BBC: 'Asians' Don't Feel 'British'

Sun, Jul 29, 2007 at 5:10:42 pm PDT

The BBC has apparently completely banned the use of the M word, in favor of “Asian.” Here’s an article that they’re playing as a sort of lighthearted slice of Asian life, in which we learn that over a third of UK “Asians” do not feel British.

Over a third of British Asians do not feel British, a BBC poll suggests.

The research for the Asian Network discovered 38% of the UK residents of South Asian origin polled felt only slightly or not at all British. Over a third agreed that to get on in the UK they needed to be a “coconut”, a term for somebody who is “brown on the outside but white on the inside”.

Yet 84% are satisfied with life in Britain and almost half think they have more opportunities here. ...

Three-quarters feel their culture is being diluted by living in the UK and nearly half believe white people do not treat them as British.

The poll was commissioned to coincide with the BBC’s India and Pakistan ‘07 season of programmes to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1947 partition of India.

Some 12% of those polled said they considered themselves to be “coconuts”.

Despite the disturbing results, there’s not a hint in this article that the BBC thinks this might be even a teensy little problem. On the contrary; their viewpoint seems to be that British racism is the reason for a huge unassimilated Muslim population.

Reena Combo, editor of Ikonz, a monthly Asian magazine aimed at young British Asians said: “I feel British but I feel very Asian as well. Many British Asians consider themselves to be British but at home they are more in touch with their cultural and ancestral roots.”

But she agreed that some British Asians think they need to become “coconuts”.

“They feel they need to fit into society and that society looks at them in a bad way,” she added.