The myths and the litany

Myths about migration and race have been discussed separately in the chapters of this book. But the separate myths are often joined together as a larger cohesive story that describes the dangers of too much immigration, of segregation and of strongly independent ethnic communities. This larger story can be described as a litany, because of the way the dangers are repeated as a guide to policy, without reference to current and lived reality. The litany goes like this: ‘Immigrants are a burden, taking jobs and resources, living piled together in segregated areas; segregation prevents integration, clashes with British culture, heightens tension and breeds violence’.

The litany is also made in reverse: ‘Cultural tension makes people afraid, leading to White flight, self-segregation and ghetto-like parallel communities; instead of integrating, isolated minorities find devious ways of bringing new immigrants for marriage and work’. The litany equates immigration, diversity and segregation, labels all as problems and opposes them to integration, an equation that we have challenged in this book by investigating the evidence behind separate claims and showing them to be myths.

Looking at the claims as one bigger story in this concluding chapter allows us to find their consistencies and expose the views of the world that the claims represent. This in turn helps to understand why a range of politicians, commentators and the media find it convenient to recount the litany in spite of its mythical status.

The evidence

The reality shown by research gives very little support to the litany. We have shown that the history of immigration is one of concentration in available and cheaper housing followed by slow dispersal as integration proceeds. There are many reasons why separation might be expected to remain or to increase over time – racist or xenophobic hostility to newcomers, new immigration of family members, strong loyalty to family and to the place of one’s upbringing, minority disadvantage in the housing and labour markets, the natural growth of immigrant populations through births, and the litany itself, which suggests to people who do not live in them that minority concentrations are particularly dangerous places. Yet despite all this, the evidence shows very clearly that minorities and the White population are more evenly spread than in the past. Migration of minorities away from settlement areas and increased mixing are occurring despite all those reasons for separation.