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There is no doubt that the recent events raising awareness about racism, such as Black Lives Matter (BLM), have brought to our attention the need for rapid societal change to combat this serious issue. This has sparked a discussion on whether the UK government has and is doing enough to tackle racism. The debate around governmental responsibilities for racism is a longstanding one in the UK, dating back to the era of Imperialism. Countries spread their power and their wealth, by colonizing weaker countries, to benefit themselves and become a larger empire with ultimate economic gain as an objective. It is this economic drive around imperialism that fuelled the origin of systematic racism through the institution of slavery. To provide resources to secure labor the British exported slaves, and according to the law, they were considered as property. This objectification was simply justified by differences in skin color, ethnicity, and cultural background.
Imperialism initiated an unfair divide, that allowed those ethnic minorities, or those of a different race to be unfairly marginalized and treated. This idea then evolved into what today we call racism, ‘the theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race’. A clear example of institutional racism stemming out of these thwarted principles was the South African apartheid state. From 1948 to the mid-1990s, the white population of South Africa placed appalling laws to ensure absolute segregation of its society. Those who were not white were placed under strict rules, living separately, avoiding certain public spaces, and being excluded from education and certain job types. Many black South Africans were left in poverty and homelessness, as a product of the white population believing that they were supreme and entitled to a better life. Over the past centuries through the defeat of imperialism as a model, the abolition of slavery, and a concerted global civil rights movement we have seen a gradual improvement of racism including the defeat of apartheid in South Africa. However often the same principles that were driving such racism remain rooted in our society, including British society. Sections of the population are blaming the government because they believe that not enough is being done to uproot these noxious beliefs and attitudes. It is exactly these attitudes that, among a greater sum of people, show us that people’s beliefs have a major influence on how a country is run and how today, racism might be much more prevalent than we think. Racism cannot only change the way people think, but the ability to change an entire country, and produce mass damage. More than ever, our views and opinions are changing, and as a result, the UK’s society has voiced out to the Government, strongly suggesting that the way we think needs to change.
Recent evidence, from the Guardian, suggests that not enough is being done in response to what is happening with hate crimes be it against race or orientation.
This source shows 103,379 hate crimes (this includes different factors, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender), recorded in England and Wales over 2018-19. As shown, race remains the prominent source of all hate crimes, with the cases nearly doubling from 35,000 in 2012-13, to almost 80,000 in 2018-19. We can estimate that the values from earlier years are much higher than those recorded on the graph. This is because hateful actions towards those of a different race were previously normalized, and therefore those attacked, wouldn’t have reported all the cases to the Home Office. We can only predict that the number of hate crimes for 2020 will be much higher, due to the increase of social media use, and how different members of society targeted react. The UK Government has now put forward laws and regulations, to enforce better safety and protection, however, some may argue that the use of social media is only making any forms of improvement harder.
In comparison to other countries, such as the USA, Britain was previously thought to have much more advanced laws, to combat racism and discrimination. According to Parliament.co.uk – one of the main aims of Parliament, is ‘to check that they comply with equalities and human rights laws and by speaking up on behalf of affected individuals.’ The first step that Britain took towards tackling racism was in 1965, when the Government passed a law called the Race Relations Act, in response to the increasing number of immigrants moving to the UK from Commonwealth countries. This act did not prove to be highly impactful and therefore led to Part III of the Public Order Act 1986, which was even more focused on protecting ethnic minorities from racial abuse and intimidation. It was not until a black teenager, named Stephen Lawrence was murdered, in 1993, that the UK Government presented the public with new rules, that were more focused on hate crimes, rather than just racial harassment. Similar laws recently followed, to further combat Hate Crimes and discrimination. These included the Football Offences Act 1991, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001.
Along with the Equality Act in 2010, not only has the Government learned to adapt to this new, and ever-changing problem, but they have also learned that they need to take action to prevent problems from reoccurring, not to stop them while they happen. Local police forces, and even a high percentage of the British population, are also becoming increasingly aware of how to report cases of issues such as racism, and the police are getting better at reporting them.
But despite this remarkable legislative achievement, one could argue that much remains to be done by the government to root out racism. In 2020, campaigners called for improvements to be made to the UK’s policing system, after research into the treatment of black and ethnic minorities by the police found that they were institutionally racist.
Furthermore, in a recent article, produced by the Independent, Nick Glynn, a previous member of the police force, reported that he had to leave the force, as a result of a ‘racial slur’ from a colleague. He also stated that previous laws passed, are simply not relevant enough and that every day is repetitive, in the way that racist comments and actions have been normalized. King’s College criminology professor, Ben Bowling, also strongly criticised both the Government and police system, saying that black and ethnic minority people are still over-policed and under-protected.
Recent evidence supports Ben Bowling’s criticism. In 2018, it is said that victims were afraid to report previous incidents, as they already knew safety and protection would not be provided for them. Information from the Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (2018) also showed that around ¼ of the respondents had been stopped and searched by the police in the last 5 years. The respondents included those of Asian, Romani, and North African descent, who believed that they had been stopped due to racial or ethnic profiling. Katrina French, chief executive from Stopwatch, also stated that over the last year, throughout lockdown, she has received an increased number of reports, of black and ethnic minority workers, being stopped, while the majority of them were just trying to live their daily lives, and carry out essential work.
Although Government action is being taken to enforce better protection of those targeted, there is no Act, passed through Parliament that specifically criminalizes hate crimes. This problem could suggest a host of protests and issues going into the future, as cases continue to rise, and possibly worsen. We will likely see an increase in hate crimes, caused by racism for 202021. This avoidance for justification of laws, by the Government, could imply that Britain is simply not prepared for the future. How will Britain ensure maximum safety and equality, when simple human rights such as the right to not be mistreated or wrongly punished by the state, are not even achievable? Thousands of years ago, racism and discrimination were often accompanied by poverty and unemployment. Surely today, if as a society, we don’t face as much economic strain and poverty, then why do we continue to make the same mistakes when we are not faced with the same challenges?
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