarendon Park, Knighton, Stoneygate area. Suburbs are good....Oadby, Blaby, Birstall as examples. We are a mixed race family in a village in Leicestershire. Although still very much in the minority we have seen the demographic change to be more diverse in recent years and have experienced very little negativity, but lots of positivity in over 20 years of living here.

[Trailing1]

Have you considered birmingham? Lots of lovely places where there is a wealth of races etc... South Birmingham has areas like Kings Heath, Moseley, Stirchley, Selly Oak and these communities are very diverse.

[Oblomov20]

Surrey. Most of ds1's friends and Ds2's are mixed race. I think you may be misguided as to how bad the racism is in different parts of the country.

[littlemsattitude]

@Trailing1

Have you considered birmingham? Lots of lovely places where there is a wealth of races etc... South Birmingham has areas like Kings Heath, Moseley, Stirchley, Selly Oak and these communities are very diverse.

I wouldn't go further south, some the towns south of Birmingham other are not at all diverse, some of them you can count the number of people who aren't white on the fingers of one hand.

[DaphneduM]

Please ignore the comment about people in the Forest of Dean. It certainly is not the case!!!

[Lightsabre]

It's a bit more subtle than outwardly racist - the covert exclusion, the 'old fashioned' language which is laughed off or not challenged, the 'othering' and the lack of cultural diversity. It's hard to pinpoint. Some of it is just small town mentality. For real diversity I think you'd need to live in or near a bigger city or at least a university town. Cambridge is nice, York, Brighton etc all have diverse populations. Malvern is too small town I think.

[WorryWartOne]

Sheffield is a very diverse city which has beautiful Peak District countryside on its doorstep, and is not too expensive. You could live in a nice area around Eccleshall Road and have amazing nature walks 10 minutes from your front door, and then be in the city centre less than a mile in the other direction. I think it would tick a lot of boxes for you, the edges feel very suburban/semi-rural and the people are very welcoming and a real mix.

[littlekipling]

I'm originally from West Yorkshire and didn't realise how multicultural it was until I moved to rural Dorset last year. Where I grew up was (and still is) a wonderful mix of lots of different races and ethnicities. So if you feel like really venturing somewhere different I highly recommend West Yorkshire. In rural Dorset, the amount of sexist, racist and generally 'wrong' people I have come across really shocked me. Don't get me wrong there are some truly lovely, welcoming people here too. But i really did feel like I'd gone back in time when I moved here. I am challenging people though- asking them to tell me exactly what they mean when they make racist remarks. Mostly they look embarrassed and its clear they've never even been called out on it before. Which is pretty sad. I miss the cultural diversity of West Yorkshire. I was lucky to be raised somewhere where race was never an issue (easy for me to say being white I know, but I've asked my black and asian friends who also grew up there - when i was shocked at how it is here, was wondering if it happened other places and not noticed it- and they agree where we grew up it was never an issue). Wherever you settle on I hope you find what you're locking for and I'm sad you have to consider such an issue like this. xx