What are the differences between British and American racism?

This has been a decidedly big topic on here lately, thought I'd have a quick Google and came across this, answered by an Anerican student living in London.


What are the differences between British and American racism?

Is the abuse or discrimination that a black or Asian person suffers in the United Kingdom likely to be different from that suffered in the United States? Is one country more subtle in its racism?

Quora User, American Expat in London, answers:

59 upvotes by Brett Williams, David Njoku, Christopher VanLang, Aaron Ellis, (more)
I'm a black American living in London. You may want to check out my answer to Where is racism more prevalent - UK, US, France or Germany?

My experience is that here in the UK discrimination tends to be class-based and that there are pockets of society overtly xenophobic.

But to get down to a more granular level...

Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech as I know it from an American standpoint does not exist over here. Hated speech is not protected and one can be prosecuted for making racist statements or even sending racist tweets. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wal...

As a black American I struggle with this notion. Whilst I find that sort of behaviour appalling I do think it is an infringement on civil liberties. Simultaneously, as someone who has been subjected to racial taunts (in the US) I find the notion of punishing racist behaviour refreshing and progressive. (Perhaps this is hypocritical of me, but it's not something that I have reconciled yet.)

Population
Only 1% of the British population is black. (This is 12% in the US). Much of the racism I see of over here tends to be directed towards people from the Indian subcontinent, i.e. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. (Called Asian over here, not to be confused with those from Orient, i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc). Asians make up 8% of the UK population.

From my own anecdotal evidence I have noticed that black families who have been here for generations and generations are more assimilated into British culture - and thus face less racism than blacks who have emigrated from Africa or the Caribbean.

I have not yet met any other black Americans (aside from students) living here in the UK.

There is also the perception that Asian people have not assimilated into British society. I don't know how much of that is true or is based on Islamaphobia.

Interracial Relationships
I have noticed that there are decidedly more interracial relationships here especially between black women and white men. Black women are 5x more likely to marry a white man here in the UK as opposed to the US. (I can't remember where I read that statistic).

In London there are certainly more mixed race (black / white) people here. It is not uncommon to see a white woman walking down the street with her black (mixed) children.

Racism v National Origin
I have found it very interesting that what Americans call "national origin" is referred to as race here. For instance, if someone made a deragotory comment about Welsh people it would be construed as a racist statement -- even if the person saying it was white.

I know many (white) Scottish people that feel they're a different race than (white) English people; and are extremely sensitive about this issue. Although these feelings may be valid, it's something that as a black American I have trouble understanding.

Written 9 May, 2012. 12,392 views.

The bit about the meaning of "Asian" is interesting. I agree with the author. I gather than the word "Oriental" is derogatory in the US?

Yes I picked up on that rags. Not sure about oriental being derogatory - will have to check with our American friends on here?

I do think though, that in the UK, we are more mistrusting and racist toward Asians (Indians, Pakistanis) than we are blacks.

But then, in the era of the 50's, the UK was a little afraid of blacks lol

what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

Both.
Offense intended sets out to offend someone does it not?

Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

Both.
Offense intended sets out to offend someone does it not?

it can do but i am of the opinion that they need your agreement to become offended, you can walk away, you don't have to fight every fool who wants to shout "boy" at you..

who has the right to say what i should be offended at or shouldn't be offended at, isn't that assumption racist or sexist in itself..

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

Both.
Offense intended sets out to offend someone does it not?

it can do but i am of the opinion that they need your agreement to become offended, you can walk away, you don't have to fight every fool who wants to shout "boy" at you..

who has the right to say what i should be offended at or shouldn't be offended at, isn't that assumption racist or sexist in itself..

The rules aren't as rigid as you try to make out. If a black guy bumps into me accidentally and I say, "You black son of a bitch!" -- he's likely to take offense. If my black friend and I are drinking beers and he pulls a joke on me, and I say, "You black son of a bitch!" -- he probably laughs even harder.

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


Both.
Offense intended sets out to offend someone does it not?

it can do but i am of the opinion that they need your agreement to become offended, you can walk away, you don't have to fight every fool who wants to shout "boy" at you..

who has the right to say what i should be offended at or shouldn't be offended at, isn't that assumption racist or sexist in itself..

Its very simple, if you are intending to offend someone because of a group they belong to, you are doing this for hateful reasons. Your intent is to offend and cause pain. Its down to the person to allow themselves to be offended. Its up to you what you feel offended by, nobody is telling what you should have to be offended by. That is your personal choice.

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

That's a tricky question because some offence is intended I guess, and some isn't.
Who's to say what's offensive and what's not?

I've asked this many times on here actually when we were discussing banning some words.

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

I guess it would be like you or I having been born in Japan or China and having people refer to our ethnicity as "Western."

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

it can do but i am of the opinion that they need your agreement to become offended, you can walk away, you don't have to fight every fool who wants to shout "boy" at you..

who has the right to say what i should be offended at or shouldn't be offended at, isn't that assumption racist or sexist in itself..

Its very simple, if you are intending to offend someone because of a group they belong to, you are doing this for hateful reasons. Your intent is to offend and cause pain. Its down to the person to allow themselves to be offended. Its up to you what you feel offended by, nobody is telling what you should have to be offended by. That is your personal choice.

are you really or are you just saying the most hateful thing you can...

who is to say that is hurtful to that race, again is that assumption racist..

is a joke about jews having big noses racist or a joke about the black guy eating chicken and water Mellon...

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

See, I wouldn't call someone from that area "Asian". I like the word "Oriental", but I have been told off for using it on a forum before.

What do you call people from Pakistan or India then?

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

I guess it would be like you or I having been born in Japan or China and having people refer to our ethnicity as "Western."

How about "Occidental"?

eddie wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:what is or isn't racist or derogatory is generally decided by middle aged, white men...

who is it to decide what is and isn't wrong to say, to some people saying "hi what a lovely day" is enough to make them swear...

I asked before is offence taken or given??

That's a tricky question because some offence is intended I guess, and some isn't.
Who's to say what's offensive and what's not?

I've asked this many times on here actually when we were discussing banning some words.

Like fag?

Oooh, it's not banned now!

Raggamuffin wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

See, I wouldn't call someone from that area "Asian". I like the word "Oriental", but I have been told off for using it on a forum before.

What do you call people from Pakistan or India then?

We don't have many people from Western Asia here and they tend to be first- or second-generation, so if we have to call them something we just ask what country they're from, usually.

Unless you're a Republican -- then everyone from Western Asia is a "terrorist."

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


Its very simple, if you are intending to offend someone because of a group they belong to, you are doing this for hateful reasons. Your intent is to offend and cause pain. Its down to the person to allow themselves to be offended. Its up to you what you feel offended by, nobody is telling what you should have to be offended by. That is your personal choice.

are you really or are you just saying the most hateful thing you can...

who is to say that is hurtful to that race, again is that assumption racist..

is a joke about jews having big noses racist or a joke about the black guy eating chicken and water Mellon...

If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

I guess it would be like you or I having been born in Japan or China and having people refer to our ethnicity as "Western."

So it's only the American Asians that are born in the USA that object to being referred to as oriental?

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

I guess it would be like you or I having been born in Japan or China and having people refer to our ethnicity as "Western."

So it's only the American Asians that are born in the USA that object to being referred to as oriental?

Well, I haven't asked all of them I've just always believed it's not polite to call people by descriptions they don't like.

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


Its very simple, if you are intending to offend someone because of a group they belong to, you are doing this for hateful reasons. Your intent is to offend and cause pain. Its down to the person to allow themselves to be offended. Its up to you what you feel offended by, nobody is telling what you should have to be offended by. That is your personal choice.

are you really or are you just saying the most hateful thing you can...

who is to say that is hurtful to that race, again is that assumption racist..

is a joke about jews having big noses racist or a joke about the black guy eating chicken and water Mellon...

If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

Me and my black mates joke about, all the time, about colour. It's a source of stupid amusement for us all....ie "Edds put on some cream or you gone burn in this hot sun wid your white self!"
No offence ever taken or intended. It's plain funny!

eddie wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


Its very simple, if you are intending to offend someone because of a group they belong to, you are doing this for hateful reasons. Your intent is to offend and cause pain. Its down to the person to allow themselves to be offended. Its up to you what you feel offended by, nobody is telling what you should have to be offended by. That is your personal choice.

are you really or are you just saying the most hateful thing you can...

who is to say that is hurtful to that race, again is that assumption racist..

is a joke about jews having big noses racist or a joke about the black guy eating chicken and water Mellon...

If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

Me and my black mates joke about, all the time, about colour. It's a source of stupid amusement for us all....ie "Edds put on some cream or you gone burn in this hot sun wid your white self!"
No offence ever taken or intended. It's plain funny!

It's kind of going back to what I was saying earlier -- what's acceptable among friends isn't necessarily acceptable among strangers. I know most strangers would be offended (or at least confused) if I referred to them as "pig-fucker," but not my friend Darren

Hahahahaha pig-fucker! I dare not ask

I think my friends and I, as stupid as this sounds to anyone else, actually celebrate our differences!
I like it.
That's why I said once, (and got subsequently hounded for it), actually seeing colour is less racial than not seeing it.

eddie wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

Me and my black mates joke about, all the time, about colour. It's a source of stupid amusement for us all....ie "Edds put on some cream or you gone burn in this hot sun wid your white self!"
No offence ever taken or intended. It's plain funny!

There is no offense intended though Eddie as I do the same with many of my friends. I Have had countless Irish jokes over the years and I join in the fun, as it is fun. Case in point, one of Asian friends from India who calls himself "Paki". Yet if called this intentionally by someone he does not know, it upsets him because they have used this hatefully towards him. Hate has then been directed at him because he is Asian.

eddie wrote:Hahahahaha pig-fucker! I dare not ask

I think my friends and I, as stupid as this sounds to anyone else, actually celebrate our differences!
I like it.
That's why I said once, (and got subsequently hounded for it), actually seeing colour is less racial than not seeing it.

Haha, a lot of people think there must be some crazy convoluted story behind that, but it was actually pretty simple -- there was a pig, and Darren ... no, I'm kidding. It's from South Park

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:Hahahahaha pig-fucker! I dare not ask

I think my friends and I, as stupid as this sounds to anyone else, actually celebrate our differences!
I like it.
That's why I said once, (and got subsequently hounded for it), actually seeing colour is less racial than not seeing it.

Haha, a lot of people think there must be some crazy convoluted story behind that, but it was actually pretty simple -- there was a pig, and Darren ... no, I'm kidding. It's from South Park

One of favorite clips.

You really do have to go with the flow at NF -- this started with a thoughtful piece about how racism differs in different countries, now we're on South Park

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Regarding U.S. usage, "Oriental" used to refer to East Asians, but they don't like it here -- so we tend to refer to them (and not to Pakistanis, Arabs, etc.) as Asians.

Oriental is generally used as a adjective for an art or craft in the U.S. -- Oriental rug, Oriental vase, Oriental sculpture, etc.

Edit -- some older Americans (who never got the memo) still refer to Asians as "Oriental."

Interesting. I wonder why American Asians dislike the term "oriental"?

Because they are Asians
Oriental is term Europeans tried to lay over the top.
No one considers themselves 'Oriental' it is a British term

Current usage
American English

In the United States, "Oriental" is often considered an antiquated, pejorative, and disparaging term. John Kuo Wei Tchen, director of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute at New York University, said the basic critique of the term developed in the 1970s. Tchen has said: "With the anti-war movement in the '60s and early '70s, many Asian Americans identified the term 'Oriental' with a Western process of racializing Asians as forever opposite 'others'."[7] In a 2009 press release related to legislation aimed at removing the term "oriental" from official documents of the State of New York, Governor David Paterson said: "The word 'oriental' does not describe ethnic origin, background or even race; in fact, it has deep and demeaning historical roots".[8]

British English

In British English, the term Oriental refers to people from East and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the word "Asian" refers to people from Indian Subcontinent. Therefore, Orientals is the only term which can refer to people of East Asian origin. East and Southeast Asians comprise 0.7% of the UK population as a whole, and 5.3% of the non-European population. Of these, the majority are of Chinese descent.[9] Orient is also a word for the lustre of a fine pearl.[10] Hong Kong, a former British colony, has been called "Pearl of the Orient".

Australian English

In Australian English, the term "Asian" generally refers to people of East Asian or Southeast Asian descent, such as those of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, or Filipino descent. Persons of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and most other South Asian descent are referred to by their respective demonym, but without explicit knowledge, those people are indeterminately inferred as "Indian".

The word Oriental, in place of Asian, is seldom used of late in colloquial conversation in Australia.

@Eddie
it is like if you Chinese people call you
Gweilo or gwai lo

is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners although this does not apply to many other Asian races, and has a history of racially deprecatory use. Cantonese speakers frequently use the term "gweilo" to refer to foreigners in general and consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the foreign community historically resented.[1][2] Gweilo has now, however, been recognised as simply referring to foreigners, especially westerners, in South East Asia and now appears in the Oxford Dictionary defined as such

it literal meaning 'white devil/ghost' and what they had called Europeans for centuries
but globalization and trying to not be racist means they are stopping.

Nowadays, some Hong Kong residents and other Cantonese speakers often refer to non-Chinese people by their ethnicity. This is in sharp contrast to other parts of China, including the Cantonese-speaking south, where foreigners are most commonly referred to as (laowai (老外)). This literally means "old foreigner", but depending on context, "old" can be both a term of endearment and one of criticism.

I wouldn't just say someone was "Indian" because that would imply they were from India, and they might be from a different country.

If I knew someone was Chinese, I would say they were Chinese, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't call them Asian.

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

are you really or are you just saying the most hateful thing you can...

who is to say that is hurtful to that race, again is that assumption racist..

is a joke about jews having big noses racist or a joke about the black guy eating chicken and water Mellon...

If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

It's never so clear cut is it, if someone calls me say "jig" and "i call them sheep shagger" am I being racist in response to his attack..

would brit be racist while paki is not...

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:


If the intent is to cause pain through your intentions are unethical.
How that person reacts will depend on them.
What you have to ask is why they should direct intended hate directed towards them, when there is no reason to.
Such hate allowed to go unchecked can and does lead to violence which is seen throughout history. Case in point about how Jews were targeted with such hate

It's never so clear cut is it, if someone calls me say "jig" and "i call them sheep shagger" am I being racist in response to his attack..

would brit be racist while paki is not...

Again its about your intent.
Do you understand what intent means?

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

It's never so clear cut is it, if someone calls me say "jig" and "i call them sheep shagger" am I being racist in response to his attack..

would brit be racist while paki is not...

Again its about your intent.
Do you understand what intent means?

sure it where you sleep when you go camping...

so if I use the ultimate "n" word but i'm only joking that's ok...

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:

Again its about your intent.
Do you understand what intent means?

sure it where you sleep when you go camping...

so if I use the ultimate "n" word but i'm only joking that's ok...

So you do not understand then.

Oh well

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

sure it where you sleep when you go camping...

so if I use the ultimate "n" word but i'm only joking that's ok...

So you do not understand then.

Oh well

lol.. so the words are some how more aggressive when used with intent, how do I know if they would be offended by the word I used..
How would they know the intent in my words...

who's opinion matters..

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:

So you do not understand then.

Oh well

lol.. so the words are some how more aggressive when used with intent, how do I know if they would be offended by the word I used..
How would they know the intent in my words...

who's opinion matters..

Which shows agin you do not understand.

Never mind

Cuchulain wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

lol.. so the words are some how more aggressive when used with intent, how do I know if they would be offended by the word I used..
How would they know the intent in my words...

who's opinion matters..

Which shows agin you do not understand.

Never mind

It shows nothing of the sort, it shows that intent is as vague as racism, it's opinion and nothing else..

why does someone have to like another race, why can't they say they do not like them...

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:

Cuchulain wrote:

Which shows agin you do not understand.

Never mind

It shows nothing of the sort, it shows that intent is as vague as racism, it's opinion and nothing else..

why does someone have to like another race, why can't they say they do not like them...

That again shows you do not understand intent.

Try again

eddie wrote:This has been a decidedly big topic on here lately, thought I'd have a quick Google and came across this, answered by an Anerican student living in London.


What are the differences between British and American racism?

Is the abuse or discrimination that a black or Asian person suffers in the United Kingdom likely to be different from that suffered in the United States? Is one country more subtle in its racism?

Quora User, American Expat in London, answers:

59 upvotes by Brett Williams, David Njoku, Christopher VanLang, Aaron Ellis, (more)
I'm a black American living in London.  You may want to check out my answer to Where is racism more prevalent - UK, US, France or Germany?

My experience is that here in the UK discrimination tends to be class-based and that there are pockets of society overtly xenophobic.

But to get down to a more granular level...

Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech as I know it from an American standpoint does not exist over here.  Hated speech is not protected and one can be prosecuted for making racist statements or even sending racist tweets. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wal...

As a black American I struggle with this notion.  Whilst I find that sort of behaviour appalling I do think it is an infringement on civil liberties.  Simultaneously, as someone who has been subjected to racial taunts (in the US) I find the notion of punishing racist behaviour refreshing and progressive.  (Perhaps this is hypocritical of me, but it's not something that I have reconciled yet.)

Population
Only 1% of the British population is black.  (This is 12% in the US).  Much of the racism I see of over here tends to be directed towards people from the Indian subcontinent, i.e. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. (Called Asian over here, not to be confused with those from Orient, i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc). Asians make up 8% of the UK population.

From my own anecdotal evidence I have noticed that black families who have been here for generations and generations are more assimilated into British culture - and thus face less racism than blacks who have emigrated from Africa or the Caribbean.

I have not yet met any other black Americans (aside from students) living here in the UK.

There is also the perception that Asian people have not assimilated into British society.  I don't know how much of that is true or is based on Islamaphobia.

Interracial Relationships
I have noticed that there are decidedly more interracial relationships here especially between black women and white men.  Black women are 5x more likely to marry a white man here in the UK as opposed to the US. (I can't remember where I read that statistic).  

In London there are certainly more mixed race (black / white) people here.  It is not uncommon to see a white woman walking down the street with her black (mixed) children.

Racism v National Origin
I have found it very interesting that what Americans call "national origin" is referred to as race here.  For instance, if someone made a deragotory comment about Welsh people it would be construed as a racist statement -- even if the person saying it was white.

I know many (white) Scottish people that feel they're a different race than (white) English people; and are extremely sensitive about this issue. Although these feelings may be valid, it's something that  as a black American I have trouble understanding.
 
Written 9 May, 2012. 12,392 views.

It's interesting that this person appears to assume that anyone from Asia is a Muslim.

I found the site this was from, and there are some interesting comments there.

http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-British-and-American-racism

AN EVEN MORE relevant question for all of you poor lost souls out there :

"What are the differences between Asian, Middle Eastern and African expressions of racism ?"

CERTAIN Asian nationalities still remain the most racist, xenophobic, and openly obnoxious, nationalist groups down here in my part of the world !

ESPECIALLY many of those dastardly Malaysians..

Lone Wolf wrote:

AN EVEN MORE relevant question for all of you poor lost souls out there :

"What are the differences between Asian and African racism ?"

CERTAIN Asian nationalities still remain the most racist, xenophobic, and openly obnoxious, nationalist groups down here in my part of the world !

When I read the OP, I was struck by the fact that it was only about racism towards non-white people by white people, which seemed a bit biased.

veya_victaous wrote:@Eddie
it is like if you Chinese people call you
Gweilo or gwai lo

is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners although this does not apply to many other Asian races, and has a history of racially deprecatory use. Cantonese speakers frequently use the term "gweilo" to refer to foreigners in general and consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the foreign community historically resented.[1][2] Gweilo has now, however, been recognised as simply referring to foreigners, especially westerners, in South East Asia and now appears in the Oxford Dictionary defined as such

it literal meaning 'white devil/ghost' and what they had called Europeans for centuries  
but globalization and trying to not be racist means they are stopping.

Nowadays, some Hong Kong residents and other Cantonese speakers often refer to non-Chinese people by their ethnicity. This is in sharp contrast to other parts of China, including the Cantonese-speaking south, where foreigners are most commonly referred to as (laowai (老外)). This literally means "old foreigner", but depending on context, "old" can be both a term of endearment and one of criticism.

I have to be really honest. I don't really care what other nationalities call me?
It's only offensive if I make it so. It doesn't bother me.

Raggamuffin wrote:I wouldn't just say someone was "Indian" because that would imply they were from India, and they might be from a different country.

If I knew someone was Chinese, I would say they were Chinese, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't call them Asian.

India is also a subcontinent that includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh(partly as the tectonic plate line runs through it)

India is geographically more separate from Asia than Europe is. tectonically (so the real division on continents) there is a Eurasian plate and an Indian plate that come off Gondwanaland (old super continent that Australia Antarctica India and South America once formed)_ and has ran into Eurasian plate creating the Himalayas in the process from the force of the plates pushing.

veya_victaous wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:I wouldn't just say someone was "Indian" because that would imply they were from India, and they might be from a different country.

If I knew someone was Chinese, I would say they were Chinese, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't call them Asian.

India is also a subcontinent that includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh(partly as the tectonic plate line runs through it)

India is geographically more separate from Asia than Europe is. tectonically (so the real division on continents) there is a Eurasian plate and an Indian plate that come off Gondwanaland (old super continent that Australia Antarctica India and South America once formed)_ and has ran into Eurasian plate creating the Himalayas in the process from the force of the plates pushing.

I just wouldn't call someone "Indian", unless I knew that they were actually Indian. I don't think that people in the UK generally would do so either. It's a cultural thing I guess.

eddie wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:@Eddie
it is like if you Chinese people call you
Gweilo or gwai lo

is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners although this does not apply to many other Asian races, and has a history of racially deprecatory use. Cantonese speakers frequently use the term "gweilo" to refer to foreigners in general and consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the foreign community historically resented.[1][2] Gweilo has now, however, been recognised as simply referring to foreigners, especially westerners, in South East Asia and now appears in the Oxford Dictionary defined as such

it literal meaning 'white devil/ghost' and what they had called Europeans for centuries  
but globalization and trying to not be racist means they are stopping.

Nowadays, some Hong Kong residents and other Cantonese speakers often refer to non-Chinese people by their ethnicity. This is in sharp contrast to other parts of China, including the Cantonese-speaking south, where foreigners are most commonly referred to as (laowai (老外)). This literally means "old foreigner", but depending on context, "old" can be both a term of endearment and one of criticism.

I have to be really honest. I don't really care what other nationalities call me?
It's only offensive if I make it so. It doesn't bother me.

that is true
But i think it would be harder If you moved to another nation and a large portion of people were calling you it everyday.

Raggamuffin wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:I wouldn't just say someone was "Indian" because that would imply they were from India, and they might be from a different country.

If I knew someone was Chinese, I would say they were Chinese, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't call them Asian.

India is also a subcontinent that includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh(partly as the tectonic plate line runs through it)

India is geographically more separate from Asia than Europe is. tectonically (so the real division on continents) there is a Eurasian plate and an Indian plate that come off Gondwanaland (old super continent that Australia Antarctica India and South America once formed)_ and has ran into Eurasian plate creating the Himalayas in the process from the force of the plates pushing.

I just wouldn't call someone "Indian", unless I knew that they were actually Indian. I don't think that people in the UK generally would do so either. It's a cultural thing I guess.

yeah the part where you call them Asians even though they are not the don't even live on the Asian tectonic plate.
'Indian' is like saying European, plus it is also a nation so I can understand there is some confusion.

veya_victaous wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

I just wouldn't call someone "Indian", unless I knew that they were actually Indian. I don't think that people in the UK generally would do so either. It's a cultural thing I guess.

yeah the part where you call them Asians even though they are not the don't even live on the Asian tectonic plate.      
'Indian' is like saying European, plus it is also a nation so I can understand there is some confusion.

Call them what you want.