Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

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Front cover of the 31 March 2021 report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) was a UK Government commission supported by the Race Disparity Unit of the Cabinet Office. It was established in 2020 in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd.[1] Boris Johnson gave it the brief of investigating race and ethnic disparities in the UK. Johnson argued that the UK needed to consider important questions about race relations and disparities and that a thorough examination of why so many disparities persist and what needed to be done to work out to eliminate or mitigate them.

Commission members were recruited by political adviser Munira Mirza, who has previously denied the existence of structural and institutional racism.[2][3] The members were Tony Sewell (who was appointed in July 2020 to lead the Commission), Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Aftab Chughtai, Keith Fraser, Ajay Kakkar, Naureen Khalid, Dambisa Moyo, Mercy Muroki, Martyn Oliver, Samir Shah and Kunle Olulode.[4][5] The Observer reported that the members did not write all of the report, nor was it made available in full to them prior to publication.[6]

The commission published its report in March 2021, the content of which caused considerable controversy.[7][8][9][10] The report concluded that the "claim the country is still institutionally racist is not borne out by the evidence", but some experts complained that the report misrepresented evidence, and that recommendations from ethnic minority business leaders who contributed were ignored.[11]

Members[]

Commission members were recruited by political adviser Munira Mirza, who has previously denied the existence of structural and institutional racism.[2][3]

  • Tony Sewell who led the Commission was running the charity Generating Genius and had previously worked with Boris Johnson during his mayorship of London. The BBC described him as a "longstanding commentator on racial issues and education" who had attracted criticism for some of some comments including that lessons were too "feminised", Afro-Caribbean culture was "anti-intellectual" and that "much of the supposed evidence of institutional racism is flimsy".[1]
  • Maggie Aderin-Pocock - a space scientist and presenter of the BBC programme The Sky at Night.[1]
  • Aftab Chughtai - owner of a Birmingham department store and cofounder of the pro-Brexit group .[1][12][13]
  • Keith Fraser - a former police officer and chair of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.[1]
  • Ajay Kakkar - a Professor of Surgery at University College London.[1]
  • Naureen Khalid - a co-founder of UkGovChat, an online forum for school governors.[1]
  • Dambisa Moyo - an economist and author.[1]
  • Mercy Muroki - a researcher at the Centre for Social Justice think tank.[14]
  • Martyn Oliver - CEO of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust.[1]
  • Samir Shah - a former journalist and former chair of The Runnymede Trust.[1]
  • Kunle Olulode - an anti-racism activist and director of the charity Voice4Change.[6]

Reactions[]

Political[]

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, said that he was "disappointed" by the Commission's report.[15][16]

Isabelle Parasram, vice president of the Liberal Democrats, issued a statement that the Commission had "missed the opportunity to make a clear, bold statement on the state of race equality in this country". Parasram said that the "evidence and impact of racism in the UK is overwhelming" and that "whilst some of recommendations made in the report are helpful, they fall far short of what could have been achieved".[17]

The Green Party of England and Wales issued a statement condemning the summary of the report as "a deliberate attempt to whitewash institutional racism" and that "Institutional racism in the UK does exist".[18]

Other[]

Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, described the report as "deeply disturbing"; she said the “lived experience” of the people “tells a different story to that being shared by this report”.[19]

The historian David Olusoga accused the report's authors of appearing to prefer "history to be swept under the carpet" and compared it to the Trump-era 1776 Commission.[20]

A Guardian editorial quoted Boris Johnson's intent to "change the narrative so we stop the sense of victimisation and discrimination"[21] when setting up the commission, and as evidence of the reality of racial inequality listed five recent government reports on different aspects:[22]

David Goodhart from the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange welcomed the report as "a game-changer for how Britain talks about race".[31]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Charity boss Tony Sewell to head government race commission". BBC News. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Dismay as No 10 adviser is chosen to set up UK race inequality commission". the Guardian. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Race report: Was controversy part of the plan?". BBC News. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities". GOV.UK.
  5. ^ Thomas, Tobi; Mohdin, Aamna (March 31, 2021). "Racial disparities in the UK: the people who compiled the report" – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ a b Iqbal, Nosheen (11 April 2021). "Downing Street rewrote 'independent' report on race, experts claim". The Observer. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Windrush campaigners alarmed by omissions of No 10 race report". the Guardian. April 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Editorial: The government's race report is an exercise in gaslighting". The Independent. April 1, 2021.
  9. ^ "Race report: 'UK not deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities'". March 31, 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ Neilan, Catherine; Diver, Tony (March 31, 2021). "Race report 'reluctant to accept structural issues', says Sir Keir Starmer" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ Savage, Michael; Iqbal, Nosheen (4 April 2021). "Race report boss wanted schools to teach 'the truth' about modern Britain". The Observer. Retrieved 4 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Aftab Chughtai MBE". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  13. ^ Walker, Jonathan (16 July 2020). "Birmingham businessman appointed to Boris' commission to end racial inequality". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Mercy Muroki". GOV.UK. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  15. ^ Neilan, Catherine; Diver, Tony (31 March 2021). "Race report 'reluctant to accept structural issues', says Sir Keir Starmer". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Race report: 'UK not deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities'". BBC News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ Parasram, Isabelle. "Statement on the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 1 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Greens are clear: Institutional racism in the UK does exist". Green Party of England and Wales. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Pat, Ashworth (2 April 2021). "Commission's report on race 'deeply disturbing' says Bishop of Dover". Church Times. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ Quinn, Ben; Parveen, Nazia (2 April 2021). "Historian David Olusoga joins academic criticism of No 10's race report". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Honeycombe-Foster, Matt (15 June 2020). "Boris Johnson launches fresh review into racial inequality in wake of Black Lives Matters protests". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 3 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ "The Guardian view on Boris Johnson's race review: you cannot be serious". The Guardian. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ Bowcott, Owen; Dodd, Vikram (8 September 2017). "Exposed: 'racial bias' in England and Wales criminal justice system". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ Lammy, David (8 September 2017). "Lammy review: final report". gov.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Asthana, Anushka; Bengtsson, Helena (9 October 2017). "Audit lays bare racial disparities in UK schools, courts and workplaces". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ "Race in the workplace: The McGregor-Smith Review". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  27. ^ Burt, Emily. "Government urges employers to publish ethnicity pay gap as it launches equality review". People Management. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  28. ^ Allison, Eric; Hattenstone, Simon (2 November 2017). "Now we know the shocking facts of deaths in custody, will Theresa May act? - Eric Allison and Simon Hattenstone". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  29. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (14 October 2020). "Windrush report author attacks Home Office's response". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ Williams, Wendy (31 March 2020). "Windrush Lessons Learned Review by Wendy Williams". gov.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ "The Sewell commission is a game-changer for how Britain talks about race". Policy Exchange. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-04-09.

External links[]

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