Introduction

The increase in the number of ‘mixed race’ or interethnic1 individuals is one of the most striking demographic changes in Britain over the last decade. They are the fastest growing group in the UK and America. In the UK, the interethnic are now the sixth largest group and form 1.4 per cent of the population (ONS, 2004) and that is widely believed to be an underestimate. Over 80 per cent of these were born in Britain (Parker and Song, 2001). Whilst black and white interethnic individuals have been studied, previous research has not sought to explore how being of interethnic might impact upon children who have one white and one South Asian origin parents. This subject area has suffered from academic neglect and for this reason alone this book is long overdue. Whilst focused on the Asian and white interethnic children and adolescents and their families the book draws on other interethnic groups such as white and Asian, Chinese and white; and noninterethnic individuals. Important questions at the heart of interethnic identity will be addressed.