Last year Dr Tony Sewell’s report almost denied there was any institutional racism in Britain. It was heavily criticised by everyone from journalists to politicians to campaigners. Many distanced themselves from it, calling it far from reality. Last week’s publication of the response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) report, after one year of silence, still quite cleverly ignores the report’s most catastrophic conclusions.
Kemi Badenoch MP, the Minister of State for Equality in her foreword said, “Of course, there is more to do to overcome barriers to opportunity, but that applies beyond ethnic minority groups, as the Commission found a huge proportion of white people from deprived backgrounds continue to be left behind by society…
“‘Inclusive Britain’ sets out a raft of measures that translate the findings from the Commission’s report into concrete action. In doing so, we’ve considered and responded to each of the report’s 24 recommendations – in some cases going even further than the report envisaged. Inclusive Britain is a comprehensive plan that details 74 actions right across government, which together will put us on a course towards a more inclusive and integrated society.
“We do not agree with those who think that lack of opportunity should be seen solely through the prism of ethnic minority disadvantage. We do not believe that any group is less intrinsically capable than any other – ability is spread across the population. But opportunity is not.”
Organisations like Asian Voice has been trying to demonstrate and raise awareness about ‘Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity’ across Britain for the last 50 years. Their upcoming panel discussion on 6 April in the House of Lords (see page 16-17) highlights the importance of change. But, if the Government does not openly acknowledge the existence of structural racism in our society, it cannot even begin to tackle the root causes, let alone implement the rules of equality.
Institutional racism - a long battle
The action plan talks about strengthening equalities, improving trust and fairness, tackling racial abuse- a step towards the right direction. But, when the Minister of Equality says lack of opportunity should not be seen through the prism of ethnic minority disadvantage- it very much ignores the actual attitudinal problem towards racism in Britain’s society. Whilst this country has definitely come a long way since 1960s and 70s, there is no denying, it still has a long way to go.
Healthcare professionals from the ethnic minority background who suffered from Covid-19, and died because of it, clearly faced adverse fate because of health disparity as well as lack of opportunity and differential treatment towards them. Even last week, the Homerton hospital had a notice asking everyone in the ward, as well as in the kitchen to speak in English only. It further said, “Disciplinary action will be taken against staff who do not comply.” This does say something about Britain’s attitude towards immigrants.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA Chair of Council is hopeful that the report promises to investigate racial bias but is disappointed at the downplaying of existing disparities. He said in a statement, “When the CRED report was published last March, the BMA was clear that it had failed to grasp the reality of structural racism in the health service as detailed in our report ‘A missed opportunity’. We have subsequently lobbied the Government on numerous occasions to use its response to correct this omission. While today’s response does make some important recommendations for change, it is deeply disappointing that the Government has once again ignored the fundamental reality of structural and systemic factors that result in people from ethnic minorities facing inequalities in health.
“It is positive that the report promises to investigate areas such as racial bias in medical equipment, reduced life expectancy and poorer maternal health, along with a pledge to hold healthcare providers to account for ethnic disparities in their workforce. However, the report plays down some ethnic health disparities, quoting examples of improved health outcomes amongst certain racial groups with certain medical conditions, while ignoring the stark findings from the recent NHS Health and Race Observatory rapid review which revealed vast inequalities for those from ethnic minority communities across a range of health services including mental health.
“The Government has also failed to acknowledge or put forward an action plan to address the unequal adverse experience of ethnic minority healthcare workers in the NHS. There is indisputable evidence that doctors from ethnic minorities face additional hurdles, increased levels of bullying and harassment, poorer career progression, and excessive levels of disciplinary procedures, which we laid bare in our Racism in Medicine interim findings report. In fact, systematic racism is often wrongly assumed to just be ‘part of the job’ for thousands of ethnic minority doctors and healthcare workers.
“The Government’s response to the CRED report comes in the same week that the BMA hosted a memorial service to commemorate those doctors who died from Covid-19, of which 85% were doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds – a statistic that defies random variation. This just serves to reinforce the reality of structural factors that placed certain doctors at increased risk from Covid. It is imperative that the NHS treats its workforce with the same values of equality that it espouses on patient care.
“If the Government will not openly acknowledge the existence of structural racism in society, it cannot begin to tackle the root causes that have led to unacceptable health disparities affecting certain ethnic groups. By refusing to listen to the lived experience of doctors and other healthcare workers from ethnic minority backgrounds, we will continue to see the unacceptable reality of certain groups of doctors suffering disadvantage.”
Dr Halima Begum, Chief Executive and Director of the Runnymede Trust, in her opinion piece in The Guardian resonated similar thoughts. She said, “It would seem politically convenient to reduce the struggles of life down to these terms, allowing the government to distract from the need to improve conditions for communities in the UK. I certainly don’t know one member of the minority ethnic working class, including my parents, who would couch their experiences in this language. Our communities are made up of individuals of different ethnicities who all share overlapping commonalities that bind us, including – in addition to class – age, gender, faith and sexual orientation. These identities impact every aspect of our lives in complex ways that move beyond a singular discussion of race. It is on this basis that for more than a decade the Runnymede Trust has been calling for all members of the working class to be offered protections under the Equality Act, regardless of their ethnicity, in acknowledgment of the vulnerabilities that exist across society.”
Lord Navnit Dholakia, deputy leader of the Lib Dem party in House of Lords, said, “Many workers have lost their lives and the pandemic showed how heavily we depend on our diverse communities to serve our NHS. The actions set out by the government plan do not go nearly far enough to create a more inclusive society. They kick the can down the road on most issues with the creation of new strategies and frameworks in the years to come and are not dealt with enough immediacy and have a lack of inclusivity.
Echoing the concerns of many regarding the Criminal Justice System and the unequal affect its attitudes and practices have on ethnic minorities, Lord Dholakia pointed out, “The new framework for stop and search will not build trust between the police and the ethnic communities they serve, unless they end suspicion less stop and search due to its disproportionate impact on minorities.” Showing his shock that some police and crime commissioners are not appointing additional police officers, he stated, “Underrepresentation of police in recruitment, retention and promotion still remains a concern after over 50 years.” Referring to the recent abhorrent intimate strip and search of a young black student, he stressed categorically that the lack of ethnic minority officers, “is not going to help the adversarial relations between the police and black communities.”
Dr Laia Bécares, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences at the University of Sussex, said: “There is a longstanding body of evidence documenting the existence of structural and institutional racism in the UK, how they underline individual acts of racism and discrimination, and how structural, institutional, and individual-level racism led to poor health and low socioeconomic position of ethnic minority people.
"The Sewell Report ignored this evidence and didn’t recognise the significance of racism to the lives of ethnic minority people in the UK.
"Solutions and recommendations that arise from the Sewell Report, which don’t recognise the central role of racism, can’t lead to any meaningful solutions for these inequalities.”
Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was killed 18 years ago by racists said that report could push the fight against racism by 20 years.
While the introduction of plans to diversify the history curriculum as well as other education reforms have been welcomed, the tone in which the mention of slavery has been made, defeats the purpose of teaching the history. As David Olusoga, the author and professor of public history at the University of Manchester, reportedly said it was a similar argument to one used by slave owners 200 years ago. He said, “The idea that by becoming culturally British, black people were somehow beneficiaries of the system,” The Guardian reported.
The Runnymede Trust in a statement added, “Of note is a consistent mention of ‘trust’ (or lack thereof) from ethnic minority communities towards the essential services that should be there to support them. It is imperative that Black and ethnic minority communities are not blamed for mistrust in public services which have let them down. We must also question how significant a role mistrust plays in explaining racial disparities, and where we must look elsewhere to explain these…
“The proposals laid out in ‘Inclusive Britain’ are framed as part of the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda. We cannot forget how ‘invisible’ ethnic minority people, largely concentrated in Britain’s inner cities, have been in the levelling up agenda so far. Of the 17 local authorities with the highest rates of child poverty in the UK, 10 are in London. And in each of these local authorities, Black and ethnic minority children account for over 50% of the youth population….”
A government that prides in its ethnic minority ministers in the Cabinet is surely on the right path of self-realisation. It is a success to see once in absolute denial, this government now is at least trying to find a solution to ‘level up’. It has made great strides towards achieving equality but only time will tell if these huge strategies really can be converted into actions.
