The Church’s social action charity, CSAN, has criticised “the pervasiveness of discrimination and inequalities” in the UK after a recent report found that deep-rooted racial injustice remains entrenched in twenty-first century Britain.
The report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) entitled Healing a Divided Britain, found that black workers with degrees earn over 23 per cent less on average than white workers with degrees; if you are black in England you are more than three times more likely to be a victim of murder and four times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police.
The report also highlighted that in England and Wales, white boys receiving free school meals had the lowest educational attainment at the age of 16 in 2015, and in England, Gypsy/Roma, Irish Travellers and Black Caribbean pupils have the lowest overall attainment at GCSE.
The report, self-described as “the biggest ever review into race inequality in Great Britain”, found that life chances for young people from ethnic minorities had got worse, becoming "the most challenging for generations". It calls for a “comprehensive and co-ordinated” strategy from government to address racial inequality and the “unprecedented spike” in hate crimes recorded since the EU Referendum in June.
Recently the Black Lives Matter movement, which started in the US in response to the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, has found support in Britain. Protests were held in London, Sheffield and Nottingham to highlight institutional racism and to show solidarity with the victims of police violence in America.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Phil McCarthy, CEO of CSAN, said: “The findings of this report highlight the pervasiveness of discrimination and inequalities experienced by ethnic communities in many areas including education, employment and the criminal justice system.”
“We’re striving to build a 21st century Britain in which individuals irrespective of their class, race or ethnicity are able to fully participate in society”, he added.
Yogi Sutton, Chair of Trustees of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice, said: “Pope Francis called for an end to bigotry and racism stating ‘the problem of intolerance should be dealt with as a whole: every time a minority is persecuted and marginalised because of his religious beliefs or ethnicity, the good of the whole society is in danger’”.
Picture by: NurPhoto / SIPA USA/PA Images
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