Will a single black life be helped by report on race?

THE race disparities report which was published yesterday was written in response to the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in America last summer.

After reading it, I really struggled to see what difference it will make to a single black life in Britain.

As my colleague Darren Lewis says, this is the All Lives Matter report. Instead of looking at racial discrimination – which the report practically says doesn’t exist – it wants to focus on minimising the experience of black people in Britain and focus instead on the white working-class – a community that the report tries to reframe as disadvantaged but who for years were demonised as single mums, benefit scroungers and lazy freeloaders.

It’s wrong that working-class white boys have been left behind and that needs to be addressed, but I’m curious as to why this report was the place to do it.

It’s a shame because there was a real opportunity for a report that could have made a difference to ethnic communities in the UK.

Talking to many people about it yesterday, there are some key recommendations that many feel should have been included...

The UK Rooney Rule. America has problems of its own but this policy to enhance diversity when it comes to recruitment and ensure a wide range of candidates are interviewed would mean employers could no longer hide behind the “we couldn’t find anyone to interview” excuse.

Education. There should have been a recommendation to urgently review the numbers around the disproportionate exclusion of black children and to make the recruitment of black and brown teachers a priority.

It’s not enough to say children from ethnic minorities are doing well when black Caribbean boys are doing badly. That’s a quarter of black children. It’s vital there are teachers who understand the children and communities in which they are teaching.

There needs to be basic understanding to address this statistical imbalance.

In addition, I would have liked to see changes to the curriculum that covers black history before the slave trade. We should tell the history, as we do with other cultures, of African kings and queens.

And business. Crucially there should have been more robust suggestions around support for business and entrepreneurs. In fact, a report by the British Business Bank this year found that there were systemic disadvantages for entrepreneurs of colour which created different starting points and led to different outcomes.

The Disparity report said there was no evidence of racial discrimination by banks, even though business owners from ethnically diverse backgrounds were disproportionately declined for lending.

There is so much this report could have said and done. I won’t be surprised to find it gathering dust like the many that have come before it.

‘‘ The report focuses on disadvantages of the white working class

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It was heartbreaking to watch the devastated mum of Richard Okorogheye plead for her son to come home. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. I pray he is found safe and well.

TRAGIC George Floyd