(UK) Rising Racial Tension is Impacting my Financial Career Motivations
The ‘political element’ of this post is included exclusively to the extent that it is relevant to the impact on my career. Please don’t turn this into a political discussion. This is a long one, but it’s been weighing on me and directly affecting my motivation to pursue my financial career.
One of my main drivers for entering financial services, apart from interest, is wealth. For me, wealth represents both social mobility and protection. As a British-born ethnic minority, I’ve always told myself: if I progress in my career, build wealth, and live in the right places, I can insulate myself and my future family from much of the racism prevalent in this country.
Snobby or not, that logic is sound: areas like Notting Hill or Highgate are less likely to see the kind of hostility you might encounter in Clackton, independent schools tend to deal with racism more effectively than overstretched state schools; wealth gives you the ability to choose safer environments.
But lately I worry this “social bubble” may not hold. If hostility escalates beyond migrants in hotels next to legal migrants like my parents, and eventually to people like me and my (future) family, what protection does wealth really offer?
Talked to a friend of mine at UBS, he said: “After two years, I’ll request a transfer to Geneva. You have to weigh up where you live. the UK was already a slim net-benefit, and racial hostility tips the cost-benefit equation firmly against staying.”
For him, the pressure fuels a determination to move abroad. For me, it feels demotivating. I’d struggle with homesickness if I just took a page out of his book and left, even if that’s irrational.
Am I overreacting? If not, how does one overcome this sort of pressure? Are there strategies, or perspectives that have helped others in similar situations? I’d really value hearing how people have dealt with these thoughts.
Bro who talks like this
It was a summery of the conversation rather than a direct quote
But that means you talk like that...
Anyway, to be very honest, I don't really get the point of this post/your philosophy because this has pretty much never been true.
There is no social bubble, never has been.
del
Its well and good saying that, but when there are videos circulating of morons challenging if people are illegals and if the government handed them phones if they look brown then my brain goes “well how do I make sure I keep that sort of moron as far away as possible from me and my future family” it’s not tribal interests or an identity crisis; I’m quite concrete on my British identity; it’s about self preservation in an environment where my identity is challenged by others daily. I don’t want my kids to go through that when I am working my arse off to achieve the best life possible for them.
Regardless I fear this conversation is quickly becoming overly political and is straying away from the “no political discussions rule” ugmm
How could you expect your "no political discussion rule" to magically change a very political topic into a non-political one?
you have no british identity lmao, just because the WASP nobles conquered your homeland and you speak english as a result of the schools, roads and libraries they established in the British Raj doesn't instantly elevate you to their equal😹😹
London is very cosmopolitan and welcoming what are you even talking about
Sure, but should I then plan a future where I never leave London? What happens if I want to visit my in-laws? My parents? What happens if I decide to go back to my uni-town (am heavily involved in the finance/alum scene there) what happens when my kids go to uni and end up not going to a London uni?
You have to realise that a lot of the pressure I feel right now is not about tomorrow or the next day, but the future of how me and/or my family will feel over the next 10-15-20 years.
In that headspace, keeping ourselves to London in some sort of self-imposed exile doesn’t seem sound. I want to be able to visit my in-laws, deep in Essex, without feeling the need to overemphasise my Home Counties accent or speak louder to avoid getting looks from people angry about migrants and their government handed phones (a quick google search will show you how quickly incidents of people not getting looks but being straight up accosted for those reasons have shot up in the last year). I’m able to deal with all that. I just don’t want my kids to have to go through it when I am putting in an extortionate amount of effort to secure the best life possible for them. That’s what I’m on about ugm
Your best bet is making sure Britain stays British. I assure you the newcomers hate you even more than the native Britons. There must be a reason why you stay in Britain and not where your forefathers originated from.
I don’t think you’re overreacting at all. It’s natural to feel the weight of this stuff when it ties directly to your sense of safety and future. Everyone handles it differently - your friend sees moving abroad as a solution, but that doesn’t mean it has to be yours too.
Thank you for actually engaging with my post 😂
I used to use the whole “just get wealthy and you can isolate yourself from these people” as a mental strategy to stop it from getting to me. I’m not sure why that has stopped working.
I appreciate that you may not have the answer, but is there a way to push past this shit? Or is it just a case of putting my head down and just getting on with it?
On a relative basis where would you go that is objectively better than the UK in this regard? The UK, and London specifically is probably going to better in this capacity than other places.
If you’re young and ambitious, there isn’t really a good reason to stay in the UK anyway. I’d focus on the ever-expanding boomer care state and what it will mean for your taxes than anything else
Oh no, I completely agree with you that from an objective point of view, the UK is going downhill anyway. I often refer to it as the world's most poorly maintained open-air museum.
But as I mentioned before, I do worry I'd be too homesick. That's the irrational side of what holds me back. The rational side is my feeling that London remains second only to NY, so from a personal ambition POV I'd only move if it were to be there. The costs of living and the subsequent drop in quality of life would prevent me from wanting to pursue that as an option in the near term.
I’m not shouldering this burden on you, but you can also enact change in your community as you get more senior. I say this as a person of color in finance
Our parents here went through far far worse in the 60s, 70s >. Honestly mate, toughen up
Not to say its not present but the "feeling racism" might get biased if your using social media/media too much. Use it to fuel a drive to the top and be careful not to fall into a self-defeating victim mindset
"Expectancy/Perceptual Bias: Individuals who believe they possess a negatively valued physical trait expect others to react negatively toward them. This expectation can cause them to perceive and interpret their interaction partner's behavior more negatively, even if the partner's behavior does not actually change. In one study, participants who were told they had a facial scar perceived their interaction as tenser, even though the "scar" was removed prior to the interaction."
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