Oldham, Burnley, Bradford and Leeds are less than three hours' drive from the unassuming city of Leicester in the East Midlands, but that physical proximity conceals a vast social distance. Since April this year, these towns have become symbols of race trouble in Britain, prompting fears of riots spreading elsewhere and also reminding many of the high tide of racism of the early 1970s. But Leicester, with the highest population percentage of non-whites in Britain and projected to soon become the first European city with a non-white majority, presents a rare picture of multicultural harmony. Indeed, its picture of ethnic co-existence has become the subject of study for many European cities with ethnically diverse populations. Until recently, Leicester was known as the home of the Attenborough brothers (Richard and David), Gary Lineker the footballer, Thomas Cook (who took the first group of tourists from Leicester to Loughborough in 1841). It was also known for its university and traditional manufacturing industries. Now, it is held up as an example of how a multicultural society works in the age of globalisation.
Leicester last witnessed. Oldham- like trouble in 1972, when the racist National Front tried to evict the thousands of Asian immigrants who arrived here on being expelled from East Africa, mainly by Uganda's Idi Amin. Today, Leicester evokes a fierce sense of loyalty among non-whites who do not feel as comfortable or safe anywhere else in Britain. Ethnic diversity appears to be the cornerstone of its harmony. Leicester, as a recent City Council document put it, has "The joy of being a truly diverse society… (with the) potential to become the UK role model for cultural diversity and inclusion." The city is considered as the birthplace of English language, where warring Anglo-Saxons and Vikings set aside their differences and lived peacefully, sharing their trade and languages. Leicester has also had a long history of prosperity, having been a major commercial centre since Roman times. It attracted people from all over the world, but the massive immigration of Asians of East African origin disturbed the underpinnings of harmony.
In 1972, the City Council, worried that "the entire fabric of our city is at risk" from immigrants, inserted a tersely worded advertisement in a Ugandan daily, warning potential immigrants: "In your own interests and those of your family you should…not come to Leicester". But come they did, and the 1991 census recorded that ethnic minorities constituted 28.5 percent of Leicester's population, the highest in any British city. The City Council now expects this figure to go up to 35 percent in the 2001 census. But according to Paul Winstone, "race relations policy officer" of the City Council: "Already 50 percent of school children of five years' age are non-white, and by 2011 we are talking of a non-white majority. Nowhere has this happened peacefully, and we are proud of what we have achieved in Leicester over the last 30 years. We don't want anybody to see this as a threat to the English way of life, since the majority will consist of several minorities. Leicester is now a permanently multicultural society. Today the Asians have political power, economic power and cultural discipline. The sky is the limit for them."
In Britain, some city neighbourhoods have had minority white populations for decades, but unlike the US, there are not yet whole towns or cities in which the ethnic minorities constitute the majority. This explains the wide interest in Leicester's success in race relations. All the City Council documents are published in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Urdu besides English. The welcome sign at Leicester railway station too carries all these languages. Says Robert Coils of the University of Leicester: "Good race relations is like good cricket—simple, easy, not trying too hard. It hasn't been self-conscious; it just crept on us over the last 30 years. Leicester grows in your esteem when you visit American cities divided by racial tensions."