ABSTRACT
Policy decisions made at national and local level have influenced the composition and structure of the local population in the city of Leicester and have had far reaching implications for the lives of people. Black people have actively constructed their lives but within the context of a pervasive racialised identity and practice. Sociological theorists have debated the relative importance of race, in determining the nature of peoples' lives. It argued that the historical approach reveals the aspects of the way in which race and class interact in a complex dynamic relationship, a relationship that can only be exposed over time. Interviews were carried out with twenty nine African Caribbean people who had lived in Leicester during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. People were chosen to reflect what is known about the composition of the population but were not a representative sample in a sociological sense. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
