Racism!
A Battle for Justice
During the 1960s and 70s, the Black Movement took place in the US as an action against white supremacy. In fact, it was a civil rights movement for Black Americans to gain equal rights. Black people struggle to achieve self-determination. Although it was first introduced by African Americans, the movements were prominent in the late 1960s and 70s in other countries too. Minorities in Britain ask for a fair society. Today, black people in the world and in the UK are still fighting for their rights and equality. An organisation called Black Lives Matter (BLM) was founded in 2013 and works in the US, UK and Canada for minorities’ rights. Its mission is to eradicate white supremacy and empower Black people.
Black People Go Missing Four Times More
Black people face systematic racism and violence in the UK. They are four times more likely to go missing in England and Wales. Black, Asian and other minorities in the UK believe that racism has not diminished in the country over the last three decades. Among the respondents of a survey, 79% of black people said that race had greater impact than gender or age on the society’s behaviour towards them. After widespread Black Lives Matter protests in the UK in 2020, which called for social equality in society, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an inquiry into systematic racism in the country. According to the inquiry, black people were up to ten times more likely to be stopped by police as compared to white people. Arrests of black people in England and Wales are more likely to happen compared with white people. On the education level, white students are more than three times likely to receive high grades than black people.
Black People Face Discrimination at Work and School in the UK
Most black children in the UK have reported that they experience racism at school. Also, black teenagers experience victimisation and racist behaviour at school and in the community. They also report that they are offered fewer job opportunities than their peers. On the other hand, the Brexit referendum led to a growth in racism in society. People of colour have reported the greatest increase in overt discrimination and more people have said they experienced sizable abuse after Brexit. There is systematic racism seen on the streets, spiking since the 2016 Brexit vote. Black people have been hit twice as hard by austerity than everyone else and a black person is more likely to lose their job than a white person. After Brexit, racist experiences surged on the social media too, and the language against minorities, specifically against black people, changed to a more offensive one.
BLM UK Demands to Erode Police Power
Black Lives Matter UK is a movement for black people and its political demands include increasing safety, reducing harm to the community, empowering young black people, black women’s and youth services, and eroding the power of police and prison system. A social movement is also required to make such changes in the UK. People need to uphold a zero-tolerance approach to racism and commit to removing systematic racism in all aspects of society. Although based on the Equality Act 2010 equal access to work and education is available, but this is not practised by people in all organisations. This Act applies to everyone who provides a service to the public and more measures should be taken for better implementation. At work, there should be clarification about organisational stances and values. Corporations must take an anti-racism and discrimination position. The barriers against minorities should be removed in today’s diverse societies.
People Should Help BLM Promote Anti-Racism Plans
Some analyses of existing evidence indicate race inequalities specifically among black people. This includes employment, education, living standards, health and care. For instance, black people with degrees get paid 23% less than white people and black people with A-levels earn 14% less than their white peers. Also, prosecution rates and sentencing for black people was three times higher than for white people. Society cannot expect black people to fix racism; everyone has a duty to fight racism and discrimination. They can report racist incidents and help raise awareness among other people. Black Lives Matter (BLM) does not work without help, but there should be other people who speak up against racism to help improve anti-racism and anti-discriminatory agendas.
UK Government Fails to Secure Black People’s Human Rights
The majority of black people in the UK believe their human rights are not equally protected compared with white people. The failure to act in response to inequality reports in all areas of society has eroded their trust in the government. A series of research in recent years have found that there are structural racial inequalities in the UK. Both Conservative and Labour governments have failed to work properly for the black population’s human rights. On the other hand, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has reported that Boris Johnson’s government has failed to tackle racism and has failed to address the problem as a top priority. Over the past years, there have been several inquiries into racial inequality, but the government has only offered some recommendations and no practical measures have been taken yet.
While black people in some countries have been struggling for their basic social rights for over half a century, today the British black community is still not satisfied with the protection of its rights and social equality. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was founded in 2013 to seek black minorities’ rights in the US, UK and Canada. In British society, black people go missing more than whites, are fired and have a higher unemployed rate than the white community; they experience more street and social media insults and are arrested in greater numbers compared to the white people. Black people in Britain begin facing discrimination at schools, colleges and the workplace. The black community is hit harder by austerity, they lose more jobs than white people, and get fewer job offers. Their movement demands equality under the UK law. As successive governments have failed to go far beyond mere recommendations to tackle the issue, there is a need for cultural improvement and social upgrading to change the current situation.