October 7, 2007
Britain Given Stark Warning
on Race Relations
London
Britain, proud of its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity,
remains a country deeply divided along racial lines where
communities lead "parallel lives" and inequality, exclusion and
isolation is suffered by many, says a new report.
The report has been brought out by the Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE), founded under the Race Relations Act of 1976, which
has worked tirelessly for the goal of an "integrated Britain."
Last month, it summed up the fruits of its labour in its final
report on race relations, entitled: "A lot done, a lot to do."
From this month, the CRE will move away from its single-issue focus
of race discrimination to become part of the new Commission for
Equality and Human Rights.
Its "final legacy document" on race relations makes uncomfortable
reading for government departments and other institutions accused by
the CRE of failing to meet their obligations on tackling
discrimination.
The report, while stressing that some public bodies, including the
criminal justice agencies, had made "huge strides" in the area of
race relations, said that a number of government departments, such
as health, education, home and foreign affairs, had failed to root
out discrimination.
Ethnic segregation, residentially, socially and at the workplace,
remained in Britain, said the report. "Extremism, both political and
religious, is on the rise as people become disillusioned and
disconnected from each other," it said.
Thanks to race relations legislation, it was no longer possible, and
"morally inconceivable", to practise open discrimination in Britain,
such as putting up signs barring blacks from boarding houses, said
the CRE.
"But let's not kid ourselves. Britain, despite its status as the
fifth-largest economy in the world, is still a place of inequality,
exclusion and isolation."
"The simple fact is despite the progress that has been made, if you
are an ethnic minority Briton, you are still more likely to be
stopped by police, be excluded from school, suffer poorer health
treatment and live in poor housing."
According to figures released by the CRE, employment is the leading
issue among ethnic minority communities.
"Racism is still rife in the workplace," said the CRE. From a total
of 5,000 complaints received over the last six month, 43 percent
were linked to employment.
"After 30 years of race relations and legislation protecting ethnic
minorities at work, the CRE is appalled that racism is still
widespread in workplaces across Britain."
The most common complaints cited were workplace bullying, lack of
career progression and being unable to secure interviews, as the
number of race discrimination cases submitted to employment
tribunals rose by a quarter last year.
National unemployment figures show that the unemployment rate for
ethnic minorities stands at over 11 percent - twice the national
average.
They also showed that a black person is three times more likely to
be out of work than a white person.
In addition, there were signs that society was "fracturing", warned
the CRE report. "The pace of change in Britain over the last few
years has unsettled many, and caused people to retreat into and
reinforce narrower ethnic and religious ties."
Tensions often arose from the "fear of difference", leading to
diversity becoming a source of division rather than strength, the
CRE said.
"We live in a society where people may live side by side, occupy the
same spaces and schools and shop in the same high streets, but too
often they lead parallel lives that never meet," it said.
The report's conclusions follow a stark warning by former CRE
chairman Trevor Phillips last year, in which he said that Britain
was "sleepwalking into segregation."
The government, while stressing that it did not accept all of the
CRE's findings, promised "positive and robust action" to address the
concerns identified.
"The national picture on cohesion is a positive one. There is more
that binds us together than divides us," said a spokesman for the
Department of Communities and Local Government.
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