Report totally ignored institutional racism

I WAS dismayed and disappointed that the Conservative government’s recent report (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities) failed completely to address the issue of institutional racism in this country.

This report has been justifiably condemned by more than 250 experts on race, education, health and economics including Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Lord Simon Woolley, Professor David Olusoga and organisations as diverse as the Runnymede Trust, the Barnardo’s charity and the British Medical Journal.

Before embarking on the report, the leaders had already publicly denied the existence of institutional racism. They then proceeded to define institutional racism in terms so narrow that it would appear that they were able to make their case successfully.

A couple of quotes from the introduction typify the complacent and insulting nature of the thrust and tenor of the report.

“Impediments and disparities do exist and very few of them are directly to do with racism.

“People from an ethnic minority background absorb a fatalistic narrative that the deck is permanently stacked against them.”

I wonder how those affected by the Windrush scandal feel reading this. (Incidentally, Windrush was superficially mentioned only twice – in 258 pages).

A recent report into this scandal – Lessons Learned – found that the Home Office had displayed “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness” on race issues “consistent with some elements of the definition of institutional racism”.

This government office is led by a Home Secretary who proposes increasingly bizarre and inhumane ways of discouraging asylum seekers. The report was not impartial. It was not aimed at finding the truth.

The prejudged conclusion was intended to restrict debate and to hamper demand for any effective action.

And, saddest of all, our government missed an opportunity to acknowledge and to listen to those who have a story to tell, and to those who really might have made a contribution towards improving our society.

Phil Harvey, Leicester