What is black British culture?

This radio program has been extremely informative, and from it I have learnt that black people have made a mark and has had a massive impact on the lives of many young British people; in particular it has heavily influenced this generation and the past generation. This massive influence has impacted on British people through style, food, talking but most importantly music.

Style, this has significantly shaped the identity of British black people. British black people wanted to consistently dress well; especially on Sundays when attending Church. However, racial abuse has impacted on their confidence to dress as they wish. It began with the group Jackson 5, from which a number of people adopted the trademark style of afros and silk shirts. In the 1990’s baggy jeans, baseball caps became the new fashion which many guys adopted. Even idols such as the likes of 50 Cent inspired young black people, as they like him began to wear waist coats with jeans, just like him. Asian and white people want to dress like this too, and this generation began to start engaging with all cultures through fashion; more so the black fashion  of baggy jeans or skinny jeans.

Food is seen as a minor part of black culture, however un-knowingly it has had a huge impact on what we eat! Chicken and rice are a massive aspect of this impact and are something that you can buy in many fast food, and even part of some everyday British dinners. Sweet potatoes are another example of this, as they now are even part of a traditional British roast. Again this demonstrates how the generations are embracing all different cultures within our multi-cultural and involving their customs and differences within their everyday lives.

Due to the increasing involvement of black culture within our lives, cultures are now accused of acting black which black people do not necessarily feel is offensive, but feels that it is an unfair stereotype.'Acting Black’ may include being loud, aggressive and using slang; this stereotype is mostly used on the younger generations. Many white and asian people may have grown up in an area that has a high population of black british people, and adopted their culture, which may be a reason behind why they then begin to ‘act black’. Young black people do feel that within the media black people are always represented as violent thug like people for example being: members of gangs, drug dealers who are. As this stereotype is always present within the media, and is held by many, there is an opinion that as this view is held by many that it leads to people becoming that stereotype due to the sheer forcefulness of the stereotype on young black people .

Music is a huge part of black british culture and black british music has had a massive impact on what many people of the young generation listens to. The most popular of 'black genres' are: reggae, hip-hop, grime, dance hall, garage, RnB and drum and bass. Black people feel that these genres of music are not just for black people to listen to, but for every one from every culture, as the young generation is such a vast amount of people. Some of these genres of music has caused controversy within the media  because of some of the negative images that are portrayed both through the videos and lyrics that can be of a violent or sexual nature. However, this has not stopped these genres being extremely successful within the music industry, as they are still listened to by huge numbers of people.

I personally believe that black culture has had a rather large impact on my life. I listen to a wide variety of music and the genres hip-hop, grime, RnB and reggae are among these genres. I also eat food from all different countries, and food such as jerk chicken and sweet potato are part of my usual diet. Even though black british people are sometimes shone in a negative light within the media ('hoodies') I however do not have the same opinion, of course I am aware that there are some young british black people that are involved in gang culture, but so are many other cultures! When the 'phrase' black britain is put to me, my thoughts are of black famous and influential people such as Tinie Tempah, Malorie Blackman, Naomi Campbell, Sir Trevor Macdonald etc... I believe that my own views on black british culture shows how black culture has been embedded into British life, and shows the normality of the presence of black people within my life and Britain.