Historical Background and Context

Abstract

This chapter covers an issue which is addressed inadequately in many texts about race and racism in contemporary British society, namely the role that earlier processes of migration and settlement played in shaping our understanding of this issue. The focus is specifically on the interplay of debates about race and immigration from the late nineteenth century and into the early part of this century. This is necessary because it is impossible to comprehend fully the politicisation of racial questions in Britain since 1945 without a historical perspective, despite the tendency of many recent studies to ignore this dimension.