The suburbs turn black

摘要

Ilford's Apostolic Church had a small, mostly white congregation when John Jones became pastor in the mid-1990s. But the church has grown since then, and its complexion has changed. Although Mr Jones insists that his services are not pitched to African or Caribbean tastes-he merely describes them as "lively"-the regular worshippers are noticeably darker than they used to be. "Somehow, we have become a black church," he says. A similarly matter-of-fact change is evident on the streets of Redbridge, as it is in other districts on the fringes of London and Birmingham. While troubled inner-city neighbourhoods such as Brixton are usually taken to represent the authentic black experience, blacks themselves are abandoning such areas in favour of humdrum suburbs.