The University Library at Essex contains significant book content on many aspects of race and ethnicity, in both print and online format. See library catalogue for details. Print books are widely scattered according to topic and geography, but useful sections are DA 125 for ethnic minorities in the UK, and HT 1501-1600 for race and racism in general.
The Library's Special Collections and Archives contain some primary source documents relating to race and ethnicity. For example, the Ellis Cashmore (Ethnic relations in West Midlands housing estates) and David Smith (Police and People in London) material in the Qualidata archive. The University Archive itself contains material from the Students' Union, other groups and individuals relating to race and ethnicity at Essex, particularly for the 1960s-1980s. Some of these sources are listed and described in a file, which was used to research the 2022 exhibition at Art Exchange "Fire in My Head"
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Barnardo's Oral History Project
Aims to capture and share the experiences of Black and dual heritage communities, including the post-war African and Caribbean communities in Britain, and in some cases experiences of the care system.
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Birmingham Black Oral History Project
Birmingham Museums oral history interviews (1990-92) with 21 people who originated from the Caribbean or South Asia. Themes include first impressions, religion, education, racism, identity, nationality, and belonging, as well as thoughts on the future.
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Black Britain & Asian Britain (British Library)
Guides to the extensive historical & contemporary resources for the study of Black and Asian history, politics, culture and creative arts in the UK. The collections also reflect the long and turbulent histories of race and empire, as well as post-colonialism. They include music, books, journals, archives and manuscripts, newspapers, maps and photographs, prints and drawings, web pages and stamps.
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British Library Sisterhood & After [currently unavailable due to BL cyber attack]
Contains excerpts from a few recordings with Black & Asian activists including Stella Dadzie and Pragna Patel. Full interviews are held by the BL. See also Gail Lewis https://www.bl.uk/people/gail-lewis
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Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity
Cross-university research centre founded in 2013. Runs the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) - data will be available from UK Data Service by Autumn 2023. Open access ebook based on the dataset: Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis
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Equality and Human Rights Commission
Independent quango charged with promoting human rights & equality in the UK. Includes Is Britain fairer? flagship project/publication. Notably the publications Sex and power: who rules Britain?, Inquiry into the Appointment Process of FTSE 350 Boards and Facts about women and men in Great Britain..
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Ethnicity Facts & Figures
New website on Gov.uk drawing together relevant statistics.
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George Padmore Institute
Founded in 1991 the GPI is an archive & resource centre in London, documenting the experience of people of Caribbean, African & Asian descent in the UK (and Europe). Also linked to the pioneering bookshop New Beacon Books
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Institute of Race Relations (UK)
Institute of Race Relations (IRR) was established in 1958 & developed into the leading think tank tackling anti-racism in the UK (and beyond). Many resources available. Published the important journal Race Today, available in print format from the library at Essex (also online through the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/racetoday ), and more recently Race & Class (available online from the library at Essex)
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London Metropolitan Archives Community Archives
Numerous historical collections held by City of London, see guides 21-26 in particular. Extensive collections relating to the Black Caribbean community, as well as Chinese, German & Jewish communities
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Race & Diversity
Web page collating UK research & publications on this topic, useful for current awareness
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Race & Ethnicity in British Sociology
2020 report from British Sociological Association
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Race on the Agenda (ROTA)
Organisation working to demonstrate the impact of race and racism and the options for positive change, especially in the areas of: Housing, Health, Education, Immigration, Employment, Criminal Justice
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Runnymede Trust (UK)
Leading think tank on race equality issues.
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A. Sivanandan
A. Sivanandan (1923-2018) was director of the Institute of Race Relations and founded the well-known journal Race & Class. The website brings together many of his writings, interviews & lectures
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Teaching British Histories of Race, Migration & Empire
Institute for Historical Research & Runnymede Trust project, collating crowdsourced links to resources for schools & universities. Includes some contemporary resources, as well as historical.
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UKREN - UK Race and Europe Network
Network of UK non-governmental organisations aiming to combat racism in Europe.
Black. African & Caribbean
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Black British History (National Archives)
Guide to some of the collections in the National Archives relating to Black history in the UK, including the Mangrove Nine protests (1970)
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Black Cultural Archives
National heritage centre in London for collecting & preserving the histories & cultures of African & Caribbean people in the UK
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Black Equity Organisation
Independent Black civil rights organisation created to dismantle systemic racism in Britain and deliver better lived experiences for Black people
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Caribbean Takeaway Takeover
Oral histories of ten Caribbean elders from the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK between the 1940s-1960s
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The Making of Black Britain
Oral history project that explores the experiences of Black people in Britain, looking at nationality, identity, belonging and more.
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Memories of the Reading Windrush Generation & their Descendants
Series of oral history recordings developed by members of Reading’s Caribbean community and accessible online.
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Southall Black Sisters
Leading (1979) organisation supporting the struggle of Black & minority women for civil rights and freedom from domestic and gender-based violence
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Windrush 75
Website from the National Archives, linking to a variety of resources
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Windrush Scandal Project
Three year project led by University of London to examine the 2018 Windrush Scandal within a transnational framework. Includes oral history interviews
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LSE South Asian Heritage
Digitised material from the LSE Library reflecting the diversity of South Asian communities in the UK
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South Asian Britain
Website from the research project ‘Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1830s to the Present’, coordinated by the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with the British Library. Aims to record events, networks and organisations with a strong focus on oral histories. It includes entries and biographies of over 450 individuals and 180 key organizations. Themes include colonialism and empire, family, education and work
Irish and other minorities
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Archive of the Irish in Britain
Growing collection of digitised materials maintained by London Metropolitan University, covering late 19th century onwards
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Irish in Britain
Online project coordinated by Dr. Susan Cahill celebrating 50 years of Irish life in the UK. Includes oral history clips from members of the Irish community
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Transnational Press London
Independent UK press with strong interests in Turkish & Kurdish studies, especially in relation to migration & communities in the UK
In terms of business and employment issues, see the following:
Parker Review (Feb 2020) on Ethnic diversity: enriching business leadership, looks at representation on UK company boards
Green Park consultancy Leadership 10000 annual reports on gender & ethnic minority representation at senior levels in UK companies
ONS has various datasets including Labour market status by ethnic group (quarterly data from 2001 from the Labour Force Survey)
Race in the workplace - 2017 independent review conducted by Baroness McGregor-Smith
Government official bodies include;
Race Disparity Unit (Cabinet Office) which includes the newly (July 2020) formed Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparities (CRED).
See the response to the CRED Sewell Report by the BAME Staff Forum here at Essex
Relating to Higher Education, the Living Black at University report (2022) from accommodation provider Unite Students reveals ongoing issues of racism in UK universities. See also the new (2022) Ethnic Representation Index for UK universities, developed by University of the Arts London
