Black Lives Matter UK tells Boris Johnson to immediately withdraw race report – iNews

Campaigners are calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw a report into racism, and instead enact recommendations from multiple previous inquiries, to tackle race equality in Britain in 2021.

Groups including Black Lives Matter UK say the Government-commissioned report has provoked national indignation, whilst campaigner Doreen Lawrence called it a green light for racists.

In an open letter to Mr Johnson, organisations said the report whitewashes the daily challenges faced by black and minoritised communities.

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The letter said the report fails on even the most basic level, in acknowledging the fundamental rights of Black and minoritised communities, and the impact of hostile environment policies that have threatened the citizenship and status of the Windrush generation and their descendants.

Mr Johnson has said he does not agree with everything in the report, but does want to implement its recommendations.

In June last year, following anti-racism protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd in the US, he announced the setting up of a commission to investigate the state of racial inequalities in the UK.

Last month, its chair Dr Tony Sewell, came back with a258-page reportthat has since sparked a widespread backlash, as it concluded that the country no longer has a system rigged against people from ethnic minorities.

It also said family structure and social class had a bigger impact than race on how peoples lives turned out.

The report acknowledged that overt racism exists, particularly online, but said the UK should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries for its success in removing race-based disparities in society.

The commission also said there was anecdotal evidence of racism, but no proof of institutional racism in the country.

It lists 24 recommendations, which include extending school days in disadvantaged areas to help pupils catch up on missed learning during the pandemic, and getting rid of the acronym BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic).

The report also warned organisations to stop funding unconscious bias training, with government and experts developing resources to help advance workplace equality.

It also said children from disadvantaged backgrounds should have access to better quality careers advice in schools, funded by university outreach programmes, and that more research is needed to understand why pupils perform well in certain communities, so this can be replicated to help all children succeed.

In the letter, organisations including campaigning group Charity So White, Liberty, the National Education Union, The Runnymede Trust and Black Pride, called on Mr Johnson to repudiate the commissions findings immediately and withdraw its report.

They said: From the moment that membership of the ostensibly independent commission was announced, it was clear it would publish a tailored report conforming to a government narrative around racism and class a narrative that whitewashes over the daily challenges faced by Black and minoritised communities in this country.

The letter also said the report was lacking in intellectual rigour and notes that some of those cited in the report have since claimed they were misrepresented.

It urged Mr Johnson to establish a task force to implement the recommendations made by previous investigations into race including inquiries into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the Windrush scandal.

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities maintains its work has been misrepresented, adding that it had never said that racism does not exist in society or in institutions.

In a statement, the commission said: We say the contrary: racism is real and we must do more to tackle it.

Robust debate we welcome. But to depict us as racism deniers, slavery apologists or worse is unacceptable.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report was a very interesting piece of work but he was not going to say the government is going to agree with absolutely everything in it.

He said there are very serious issues that our society faces to do with racism that we need to address and added that the government would be looking at the ideas the commission put forward.

The letter calling on Mr Johnson to withdraw the report gained more than 20,000 signatures in 48 hours, and received support from writer Afua Hirsch and actor Riz Ahmed.

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Black Lives Matter UK tells Boris Johnson to immediately withdraw race report - iNews