By Elishya Perera
LONDON (CU)_A government-commissioned review has revealed the United Kingdom’s success in reducing race-based disparity in social and economic aspects life, although the country is not yet a “post-racial society”.
The anti-racism protests across the UK triggered by the killing of George Floyd in the US last year led to the establishment of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which found that race and racism have become less important factors in explaining social and economic disparities. Instead, family structure and social class were more important factors which have a bigger impact on people’s lives.
The commission said that while overt racism remains in the UK, however claims that the country is institutionally racist are not borne out by the evidence.
The findings included the fact that children in education from minority communities did as well or better than white pupils. This success in education had “transformed” British society into one offering far greater opportunities for everyone.
Moreover, the report revealed that discrimination has particularly decreased in professions such as medicine and law, while the pay gap between the white majority and all ethnic minorities had shrunk to 2.3 per cent overall.
The report went on to say that United Kingdom’s success in eliminating race-based disparity in education, and the economy to a certain extent, “should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries”.
Nevertheless, the Commission pointed out that certain minority communities continue to be “haunted” by historic racism which has led to “deep mistrust” that has become a barrier to success.
According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, although there is much more to be done to tackle racism in the UK, the purpose of the report was to “stop a sense of victimisation and discrimination” by highlighting stories of success among those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
