"What we had before was the Afro-Caribbean presence in Britain.  But the emergence of a black British culture can now be seen. For the first time, being black is a way of being British."

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in an article on the Africana web site, tells us that:

"The saving grace of a class-bound society, after all, is that the right class credentials can often override other obstacles."

In the same article, he relates the following quote from a black British friend, Trevor Phillips:

"I think most black people in this country are embarrassed by the idea of being separate.  Our neighbors don't come to lynch us, by and large. And, you know, we go out with their daughters, for Christ's sake."

Benin, Nigeria (Ivory Mask)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York