James Hunt, President of the London Anthropological Society, in 1863 in his paper 'On the Negro's place in nature' wrote,'the Negro is inferior intellectually to the European. Attempts to support these theories cited 'scientific evidence', such as brain size. Racism against black people grew after 1860, when race-based discrimination was fed by then-popular theories of scientific racism. It has resulted in widespread discrimination, segregation and serious violence, especially during partition and the Troubles. Sectarianism between British Protestants and Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland has been called a form of racism by some international bodies. However a 2019 EU survey, the prevalence of perceived racist harassment toward people of African descent in the UK was the second lowest among the 12 Western European countries surveyed. Studies published in 20 claimed racism was on the rise in the UK, with more than one third of those polled perceiving they were racially prejudiced. Poles, Romanians and other European groups have been adversely affected in recent decades.

Some studies suggest Brexit led to a rise in racist incidents, where locals became hostile to foreigners or immigrants. Racism has been observed as having a correlation between factors such as levels of unemployment, immigration and population replacement in an area. Laws were passed in the 1960s that specifically prohibited racial segregation. Use of the word 'racism' became more widespread after 1936, although the term 'race hatred' was used in the late 1920s by sociologist Frederick Hertz. Racism was uncommon in the attitudes and norms of the British class system during the 19th century, in which race mattered less than social distinction: an African tribal chief was unquestionably superior to an English costermonger. It has resulted in cases of discrimination, riots and racially motivated murders. The extent and the targets of racist attitudes in the United Kingdom have varied over time. Racism in the United Kingdom refers to negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity within the viewpoints of groups or individuals or existing systemically in the United Kingdom.

George Cruikshank's caricaturization of a dinner party in 1819 held by abolitionists depicting black people as drunken, aggressive and sexually promiscuous.

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