Conventional wisdom expects national and minority identities to be negatively correlated. This article investigates the puzzling finding of no significant tradeoff between national and minority identity among non-whites in Britain. To explain the lack of an identity tradeoff I focus on the relationship between assimilation/segregation and expected discrimination. I start with the finding that segregation boosts minority identity and reduces national identity while assimilation boosts national identity and reduces minority identity. I then claim that assimilation increases the expectation of discrimination, which reduces national and boosts minority identity. Likewise, segregation decreases the expectation of discrimination, which reduces minority identity and boosts national identity. These effects cancel each other out and explain the lack of a gap between national and minority identity among non-whites in Britain.
