International Day for the Elimination of Racism 2022

Rewind to August 2016, when the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination reported on the state of racism in the UK. The report noted there had been “a sharp increase in the number of racist hate crimes especially in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the weeks prior to and following the referendum on the membership of the European Union held on 23 June 2016” and that the referendum campaign was marked by divisive, anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric, and that many politicians and prominent political figures not only failed to condemn it, but also created and entrenched prejudices, thereby emboldening individuals to carry out acts of intimidation and hate towards ethnic or ethno-religious minority communities and people who are visibly different”. The Committee also noted concern “that despite the recent increase in the reporting of hate crimes, the problem of underreporting persists, and the gap between reported cases and successful prosecution remains significant. As a result, a large number of racist hate crimes seem to go unpunished. It also remains concerned at the negative portrayal of ethnic or ethno-religious minority communities, immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees by the media… as well as the rise of racist hate speech on the Internet.

That was six years ago yet many of the observations in the report seem pertinent today. The Committee made wide-ranging recommendations which included more prosecutions for racist hate crimes, working with affected groups to help improve reporting and engender more trust in the police and justice system, adopting measures to combat racist hate speech in political discourse and on the internet and taking more effective measures to combat racist media coverage.

However, racism has continued apace since 2016. Race hate crimes have continued to increase. In March 2021, 92,052 race hate crimes  were recorded by the police in England and wales. But we know that reported race hate crimes are a tip of the iceberg since racism is not merely the act of name calling or physical attacks. It exists in many forms in our society and its institutions. In the last two years from 2020-2022 we have watched the murder of a Black man, George Floyd in Minneapolis, witnessed the Black Lives Matter protests, observed the statue of Edward Colston thrown into the harbour in Bristol, read with incredulity the report by the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities which declared there is no such thing as institutional racism. Yet the lived experience of people of colour and a broad range of statistics provide evidence of differential treatment and outcomes for Black and global majority people in terms of health, education, the criminal justice system and employment. 

On the International day for the elimination of racism we need to recognise and accept that racism exists in many guises and in each case results in the dehumanisation of Black and global majority people. Racism is ingrained in our society. The recent reporting of the treatment of Child Q reminds us of this. Racism occurs every day through:

• racial microaggressions - speech or acts which serve to alienate, demean, invalidate, assault, marginalise people of colour,
• institutional racism – defined by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry as “…the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people. It persists because of the failure of the organisation openly and adequately to recognise and address its existence and causes by policy, example and leadership”.
• structural racism - involves the normalisation and endorsement of historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal perspectives that routinely advantage whites and disadvantage people of colour; reproduces and perpetuates a system of racial hierarchy and inequity.

In order to move from the situation where racism is exposed only to be denied later via social media or official channels, we essentially take one step forward and then step back thereby maintaining the status quo. We need concerted efforts within all our institutions to recognise racism in its many forms and a commitment to eliminate racism. To eliminate racism we have to

• Stop denying the existence of institutional and structural racism
• Stop demanding more statistics/data to prove the existence of racism
• Understand the lived experience of racism as attested by people of colour
• Develop our racial literacy which is our knowledge and understanding of how racism and whiteness operate to maintain the status quo
• Develop racially equitable systems that address systemic racism and racist outcomes

Critically, it must be understood that being not racist is not enough and you have to be actively anti-racist.

What does this look like? Well imagine you are going for a promotion and so is your Black and global majority colleague. Would you withdraw your application to give her a better chance of success in the knowledge that people of colour have to make twice as many applications as their White counterparts to get an interview? How many senior managers would link their performance related pay to eliminating the awarding gap?

Actions to eliminate racism involve the relinquishment of power to realise racial inequity. This is what lies at the heart of being anti-racist.