This book, first published in 1983, examines why people prefer to talk
about immigrants or ethnic minorities when they are referring to
differences marked not by the migratory process of ethnicity, but by
skin colour. How, without mentioning racial criteria, have politicians
managed to introduce immigration controls deliberately aimed at reducing
the number of black migrants? This book identifies a central feature of
British political life: the ability to justify racially discriminatory
behaviour without recourse to explicit racist language. It gives an
account of British racial ideology as it is practically experienced in
the form of political discourse and helps to provide a theoretical
understanding of its relationship to the social structure as a whole and
in particular its relationship to inter- and intra-class divisions. The
author argues that traditional class-based ideologies are perfectly
capable of supporting racially oppressive institutions and have far
better 'protective' properties than expressions of overt racism. As a
result, the objective structures of British race relations are obscured
by a facade of 'deracialised ideology'.