White is not right for young British Asians : International

By Prasun Sonwalkar

London, Aug 7 - White is not right for many young British Asians who prefer to marry within their own ethnic origin, according to a new survey by the BBC Asian Network as part of events related to 60 years of India and Pakistan's independence.

Young British Asians who were born and brought up in Britain may have many things in common with their white colleagues and peers. But when it comes to marriage, most prefer spouses who have the same country of origin in the Indian sub-continent.

The survey revealed that nearly half of Asians aged between 16 and 34 would only marry someone from the same racial group compared to just 9 per cent of white respondents. It also found that more than half of young Asians would not consider dating a black person.

Commissioned as part of a season examining the state of mind of Britain's Asian population, the survey found UK Asians hold dramatically different attitudes to friends and relationship than that of their white peers.

According to the survey, nearly half - 44 per cent - of the Asian respondents would only marry another Asian. Eighty-seven per cent of white people said they would consider a mixed marriage but only 53 per cent of Asians felt the same.

The study showed that while 83 per cent of white respondents would consider going out with a black person, just 44 per cent of Asians would do so. But the survey also showed that young white people are twice as likely as Asians to choose their friends from their own racial group.

More than two-thirds of young whites (69 per cent) said that all or most of their friends are also white, compared to 31 per cent of Asians whose friends are all or mostly Asian.

Young Asians also appear to have very different attitudes to homosexuality than their white counterparts: 44 per cent of young Asians believe homosexuality is immoral, a view shared by just 8 per cent of whites.

The term 'Asian' refers to people identifying themselves as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan.