RACISM ‘RIFE IN BRITAIN’
Third of minorities suffer abuse
ONE in three people from ethnic or religious minorities say they have been physically or verbally abused by racists.
A major study said the UK has “strikingly high” levels of racism after finding widespread discrimination in the workplace, education, housing and dealings with police.
More than 25% of those from ethnic and religious minorities faced racial insults, with almost one in three targeted in public.
One in six reported racism from neighbours, while the homes of 17% had been damaged.
It challenges 2021’s No10-commissioned Sewell report, which found the UK does not have a systemic problem with racism.
In the latest study a sixth said they had been physically assaulted prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
The figure rose to one in five Jewish people and over a third with Gypsy, Traveller and Roma heritage.
Nissa Finney, professor of human geography at St Andrews, was lead researcher in the study that took two years to compile.
She said: “The UK is immeasurably far from being a racially just society.” More than 14,000 people from 21 groups joined the study Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis between February and October 2021. It was also carried out by King’s College London and the University of Manchester. The Economic and Social Research Councilfunded poll found 29% faced discrimination in education and at work. Almost a fifth reported the same over searches for housing. Discrimination in dealings with police was reported by more than a fifth but this soared to 43% among Black Caribbean groups. Halima Begum, chief of think-tank the Runnymede Trust, said that findings related to violence was “incredibly concerning”. She added: “Sadly, few ethnic minority Britons will be surprised by the findings.”