Segregation exists, without a shadow of doubt, this is especially so within the city of Liverpool, in the United Kingdom. However, this type of segregation is insidious.  That is to say, that it is not noticed until it is pointed out to people. In Liverpool there is an ‘unofficial apartheid’ that has taken place for decades. Although, under the law of the land prejudice and segregation is unlawful, it is still practiced in full force in Liverpool - but it is done in such a way so that it goes on ‘unnoticed’.

The vast majority of stores within Liverpool City Centre are staffed by white employees. In fact, everywhere one looks in Liverpool, they would be hard-pressed to find anyone of ‘color’ working in the major stores and within the infrastructure of the city - despite being born and bred there.

This situation has been allowed to fester and grow until it has become a cancerous leech and a stain on the city itself. Segregation is something that black Asian and mixed race people know only too well in a city that likes to pride itself as ‘a city of culture’.

Walk into the suburbs and the districts of Liverpool and segregation hits you in the face. Black, mixed race and Asian people can be found within the district called ‘Toxteth’. When black seamen first arrived in Liverpool, they would settle in the south of the city - namely Toxteth, Liverpool 8.

Back during Victorian times [1837-1901] Toxteth was one of the wealthiest districts within the whole of Liverpool. It was where maids, servants, masters and mistresses could be found in equal measure. With Liverpool being a ‘port’ city, situated on the banks of the River Mersey, the city was heavily-involved in the trade of human cargo - the African slave trade. This was how the city of Liverpool gained the majority of its wealth. This is why now, Liverpool has some of the best architecture - in the whole country, outside of London.

However it should never be forgotten that it was the buying and selling of Africans, is the reason as to why Liverpool gained her wealth. Looking at immigration as a whole, there has always been immigration coming into Liverpool and emigration, with people looking to move out. The whole city was founded on immigration, which is why there is such a mixture of people within the city.

However, this is a contradiction in terms because the Chinese seamen who made Liverpool their home, all congregated within the outskirts of Liverpool City Centre [which became Liverpool’s Chinatown]. There, one will find Chinese Restaurants and businesses, all in their little part of town. Yet walk into the main part of Liverpool City Centre, and there is not one Chinese person to be found working within the major stores, on public transport, within the cab trade, or within council-run institutions [such as museums and art galleries.]

The same could be said for black people within the city. Liverpool loves to boast that the city has the ‘oldest Afro/Caribbean community throughout the whole of Europe, yet they are to be found within their ‘own’ district - Liverpool 8, Toxteth. There is not one black person employed within the infrastructure of the city.

Asian people have their own stalls, in which they sell their wares, but there is not one Asian person employed within the major stores of the city. The same could be said for those of Chinese origin. Segregation within Liverpool, in employment, and housing has gone on for years, with no one really challenging this evil at all. Whole generations of black children, have been lost to the city because of the city‘s ‘unofficial segregation policy.

As much as Liverpool does not want to admit it, and as much as the city brushes this major problem under the carpet, the facts are there for all to see. Indeed, the lack of numbers of Black, Chinese, and Asian people employed within the major stores in Liverpool is something that the city should be ashamed and embarrassed about. And this situation has been allowed to continue for far too long because of segregation.