How the situation of Blacks and Hispanics in the US and UK shows that "contact theory" is twaddle

[Tooting Carmen]

Put simply, the sociological concept of "contact theory" holds that, the more interaction and familiarity there is between two given ethnic groups or nations, the less hostility and prejudice there is between them. Yet I would argue that, at least some of the time, the opposite is true.

Blacks make up around 4% of the UK population (Census results pending), compared to 13% of the US population, yet White-Black relations in the UK are nowhere near as bad as is often the case in the US. For starters, around half of Black men and a third of Black women in marriages are married to White men in the UK. In the US, while White-Black marriages are certainly growing, the figures are still nowhere near comparable. I'd say the mystique/stigma surrounding White-Black relationships in the US comes from two main sources: the traditional racist Right and the identitarian Left, both of which have a much weaker presence in the UK.

As for Hispanics, even leaving aside the fact that the UK Census and various ethnic monitoring forms don't even register them as a specific ethnic group speaks volumes in itself, they are also a lot more integrated in the UK than in the US. Even in the areas where they are most concentrated - principally South London inner neighbourhoods like Walworth and Brixton - they make up no more than maybe 10% or so of the population. What's more, while there are no real stats to back this up, anecdotally I can say that the number of Latin American women in marriages who are married to White British men (though less so the other way round) is very high - 50%+ for sure. In contrast, only around 20-25% of married Hispanics in the US marry Whites (plus another 5% or so marry Blacks or Asians).

N.B. Before the usual suspects come along, not all of the Latin American women I know who are married to British men are at the whiter end of the spectrum either.

[Andullero]

Have you heard the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt"? Well, I suppose this is the greater truth vs contact theory, methinks.

[Tooting Carmen]

Have you heard the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt"? Well, I suppose this is the greater truth vs contact theory, methinks.

Well yes. However, there is more going on here than just that. The US and UK are actually much more distinct as societies and cultures than many people like to believe.

[Andullero]

Well yes. However, there is more going on here than just that. The US and UK are actually much more distinct as societies and cultures than many people like to believe.

You don't need to remind us. JamesBond007 does the deed every time he can, extolling how much breeding the average Brit has vs. the American hoi polloi.

[Tooting Carmen]

You don't need to remind us. JamesBond007 does the deed every time he can, extolling how much breeding the average Brit has vs. the American hoi polloi.

I am no anti-American. But the identitarianism prevalent there - whether of the right-wing "unite the Whites" or left-wing "Viva la Raza" and "Black Power" varieties - is pretty insufferable.

[Gallop]

I am not going to give up on Hispanics (meaning: Hispanic American, Latin American, Ibero-American, Latin, South American) because they are despised in the United States.

[Incal]

I think that assuming relations between black and white are good based purely on interracial sex is pretty shallow, simplistic and even pornographic lol

[Tooting Carmen]

I think that assuming relations between black and white are good based purely on interracial sex is pretty shallow, simplistic and even pornographic lol

That isn't the only criteria I was using, but marriage stats are indicative of something nonetheless. Even in London, Birmingham and Manchester, wholesale Black ghettos in the US sense aren't actually that common - it is quite rare even in those cities for a given neighbourhood to be 50%+ Black, either because of gentrification by middle-class Whites or because working-class Whites have always carried on living in them. (Plus nowadays myriad other ethnic groups, of course).

[Tooting Carmen]

I just looked up the 2011 Census results (I am very excited as to what this year's Census results will show) and out of London's most heavily Black boroughs - Brent, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark - only one council ward had an outright Black majority: Peckham in Southwark at 50.4%.

[Incal]

That isn't the only criteria I was using, but marriage stats are indicative of something nonetheless. Even in London, Birmingham and Manchester, wholesale Black ghettos in the US sense aren't actually that common - it is quite rare even in those cities for a given neighbourhood to be 50%+ Black, either because of gentrification by middle-class Whites or because working-class Whites have always carried on living in them. (Plus nowadays myriad other ethnic groups, of course).

Have you ever wondered why is it mostly white women and black men and not the other way around?