Lisa
Thanks for very interesting response and apologies for British jargon -
BME is black and ethnic minority although our Commission For Racial
Equality (CRE) here prefers the term "ethnic minority" to ensure it is
understood that ethnic minority is not just black. And in Britain, yes
white Irish is an ethnic minority as is for instance Gypsy/ (Irish)
Traveller. The health experience of first generation Irish people in
Britain especially amongst older age groups is quite distinct from that
of white British people.
As to lumping all BME populations into one group; again the UK Office
of National Statistics and the CRE provides guidance to enable people
this side of the pond to be systematic about measuring in line with
agreed UK census categories but on the CRE website you will see that
within each major category; white, mixed, Asian, black, Chinese, there
is an "other" option so technically everything is distinguishable. The
difficulty comes in how one analyses and groups ethnic groups in order
to analyse usefully.
I take all your comments about enclaves and cultural and religious
overlaps. The UK census has further questions on religious affiliation
and national origin which add a bit more depth but there is certainly
nothing to stop people putting eg; Jewish in one of the "other" ethnic
categories and the results of our 2001 census when eg "mixed" ethnicity
and the question on religion were in for the first time were certainly
interesting (see previous web link). But as you point out it's all a
somewhat vain and reductionist attempt to box up the unboxable as ethnic
origin can only be an indirect indication of cultural standpoint, health
experience etc, and of course the results can be used for nefarious
purposes as well as beneficial ones. Discussion provoked belongs to the
latter I think.
Best wishes
Sarah
Sarah Corlett
Consultant in Public Health
Lambeth Primary Care Trust
1 Lower Marsh
London, SE1 7NT
Tel: 020 7716 7097
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