Race, Ethnicity, and Culture
The UK workforce is now more culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse than at any other point in history. One in five UK workers is from an ethnically diverse background, and over 300 languages are spoken across UK workplaces (ONS). This diversity brings a wealth of skills, creativity and lived experiences. It also presents new responsibilities […]
“You have to work twice as hard to be seen as half as good.” It’s a phrase familiar to many Black and Asian professionals in Britain. In the NHS England, education, and public services, racism often hides behind “professionalism”, policies, and the idea of “fit”. What the numbers reveal: The cost to the NHS and
Working Twice as Hard – Racism in the NHS and Workplace Read More »
What happens when the system that should protect you becomes the one you fear? For too many young people of colour in the UK, policing feels like punishment before proof. Whether in Manchester, Birmingham or London, patterns of racial profiling continue to erode trust between the police and the communities they serve. The data tells
Targeted Young – Racism and Policing in Britain Read More »
From playground taunts to classroom bias, racism starts long before adulthood. Across Britain, thousands of children are being judged not for their ability, but for the colour of their skin. Evidence shows that from early years settings to secondary schools, racial bias quietly shapes who is labelled “disruptive”, who is believed, and who is given
He’s Just a Child – Racism in UK Classrooms Read More »
Recent criticism suggesting that Oxford University is engaging in “social engineering” by widening access misunderstands both the purpose and necessity of positive action. Far from being about lowering standards, Oxford’s deliberate steps to improve representation are about removing historical barriers that have long prevented talented Black and working-class students from accessing opportunity on equal terms.
Response to claims of “social engineering” at Oxford University Read More »
Polite racism is the subtle and socially accepted form of racial bias that presents itself as civility, neutrality, or “treating everyone the same”. It avoids overt hostility but maintains racial inequality by erasing lived experience and discomfort. Neutrality is not innocence. Civility is not equity. Our responsibility is to recognise when “professionalism” and “kindness” are
Polite Racism Lives in the Tone of Neutrality Read More »
When Robert Jenrick complained that he “didn’t see a white face” in Handsworth, he revealed more about his own worldview than about the community he was criticising. His words betrayed a common political simplification: treating all Black and brown people as one homogeneous mass. But the reality of Handsworth, like so many places across Britain,
Integration Isn’t the Problem: Inequality Is Read More »
On Friday 10 October, I was walking to the Friends Meeting House in Manchester to attend a neurodiversity event. As I made my way there, a man ahead of me, focused on his phone, was walking slowly. I stepped slightly to the left to pass him, hoping to avoid being late. In that simple, ordinary
This true story appeared on Facebook this morning. As I read it, I found myself asking some uncomfortable but necessary questions. What type of upbringing did the mother have that made her believe it was acceptable to teach her daughter to be discriminatory and unkind?Why did the daughter not feel able to tell her mother
Everyday Racism: Is It Me? Read More »
A time to reflect and a time to act Two years have passed since the horrific events of 7 October, and the aftershocks are still being felt deeply across Jewish communities in Britain and beyond. What should have been unthinkable has become ordinary.Synagogues have been vandalised, homes defaced, Jewish students harassed, and families assaulted simply
Standing Together Against Antisemitism: Two Years On Read More »
