The Guardian is amongst many papers to note the summary report of the Downing Street Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that has apparently been issued to the press, but which is not on its website. It reports that the Commission says:
The well-meaning idealism of many young people who claim the country is still institutionally racist is not borne out by the evidence.
It apparently also claims that the UK should be seen as “a model for other white-majority countries”.
This, of course, comes just after HM Inspector of Constabulary found that the policing of the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard was appropriate, that the police acted properly and that those who formed judgement on them based on the evidence on the day were wrong.
It would be possible to spend a great deal of time discussing why both reports are wrong. That they are is glaringly obviously true. But it's hardly worth the time and effort to say that. That's not because the issues do not matter. They very obviously do. What matters is that the government set out to ensure that the wrong answers were provided.
These reports had simple objectives. They were required to report that those making complaint, and engaging in communal activity to support that complaint, had inappropriate concerns and that as such their actions could not be justified. They were instead to be called 'well-meaning idealists'. Idealists can, of course, be dismissed because it is claimed that the hard-headed evidence does not support their claims.
Except that we know that people of colour are discriminated against, day in and day out, not least by the police, but also right across society as well.
And we also know that women are discriminated against, and even die, because the police do not protect them and do not believe them when they report crimes.
No one is making this up. These are facts. They are proven facts. The weight of evidence is overwhelming.
It's not idealism that makes people want to address these issues (although there is nothing wrong with idealism). It is a deep-seated sense of injustice that makes people angry with a system so rigged against some in society that makes people demand change.
And now the government is literally trolling, or gas-lighting us, on these issues. They are issuing false claims that the issues that so very obviously need to be addressed are not matters of concern at all.
This might work for the Daily Mail.
I am sure the police are cock-a-hoop and will be heading out to stop and search with a new-found swagger this morning.
But the reality is that all these reports do is divide society. The issues will not go away because the government denies that they exist. Nor will the division or hurt and the sense of injustice disappear. Instead, it will be fuelled by a sense that the government does not just care, but is actually picking on those who do.
There is only one question to ask, which is when it might be that the government is actually planning on making civil order break out as a result of its actions so that it can use that situation to impose the permanent state of emergency that will finally let it take complete unaccountable control of the country? It now seems hard to imagine that it has any other agenda. Where else, after all, does this blatant stoking of division lead to?
I admit that I never really imagined that it would come to this. Or, at least, that it would do so at this pace.
One day the breakdown of democracy in this country will be studied with fascination by historians yet to be born. We are the living witnesses to the fact that it is happening. I would rather not be in that role.
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Feel the heartless indifference to the issues raised by the report of how social class and family structure strongly affect outcomes.
Many were surprised when the Conservatives left the traditional centre-right European People’s Party grouping in the European Parliament in 2009 to create a new more right-wing group with the “Law and Justice” nationalist populists of Poland. Well, here we are. We are heading to the sort of illiberal democracy they have in Hungary, Turkey, Russia and Singapore. The Opposition and Parliament are supine, waving through whatever the government suggest, when it deigns to put measures through Parliament rather than ruling by decree. The ability to protest, and the independence of our media and the courts, are all under significant threat. We already have kleptocrats diverting public funds to their friends. There are moves to limit voter eligibility. Just wait for the boundary gerrymandering, and controls on candidates. Couldn’t happen here, hmm?
I’d suggest we need some independent civil society groups – like independent Sage, in parallel to the governments tame groups, to bring some reality to the government’s fantasy propaganda. Let’s have a properly independent police review body, and a properly independent review of racism in society (as if either were needed when both are so patently apparent). Nothing to see here, move along?
They are lying to us, we know they are lying, and they know we know they are lying, but they just don’t care.
Things must have change radically in the last couple of years, as no doubt the investigators looked at the Government’s own statistics. For example,
From 2018: “Two fifths (40%) of prisoners aged under 18 were Black or Mixed ethnicity, despite these ethnic groups accounting for less than one fifth (17%) of the entire prison population”
Or maybe they looked at the Institute of Race Relations: “People from BAME communities are over-represented at almost all stages of the criminal justice process, disproportionately targeted by the police, more likely to be imprisoned and more likely to be imprisoned for longer than white British people.” and
“In 2014, black or Black British people made up 10 per cent of the total prison population, whilst making up just 3 per cent of the UK’s total population. Asian or Asian British people made up 6 per cent of the prison population. White British people made up approximately 75 per cent of the prison population, whilst making up over 85 per cent of the UK’s total population.
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, there is greater disproportionality in the number of black people in prisons in the UK than in the United States.”
Presumably these figures and conclusions are completely different now so it will be interesting to see the stats to back up the Report’s claims.
Brilliant as always many thanks. Just to say I think you need to correct
Instead, it will be fuelled by a sense that the government does not just care, but is actually picking on those who do.
just does not care
From The National, quoting the report: “There is a new story about the Caribbean experience which speaks to the slave period not only being about profit and suffering but how culturally African people transformed themselves into a re-modelled African/Britain.”
I really don’t know what would be a suitable response to that other than to bin the whole report and sack all those involved.
It is quite sickening
And try as I might I could make no sense of the sentence in question
I was taken aback by this in the Guardian’s coverage of the report:
‘a “new story” needs to be told about the slave trade, which would highlight cultural transformation of African people’
Staggering….
It works, that is what is so DEPRESSING. The useful idiots lap it up, proving the quote “Democracy is designed for a well directed mob”.
It is very odd to have a 250+ page report that makes 24 recommendations to address something it apparently says does not exist.
The report has been up for about 18 hours
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities
I have to re-iterate my disgust with the commentariat to the issue of how social class and family structure strongly affect outcomes. From bloggers to the guardian they all seem to be callously indifferent to this. If they can explain unequal outcomes by referring to skin colour then they are satisfied with themselves as well-meaning high status people.
Tell me why six times more black than white women die in childbirth then?
I think it’s you making the excuses
This is what the report says:
Maternal deaths are fortunately rare in the UK, although analysis of maternal deaths, stillbirths
and neonatal deaths undertaken by ‘Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and
Confidential Enquiries across the UK’ (MBRRACE-UK) shows that poor outcomes are higher
for mothers and babies from Black and Asian ethnic groups, particularly those born in Asia or
Africa, and for women living in the most deprived areas of the country.665
The emotions quite rightly attached to this topic means it is prominent in any conversation
about health disparities. It was brought up as a key example of health disparities by a number
of respondents in the Commission’s call for evidence.
It is important that all involved in these conversations understand that highlighting this disparity
without emphasising the low numbers overall, is unfair to expectant mothers everywhere. As the
MBRRACE-UK states, “many women have found these figures very worrying and it is important
always to qualify such stark statistics with absolute numbers — in 2016 to 2018 in the UK, 34
Black women died among every 100,000 giving birth, 15 Asian women died among every
100,000 giving birth, and 8 White women died among every 100,000 giving birth.”666
Although incidence of maternal mortality is rare, the increased rates seen in ethnic minority
groups need to be better understood and explained. The Commission is aware that work is
being done in this area both in government and as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.667 The
Commissioners believe that more research into causes in the disparities of maternal mortality
should be one of the highest priorities for the new Office for Health Disparities outlined in the
recommendation below.
Which rather undermines your two claims:
1. that I am making excuses
2. that the ratio is 6
and rather supports my ongoing claim that you have been indifferent to the other causes I have mentioned.
I would say it exactly confirms what I have said (differing time scales explain the difference in ratios, but the message is the same)
It also says that you are making up the claim that there is not institutional racism in the face of the evidence that there is
Along with a number of other comments you have submitted, not all posted, this suggests that your time here is up
The report would have you believe it is nothing to do with structural or institutional prejudices or biases. Any such differences must be due to their own genetics (other than skin colour, naturally), social class, family structure, and failure to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities available to all in the UK. That is, people only have themselves to blame.
That is it
But how does that explain six times more minority ethnic women dying in childcare than white women?
This is callous indifference
You could also have added the egregious exoneration of David Cameron’s corrupt dealings with Lex Greensill to the list of sickening whitewashes. What can be done to expose this cynical dangerous trend?
The whole privatisation of prisons and justice system was devised along the American models of creating profit units for these G4 types. Where Clinton introduced the 3 strikes rule – to include crimes such as supposed broken indicator bulbs and unpaid fines for these – provided a steady supply and full occupancy of these hotels.
There is a guaranteed need to get our laws aligned for that BIG DEAL syndrome of ‘Global’ Britain now that we have made the Great Escape!
We instituted ‘Joint Enterprise’ which saw many youths being incarcerated who were not active participants in crimes.
Mostly black.
We withdrew street police so that youths afraid of other youths felt a necessity to be armed. Under 10 year olds!
From that micro to the macro – we are active partners with some of the extremely nasty racist xenophobic women and gay public head chopping nations as allies on the world stage.
When exactly did we stop being institutionally racist?
I cannot believe that a report like this could be issued after the Windrush affair.
In fact I find it hard to believe that Windrush did not bring down the Government. It should have.
On behalf of all decent and aware white folk all I can is that I am deeply ashamed by all this. Literally it’s a whitewash.
I think that this has been done to make BLM look as if they are over reacting, the report undermines them and can be used control them or justify that control.
They must think that we are all stupid. Well, not all of us.
Living here feels more like living in Jersey everyday.
I am a white, middle aged, middle class white cis male whose ex wife stated I completely lacked empathy but even I realise that Black people are justifiably unhappy about how they are treated and the way the Police acted at the Sarah Everard vigil was a disgrace
Goodness, the next thing you will be telling me is that the funding for levelling up is a bit wonky too.
Jonathan Portes who does have some specialisation in the field pulls together some of the criticisms along with his own analysis:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1377577812442353665.html
That’s good