tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/institutional-racism-12710/articlesInstitutional racism – The Conversation2023-11-02T19:13:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145672023-11-02T19:13:03Z2023-11-02T19:13:03ZI was a ward of the state. The horrors of the Parramatta Girls’ Home were legendary<p><em>Readers are advised this article discusses sexual abuse.</em></p>
<p>In the Sydney suburb of North Parramatta sits a cluster of very old buildings known as the “<a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/places/national/parramatta-female-factory-and-institutions-precinct">Parramatta Female Factory Precinct</a>”.</p>
<p>Built in 1821 to house and provide productive employment for the New South Wales colony’s growing population of female convicts, it was also the site of countless <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/case_study_7_-_findings_report_-_parramatta_training_school_for_girls.pdf">horrors</a> – many of which occurred much more recently than you might think. </p>
<p>The Australian government recently announced it will nominate the Parramatta Female Factory in Sydney for <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/faq/19">World Heritage listing</a>. It is a worthy nomination; the site is deeply significant for the many wards of the state who survived institutionalisation here or in other parts of Australia.</p>
<p>This precinct is by no means merely a relic of the convict era. Only 15 years ago, part of the site was a women’s prison. And from 1887 to 1974, it housed the notorious <a href="https://www.parragirls.org.au/parramatta-girls-home">Parramatta Girls’ Home</a>.</p>
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<h2>The Parramatta Girls’ Home</h2>
<p>The Girls’ Home was also known as Parramatta Girls’ Industrial School, Girls’ Training School, and Girls’ Training Home. Each name was very much a euphemism. Whatever you call it, it was a high-security institution. That is, a jail.</p>
<p>It was a place where adolescent girls who had been removed from abusive or unfit parents, found homeless, orphaned, or mandated by the courts as wards of the state could be indefinitely detained. </p>
<p>It was among the most infamous examples of what criminologists today call “penal welfare” – the practice of locking up children and adolescents who have committed no offence other than being poor, homeless, or simply unloved.</p>
<p>It was official policy to treat welfare inmates — already highly vulnerable and having committed no offence at all — like <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/12063312211066542">hardened criminals</a>.</p>
<p>They suffered a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT6YzaHlC5E">cruel and humiliating regime</a> of physical, psychological and sexual violence. </p>
<p>The most trivial infraction of the rules — or no infraction at all — attracted <a href="https://www.parragirls.org.au/parramatta-girls-home">punishments</a> such as forced silence, scrubbing floors (with a toothbrush), beatings, and solitary confinement in dark underground cells.</p>
<p>And aside from the trauma of being locked in a pitch-black dungeon, girls in solitary were routinely <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/case_study_7_-_findings_report_-_parramatta_training_school_for_girls.pdf">raped</a> by male staff members.</p>
<p>So horrific was its record of abuses that the <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/">Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse</a> treated it as a special <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-07-parramatta-training-school-girls">case study</a>.</p>
<p>The Commission heard testimony from former inmates who named former staff members as serial sex offenders. Many had since died, but others have been charged and received <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/noel-greenaway-to-die-behind-bars-after-appeal-dismissed/news-story/45d35c7af78fd0d2c4ee6bf5feeeac06">heavy</a> prison sentences.</p>
<p>And it should be kept in mind that the Royal Commission’s terms of reference focused narrowly on sexual abuse. No prosecutions ensued for the myriad incidents of appalling, but non-sexual, emotional and physical maltreatment.</p>
<p>The stakeholders who so passionately advocated for the preservation and commemoration of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct were survivors of the Girls’ Home. </p>
<p>In 2006 they formed a lobby group called “<a href="https://www.parragirls.org.au/">Parragirls</a>”, and began campaigning for official acknowledgement of their experiences.</p>
<p>They called for the entire site — not just the convict-era building — to be recognised as historically significant and worthy of preservation.</p>
<h2>It wasn’t the only institution</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/12063312211066542">Parragirls</a> number a few hundred. They form a small subsection of the roughly half a million survivors of out-of-home “care” in the latter half of the 20th century, whom a 2003 Senate inquiry dubbed the “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/community_affairs/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report/index">Forgotten Australians</a>”. </p>
<p>I was a ward of the state as a teenager and spent time in various institutions as a child. As a Victorian, I was never in danger of being locked away in Parramatta, but its horrors were legendary among state wards everywhere. </p>
<p>We had <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-30-youth-detention-centres-victoria">our own institutions</a>, many as brutal as Parramatta, to contend with and try to avoid.</p>
<p>Australia has not come to terms with what happened to wards of the state in the 20th century. </p>
<p>Many are still alive, but many lives have been ruined. </p>
<p>Institutions like Parramatta Girls and others investigated by various inquiries and by the Royal Commission remain relatively unknown to the general public. </p>
<p>For Forgotten Australians whose lives were not touched directly by Parramatta, the site nevertheless stands as an emblem of all the institutions that served Australia’s horrific “penal welfare” system. </p>
<p>Many of us endorse the campaign to have the entire site, not just the convict-era Female Factory, preserved and nominated for World Heritage recognition.</p>
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<h2>It has taken too long to recognise this history</h2>
<p>World Heritage Listing defines the site as being “of outstanding universal value to humanity” and ensures it will be preserved.</p>
<p>If the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct makes it onto the World Heritage List, it will be only the second female convict factory site in Australia to do so, after the <a href="https://femalefactory.org.au/history/%22%22">Cascades Female Factory</a> in Tasmania.</p>
<p>Parramatta’s nomination, however, raises questions. </p>
<p>Older and larger than Cascades, it was the prototype of all female factories around Australia, and significantly more of it survives today than any other site. Yet it took years of campaigning to draw the government’s attention to it. </p>
<p>Sydney’s <a href="https://mhnsw.au/visit-us/hyde-park-barracks/">Hyde Park Barracks</a>, a major convict prison for men, has been a tourist attraction for decades and has had World Heritage listing since 2010.</p>
<p>To overlook an even larger and equally significant site devoted to women of the same historical era is a rather glaring omission.</p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline Z. Wilson receives funding from the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects: DP210101275. "Activism & Advocacy: From Deficit Models To Survivor Narratives"</span></em></p>Built in 1821 to house and provide productive employment for the New South Wales colony’s growing population of female convicts, the Parramatta Female Factory was also the site of countless horrors.Jacqueline Z. Wilson, Adjunct Associate Professor in History, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1965052023-10-03T14:08:50Z2023-10-03T14:08:50ZDiscrimination is the biggest career obstacle for women of colour in the NHS – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525092/original/file-20230509-27-vjlzax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/surgical-team-performing-surgery-modern-operation-1932229913">Photoroyalty/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In March 2023, NHS midwife <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p534">Olukemi Akinmeji</a> won an employment tribunal case against the hospital in Kent where, as an employee, she had faced race discrimination and victimisation. </p>
<p>That same month, <a href="https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/policies-and-guidance/nurses-racial-discrimination-ruling-will-drive-change-vows-nhs-england-07-03-2023/">Michelle Cox</a>, a healthcare manager and senior nurse, won a case against NHS England and NHS Improvement Commissioning in Manchester. She too had faced racial discrimination. </p>
<p>These cases follow the legal action launched in August 2022 by marketing executive <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-whistleblower-recorded-her-bosses-racist-chat-5sjmldxqt">Melissa Thermidor</a> against the NHS Blood and Transplant service. She provided recordings of conversations between staff members that backed up her claims that she had been subjected to racism.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Workforce-Race-Equality-Standard-report-2021-.pdf">NHS data from 2021</a>, black and minority ethnic women are the most likely of all NHS staff groups to experience discrimination from patients or colleagues. The harms they experience due to <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/meridians/article-abstract/8/2/166/138446/Double-JeopardyTo-Be-Black-and-Female?redirectedFrom=fulltext">sexism</a> in the workplace are compounded by their ethnicity. </p>
<p>My doctoral research looks at the obstacles black and minority ethnic women face in the NHS in terms of career development. In the chapter I recently contributed to the <a href="https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/research-handbook-on-leadership-in-healthcare-9781800886247.html">Research Handbook on Leadership in Healthcare</a> (edited by Naomi Chambers), I show how systemic discrimination is the single biggest impediment to these women being able to advance in their jobs. </p>
<h2>The barriers to career progression</h2>
<p>There is a notable lack of research on the workplace experiences of black and minority ethnic women leaders in healthcare. In 2021 I carried out a literature review to address this. </p>
<p>I identified eight barriers or drivers (often two sides of the same coin) to career progression for this group. These are: systemic discrimination; leadership and organisational cultures; recruitment and talent management; policies; training; monitoring and accountability; work-life balance; and support.</p>
<p>Systemic discrimination, the most pervasive impediment, refers to discrimination embedded in institutional policies, practices or processes, as opposed to the actions of individual people.</p>
<p>Research has long shown systemic discrimination at work in the NHS. In 2016, minority ethnic NHS staff were <a href="https://www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/minority-ethnic-candidate-chances-of-recruitment-in-nhs-fall-back-finds-nhse/7029577.article">1.56 times more likely</a> to enter formal disciplinary processes than white staff. More recently, a 2022 report by the Fawcett Society and the Runnymede Trust charities <a href="https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=72040c36-8cd6-4ae3-93f3-e2ad63a4b4b0">found</a> that women of colour are more likely (27%) to have been described as aggressive compared to white women (17%).</p>
<p>A <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/13/4/e069846.full.pdf">study</a>, published in April 2023 looked at a large sample (37,971) of people applying for specialist NHS training posts (medical and surgical) between 2021 and 2022. It found that applicants from most of the ethnic minority groups were less successful than their white British counterparts. It pointed to recruitment policies and processes as key factors driving this inequality.</p>
<p>In addition to the racism and sexism often experienced by ethnic minority women more broadly, black women, in particular, also have to contend with anti-blackness. </p>
<p>In 2010, the black feminist scholar Moya Bailey and the writer who goes by the name Trudy coined the term “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323736560_On_misogynoir_citation_erasure_and_plagiarism">misogynoir</a>” – anti-black misogyny – to describe this compounded discrimination. It amounts, as the US legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw <a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf">put it</a> in a landmark paper in 1989, to a form of erasure – being fundamentally overlooked by society. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace">Recent research</a> shows that little has changed. Black women are subject to a wider range of microaggressions in the workplace. They are often the only black woman in any given setting. And they are three times more likely than their peers to think regularly about leaving their jobs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic showing racial discrimination against ethnic minority women in healthcare leadership positions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504416/original/file-20230113-20-iy3bue.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barriers and drivers of career progression for black and minority ethnic women leaders in UK healthcare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rakhi Chand</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>How discrimination is compounded</h2>
<p>In the UK, this compounded discrimination is further exacerbated by, among other things, being a migrant or having a non-standard British accent. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340784255_The_Workplace_Experiences_of_BAME_Professional_Women_Understanding_Experiences_at_the_Intersection">Accent discrimination</a> can lead to employees receiving poorer pay, having limited access to professional networks, or fewer chances of promotion. Here too, it can see people <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297894255_Investigation_of_nurses'_intention_to_leave_a_study_of_a_sample_of_UK_nurses">more likely</a> to leave their jobs. </p>
<p>This often has a negative impact on an employee’s <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1943-03751-001">mental wellbeing</a> and <a href="https://www.maryseacoletrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Race-Equality-in-the-Workplace-for-publication-Feb-19.pdf">physical health</a> too. The long-term physical problems it can lead to include increased blood pressure and heart rates, higher levels of the primary stress hormone cortisol, and unhealthy behaviours such as drinking alcohol or smoking. </p>
<p>Line managers are uniquely placed to influence an employee’s emotional attachment to an organisation. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297894255_Investigation_of_nurses'_intention_to_leave_a_study_of_a_sample_of_UK_nurses">Research</a> shows that their support – including for training and advancement opportunities – can be pivotal in decisions to leave or, conversely to stay in a role or even the organisation. </p>
<p>However, research has long noted the lack of diversity in healthcare leadership. A <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/equality-analysis-wres-april-16.pdf">2014 report</a> on equality in the NHS workforce found that black and minority ethnic executives were “entirely” absent, and women “disproportionately” absent, from the boards of all key NHS national bodies in 2013. </p>
<p>To remedy this situation, academics and practitioners alike have repeatedly called for better reporting on gender data, broken down by ethnicity, within healthcare management. </p>
<p>Yet, until the publication of the Workforce Race Equality Standard report in 2022, this appears to not have happened within the NHS. Not having access to such data is a problem. <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/edc7-0514.pdf">Research</a> has long shown that when a healthcare workforce does not reflect the population it serves, patients’ health outcomes worsen as a result. </p>
<p>The fact that black and minority ethnic women are under-represented at leadership levels is, of course, <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/bme-women-and-work">not unique</a> to the healthcare sphere. It is also <a href="https://www.mcnz.org.nz/assets/Publications/Workforce-Survey/6be731ea72/Workforce-Survey-Report-2019.pdf">not exclusively a UK problem</a>. </p>
<p>Anyone wanting to improve diversity and inclusion within their workforce must engage with the obstacles that black and ethnic minority women face. Addressing inequality benefits everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rakhi Chand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When hospital and GP staff do not reflect the population they serve, patients’ health suffers.Rakhi Chand, Doctoral Researcher, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045712023-06-02T15:53:32Z2023-06-02T15:53:32ZThe Windrush generation: how a resilient Caribbean community made a lasting contribution to British society<p>As a young boy in 1962, I remember arriving in England from Jamaica on a BOAC jet plane. It seemed to me like I was going to the moon – the air hostess who accompanied me was one of the first white people I had ever seen. My father greeted me eagerly at London’s Paddington station, amid the swirling smoke of steam trains. It had been two years since we last met, but I recognised him immediately.</p>
<p>Fourteen years earlier, the arrival of the <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/the-story-of-windrush/">Empire Windrush</a> at London’s Tilbury docks in 1948 was a pivotal moment in British history, marking the beginning of a significant wave of migration from the Caribbean. This became known as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43782241">the Windrush generation</a>, and signified a new chapter in the history of the United Kingdom. Since then it has assumed a symbolic status, commemorated annually on <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/arrival-of-the-empire-windrush-celebrating-the-75th-anniversary/">Windrush Day</a>, observed on 22 June.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528239/original/file-20230525-19-6vicuz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>This article is part of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/windrush-75-139220?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Windrush75&utm_content=InArticleTop">Windrush 75 series</a>, which marks the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain. The stories in this series explore the history and impact of the hundreds of passengers who disembarked to help rebuild after the second world war.</em></p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A young Jamaican boy looking serious in his passport picture." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529345/original/file-20230531-23-w5p0c2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author in 1962.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Les Johnson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This turning point reformed Anglo-Caribbean identities as the Windrush generation settled in Britain, leaving their mark on history, society and culture. The arrivals serve as a poignant reminder of the dynamic and fluid nature of migration, identity and societal transformation. But how did this momentous event come about, and what were the factors that led to the settlement of these British citizens?</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An old navy blue British-Jamaican passport from 1962." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529341/original/file-20230531-19-mnn417.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s first British passport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Les Johnson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>These questions are important because Windrush history is not included in the UK school curriculum, resulting in an incomplete view of Britain’s history of cultural diversity. Race equality think tank, the <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/about/about-us">Runnymede Trust</a>, has described the Windrush story as “<a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/education/michael-gove-drop-windrush-generation-national-curriculum-459957">an integral part of British history</a>”. </p>
<p>While there are now numerous celebratory events and commemorations on or around Windrush Day, once the festivities end, there is little permanence. There are no major collections or permanent Windrush exhibitions. There has been no museum dedicated to its history with the significance of other major British museums. And there is no major institution for children to view the legacies of the Windrush generation and their impact on Britain. These are just some of the reasons I recently founded the <a href="https://www.nationalwindrushmuseum.com/our-vision">National Windrush Museum</a>.</p>
<h2>Coming to Britain</h2>
<p>The British invitation to Caribbeans to come to Britain after the second world war can be traced back to the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/11-12/56/enacted">British Nationality Act</a> of 1948. This conferred British citizenship and the right to settle in the UK on all people from the British colonies to help rebuild the country. </p>
<p>The Windrush generation refers to the people who migrated from Caribbean countries to the United Kingdom between 1948 and 1971. However, Caribbean immigration did not cease after this period, and migrants have settled ever since, influencing <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021#:%7E:text=In%20England%20the%20percentage%20of,was%204.2%25%20(2.4%20million)">Britain’s demographic composition</a>.</p>
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<p>Major urban centres like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds and Preston became focal points for these communities, where they established vibrant neighbourhoods and thriving cultural institutions, contributing to the <a href="https://publications.goettingen-research-online.de/bitstream/2/111211/1/ER-2007-Complexities_Cohesion_Britain_CIC.pdf">overall diversity and multicultural fabric</a> of these cities. </p>
<p>Despite the open invitation, the reception the Windrush pioneers received was often <a href="https://theconversation.com/empire-windrush-how-the-bbc-reported-caribbean-migrants-mixed-reception-in-1948-98593">hostile</a>. Caribbean migrants were (and still are) subjected to poor housing conditions, with accommodation in hostels often overcrowded and lacking basic amenities. In 1948, an <a href="https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/incredible-pictures-show-london-underground-22246855">underground shelter</a> in Clapham South tube station was used as temporary housing for people from the Caribbean. </p>
<p>The types of employment available to the Windrush generation were often limited to <a href="https://www.bl.uk/windrush/articles/how-caribbean-migrants-rebuilt-britain">low-paying jobs</a> such as cleaning, factory work and driving. Created the same year in 1948, the National Health Service (NHS) has been an <a href="https://peopleshistorynhs.org/the-windrush-generation-and-the-nhs-by-the-numbers/">important source of employment</a> for members of the Windrush community since its inception. </p>
<p>Many Caribbean migrants found work in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, playing a <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/windrush-and-the-nhs-an-entwined-history/">crucial role</a>
in the development and functioning of the NHS. They contributed their skills, dedication and expertise, helping to shape and improve healthcare provision in the UK.</p>
<p>Some devised ingenious self-help micro-financing schemes such as the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42855610">“partners” initiative</a>, where small groups banded together and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7de2eea4-f030-11e9-bfa4-b25f11f42901">shared from the combined pot of money</a> weekly. This is how many of the Windrush generation afforded air fares to send for their families – and how my parents were able to send for me. </p>
<p>The institutional racism and poor conditions endured by the Windrush generation led to people starting their own businesses: barbers and hairdressers, fashion and design, restaurants and cook shops, a variety of trades, market stalls, independent black churches and dancehall music. These businesses were important not just in generating a living, but also in developing flourishing communities and creating black British culture. </p>
<p>In addition to their contribution to the workforce, the Windrush generation and their descendants have made a significant social and cultural impact on British society. They brought with them their Caribbean culture, art, sports, traditions, and customs, enriching the cultural landscape of the United Kingdom. From food and music to fashion, literature, language, and even cricket, <a href="https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/psychology-windrush-style">Caribbean influences</a> became ingrained in British popular culture, fostering a sense of diversity and multiculturalism.</p>
<h2>The Windrush pioneers</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.blackheroesfoundation.org/sam-king-mbe/">Sam King MBE</a> was one of the notable figures of the Windrush generation who played a significant role in the establishment of the annual Windrush Day on 22 June. Born in Jamaica in 1926, he served in the British Army during the second world war before coming to Britain in 1948. King went on to become the first black mayor of Southwark in London, and was involved in a number of community projects and organisations.</p>
<p>Other important Windrush figures include <a href="https://www.bl.uk/windrush/articles/claudia-jones-rebel-heart">Claudia Jones</a>, a political and pioneering journalist; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/10/stuart-hall">Stuart Hall</a>, a cultural theorist and political activist; <a href="https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2661/Morris-Sir-William-Bill.html">Bill Morris</a>, a trade union leader who became the first black general secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government">Diane Abbott</a>, who became the first black woman to be elected to the British parliament; and <a href="https://archives.blog.parliament.uk/2020/10/09/tottenhams-own-bernie-grant-mp/">Bernie Grant</a>, who also served as a MP and was a prominent campaigner for racial equality and social justice. </p>
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<img alt="A young bearded black man addresses a crowd at a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529194/original/file-20230530-15-gf7win.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cultural theorist Stuart Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-open-university/15770937271/in/photostream/lightbox/">Open University/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Hall was a Jamaican-born British cultural theorist who played a significant role in shaping our understanding of race, identity and culture. Hall argued that identity is not fixed, but rather is constructed through social and cultural practices. He also emphasised the role of power and control in shaping culture.</p>
<p>In the context of the Windrush generation, Hall’s theories are particularly relevant, as they help us to understand the ways in which Caribbean migrants and in particular the Windrush generation identities were constructed and represented in British culture. </p>
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<h2>The Windrush scandal</h2>
<p>One of the most shameful episodes in this history is the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_NpCX79lkM">Windrush scandal</a>, which saw people who had lived in the UK for decades – including some who had friends who arrived on the Windrush – being wrongly deported or denied access to public services like the NHS.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.bl.uk/windrush/articles/perspectives-on-the-windrush-generation-scandal-an-account-by-amelia-gentleman">British government scandal</a> came to light in 2017, when British citizens of Caribbean descent who had migrated to the UK between 1948 and 1971 were wrongly classified as illegal immigrants. They then faced deportation, detention and some even lost their homes and livelihoods. This gross injustice has affected many lives, highlighting the systemic racism that exists in Britain. Its impact is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/23/windrush-campaigner-paulette-wilson-dies-aged-64">still being felt today</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtmMrae8oLI">Black Lives Matter movement</a> has been instrumental in bringing attention to these issues, and its importance in highlighting the systemic racism in Britain cannot be overstated. The toppling of statues of figures linked to the slave trade and colonialism, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l70SI9I1UPk">Edward Colston in Bristol</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_NpCX79lkM">Robert Milligan</a> in London, sparked a wider conversation about decolonisation at all levels of society and the need to confront Britain’s colonial past. </p>
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<h2>The National Windrush Museum</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/">Museums Association</a> there are about 2,500 museums in Britain. Yet there is no black culture museum or established school curriculum that focuses on the heritage of the Windrush generation. In 2021 I founded the <a href="https://www.nationalwindrushmuseum.com">National Windrush Museum</a> which I chair. The museum plays an important role in collecting, researching, documenting and exhibiting artefacts and stories about the Windrush generation and those who came before and after them.</p>
<p>The museum provides a vital link to the past and a gateway to the future, enabling us to understand and appreciate the contributions of the Windrush generation to Britain. It will also serve as a valuable resource for schools and universities, providing an opportunity for collaboration in the development of curricula, research and study centres and libraries around the world. </p>
<p>Many stories and hidden narratives of the Windrush generation need to be unearthed, told and preserved. As part of the second wave of Windrush settlers and as an academic researcher who innovated the concept of cultural visualisation, this is important work. Cultural visualisation involves the visual research, portrayal and analysis of various aspects of culture, including music, film, fashion, visual arts, dance, literature and more. </p>
<p>My work looks at “doing culture differently” and I wanted this new venture to adopt the idea of “doing museums differently”. The National Windrush Museum provides a life laboratory in which to explore and develop this concept, which I hope will have a significant cultural impact on the heritage sector. </p>
<p>The 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation is a poignant opportunity to shed light on a momentous event in British history so often neglected in our schools. This milestone marks a transformative chapter that reshaped Britain’s fabric and ushered in a vibrant new culture.</p>
<p>The founding of the National Windrush Museum stands as a vital, moving and significant historical moment. By documenting, exhibiting and explaining the enduring legacies of the Windrush generation, the museum becomes a powerful testament to their contributions. Its ethos fills a crucial gap in our understanding of Britain’s history, ensuring that these stories are preserved and celebrated as integral parts of our national narrative.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533175/original/file-20230621-18-hw1fuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>You can <em><a href="https://bit.ly/3DdOERY">download the e-book here</a></em>. Thank you for your interest.</p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les Johnson is the founder and chair of the National Windrush Museum.</span></em></p>The Windrush generation has a long and storied history encompassing empire, war, migration, multiculturalism, racism and scandal – a history that has transformed British society and culture.Les Johnson, Visiting Research Fellow, Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027932023-04-17T10:43:02Z2023-04-17T10:43:02ZCasey review: how the Met police needs to accept that it is institutionally racist and deal with failures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518223/original/file-20230329-1565-lblkzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/british-metropolitan-police-officer-hivisibility-uniform-1279370110">Carrie Gomez/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Louise Casey’s <a href="https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/met/about-us/baroness-casey-review/update-march-2023/baroness-casey-review-march-2023.pdf">review</a> of the standards of behaviour and internal culture at the Metropolitan police makes for uncomfortable reading. It was commissioned following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, who was a serving Met officer at the time. </p>
<p>Casey highlights the prevalence of sexism and homophobia. Crucially, in considering police culture she draws different conclusions on the existence of institutional racism than <a href="https://theconversation.com/race-commission-report-the-rights-and-wrongs-158316">the position</a> taken in 2021 by Boris Johnson’s government on race.</p>
<p><a href="https://irr.org.uk/article/what-is-institutional-racism/">Institutional racism</a> is defined as racial discrimination in process, attitude and behaviour. It results from prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness or racist stereotyping. And it adversely affects people from minority ethnic communities. </p>
<p>In 1999, already, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf">Macpherson report</a> found the force guilty of institutional racism. The recent cases of Met officers accused of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-54466254">racially profiling</a> the athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos and the two Met officers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/26/mother-of-murdered-sisters-bibaa-henry-nicole-smallman-met-police-apology">dismissed for</a> sharing photographs and making inappropriate comments about Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, the sisters murdered in 2020, have highlighted, however, how little has been done about it. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/28/metropolitan-police-safeguarding-risk-black-children-schools-strip-search-child-q">commentators</a> have grave <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/26/race-disparity-police-strip-searches-of-children-england-and-wales">concerns</a> about how black communities in the UK are disproportionately and unfairly policed. In 2020 the House of Lords <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/accusations-of-racism-in-the-metropolitan-police-service/&data=05%7C01%7Cangus.nurse@ntu.ac.uk%7C18829195b93740f3f6b608db2a227120%7C8acbc2c5c8ed42c78169ba438a0dbe2f%7C1%7C0%7C638150099632125799%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0=%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3WsQ7HZxf90pJZGM71coe48RjZEiz1tmeIEKIAik4f0=&reserved=0">reported</a> on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-and-search-new-data-shows-continued-ethnic-disproportionality-172260#:%7E:text=Racial%20disproportionality%20in%20stop%20and%20search%20has%20been,associated%20legislation%20%28the%20most%20frequently%20used%20stop-and-search%20powers%29.">disproportionate use</a> of stop and search against black Londoners. <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/mopac-publications/action-plan-transparency-accountability-and-trust-policing">Research shows</a> that people from black and mixed ethnic groups have lower trust and confidence in the Met.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/casey-review-key-steps-the-met-police-must-take-to-address-its-institutional-racism-and-sexism-202255">challenge</a> for the force, then, is whether it will accept this institutional failure. In figuring out how to deal with it, it should, among other things, examine how complaints are dealt with, how staff members are able to raise issues themselves, and how performance monitoring uncovers problems. </p>
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<img alt="Several police officers in uniform on police motorbikes by a street curb." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518224/original/file-20230329-18-ncwzpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Met is not representative of the people it serves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-03-19-2022-line-2140461621">RobertoBarcellona/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>The scale of the task</h2>
<p>Casey does not simply highlight the problems with how black citizens are policed, and the crimes perpetrated against them dealt with. She says the Met is unrepresentative of Londoners, noting that “Met officers are 82% white and 71% male” and that “the Met does not look like the majority of Londoners”. </p>
<p>She acknowledges that the force has improved the ethnic diversity of its workforce. However, she states that black communities in London are “under-protected – disproportionately the victims of homicides and domestic abuse; and over-policed – facing disproportionate use of stop and search and use of force by the Met”. </p>
<p>The Met’s response to scandals, the review says, often involves “playing them down, denial, obfuscation, and digging in to defend officers without seeming to understand their wider significance”. Casey also points to what many regard as a “hostile culture” within the force, with evidence of systematic racial bias against black, Asian, and ethnic minority staff. </p>
<p>Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, responded to Casey’s findings acknowledging that the racism, among other ills, is systemic. However, he <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/met-police-chief-sir-mark-rowley-again-rejects-use-of-term-institutional-to-describe-forces-problems-after-damning-report-12840225">rejected</a> the term “institutional”. To his mind, it is a political term, unhelpful because it is ill-defined. Instead, he emphasised the need to root out <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/met-police-chief-embarrassed-by-review-but-wont-use-term-institutionally-racist-12839225">“toxic individuals”</a>. </p>
<p>Individual offenders seeking to justify their actions will sometimes use what sociologists and criminologists call “<a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0140.xml">neutralisation techniques</a>” to minimise their guilt. Organisations also routinely deploy them, to underplay the seriousness of the allegations made against them. </p>
<p>This is because denial deflects from the need to act. Appealing to higher loyalties protects the profession or the organisation by asserting its value. </p>
<p>When organisations are faced with accusations of racism, the institutional response often emphasises that the fault lies with individual rotten apples, as opposed to the barrel itself. The institution thus avoids facing up to the reality of the situation and embracing meaningful and effective change, even when senior leadership displays willingness to do so.</p>
<p>Conversely, responses that are system led and process driven but ineffective are just as fruitless. Casey says the Met has often responded to problems by effectively just ticking boxes. A complaints system or procedure might provide a mechanism that allows people (or groups) to raise complaints. But the process (that is, the response) is taken up with logging the level and number of complaints and defending an organisational position. </p>
<p>Instead, organisations need to take their cues from what research and data tell them about the existence of institutional racism and discrimination. They need to identify the nature of issues and then implement thorough organisational changes.</p>
<p>When it comes to identifying misconduct, Casey suggests introducing a new misconduct system and overhauling the vetting processes for new recruits and for specialist units. She also recommends that the commissioner be granted greater powers to better enforce the misconduct standards and remove officers whose conduct falls short of the required standards. </p>
<p>On race, however, her recommendations fall short. The Macpherson report had 70 recommendations. They included implementing a code of conduct that would “ensure that racist words or acts proved to have been spoken or done by police officers should lead to disciplinary proceedings”. </p>
<p>And yet, 24 years on from that report, the Casey review is still recommending training and codes of practice. This suggests that Macpherson’s recommendations were not efficiently implemented. </p>
<p>Like many large institutions, the Met risks remaining in denial about the scale of its racism problem. It has failed to appropriately challenge discriminatory <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23303131.2016.1249584?casa_token=oKd7Odi9FfcAAAAA%3A4yRqis0UZf54Dq5eI2c0hNBFp6IoAQ4YxpKbxvz0ZFtPdPTc_I5ZVdHNFBYwsk1-76Gt9FdxZZ-1">attitudes</a> and behaviour. Inaction or ineffective action will only further enable those who hold racist attitudes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angus Nurse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Like many large institutions, the Met remains in denial about the scale of its racism problem. The Casey review falls short in its recommendations for how to address it.Angus Nurse, Head of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1988302023-03-24T15:49:31Z2023-03-24T15:49:31ZHow Black children in England’s schools are made to feel like the way they speak is wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517637/original/file-20230327-28-i79gni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pupils-raising-their-hands-during-class-251933845">ESB Professional/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-is-an-invented-concept-that-has-been-used-as-a-tool-of-oppression-183387">Whiteness</a> is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0231.xml">racialisation of white people</a> and the disproportionate privilege – social, linguistic, economic, political – that comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, whiteness is not innate – <a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745342153/learning-whiteness/">it is taught</a>. </p>
<p>As an educational project, whiteness is designed to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Race-English-Education-New-Visions-New-Possibilities/Johnson/p/book/9780367276423">maintain</a> racial hierarchies. Whether or not that intention remains or is recognised in modern schools, the racism underpinning that educational project <a href="https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/black-british-fiction/a4wyiz9c6te8qqmndaeqldp9nte7rd">continues</a> to shape education in England. </p>
<p>Black children are more likely to face <a href="https://soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GillbornD-et-al_Race-Racism-and-Education.pdf">disproportionate disciplinary</a> procedures and be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/24/exclusion-rates-black-caribbean-pupils-england">excluded</a>. They face discriminatory hair <a href="https://theconversation.com/afro-hair-how-pupils-are-tackling-discriminatory-uniform-policies-159290">policies</a>, and, when their speech is deemed to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ask-or-aks-how-linguistic-prejudice-perpetuates-inequality-175839">differ</a> from “standard” or “academic” English, they face <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00405841.2019.1665415">anti-black linguistic racism</a>. </p>
<p>And in recent years, whiteness and anti-black linguistic racism have become further normalised under the so-called <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1t892t3?turn_away=true">“what works”</a> agenda of education policy. </p>
<p>The UK government launched the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/677478/6.4154_What_works_report_Final.pdf">What Works network</a> in 2013, in order to design policies, and how they are delivered, on the basis of what they called “the best” research evidence available.</p>
<p>In education, this claim that policymaking is scientifically objective and evidence-led is used to bolster the idea that the resulting policies will effectively do what they say, namely tackle inequality. However, my work shows how what-works-based education policy is not objective or neutral. It normalises white, middle-class language and can result in the use of non-standard, non-academic language being <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-17891-7">disciplined</a> in schools. </p>
<h2>The ‘what works’ agenda</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13613324.2023.2170435">Between 2021 and 2022</a>, I conducted research in two different secondary schools in London. I observed classrooms, did interviews and analysed policies and lesson materials. </p>
<p>Both schools had majority white staff, serving mostly black children from low-income families. Both schools had subscribed to a “what works” approach to language teaching.</p>
<p>The first school had introduced “evidence-led” curriculum materials, entitled <a href="https://www.arkcurriculumplus.org.uk/our-programmes/secondary/english-mastery">English Mastery</a>. Teachers I collaborated with reported how these materials encouraged them to correct how their pupils spoke, avoiding language deemed to deviate from standard norms.</p>
<p>As a result, black children simply kept quiet or produced minimal answers, which they were further criticised for. Being made to internalise the ideology that their language was deficient resulted in their identity being eroded, an impact <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/is-it-that-deep-the-impact-of-policing-black-british-language-speakers-in-british-schools">which research bears out</a>. </p>
<p>This ideology was further articulated by the staff I interviewed. One teacher said “what works” curriculums would “address persistent errors” and curtail the use of “colloquial” speech, thereby allowing marginalised children to “function properly in the world”. Another teacher described how management had insisted on a “standard English only” policy because they deemed classrooms to be full of what they termed <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-17891-7_5">“poor quality talk”</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/375044">Research has long shown</a> that standard and academic English are not neutral categories but social and colonial constructions based on the language of the white middle classes. Yet in these schools, acquiring standard and academic English is seen as the path to social justice. Similar thinking has been shown to underpin <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/white-ears-of-ofsted-a-raciolinguistic-perspective-on-the-listening-practices-of-the-schools-inspectorate/E6ECBB4A5DDE794CD44270C67CAEDF19">decision-making</a> at Ofsted, the UK schools inspectorate and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-has-been-dictating-what-proper-english-is-heres-why-thats-a-problem-176742">national policy too</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the claimed intentions around racial equity and justice with which they are marketed, “what works” materials risk reproducing anti-black prejudice. They define any student as “functioning” or “working” as one who models their language on whiteness. And they still result in working-class, black children facing language discrimination, because, as research shows, beliefs about <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/race-and-language-teaching/A9FE1FE5A4CF5ED72C716C296FCE6955">so-called “proper language”</a> always relate to beliefs about race and class. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children in school uniforms walk outside with backpacks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517633/original/file-20230327-14-vh6myh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to celebrate the way all children speak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-kids-elementary-school-1120645112">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ‘word gap’</h2>
<p>In another school I studied, management had designed policies to tackle the so-called “<a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jola.12071">word gap</a>”. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15427587.2022.2102014?src=">Since the 2010s</a>, there has been a resurgence among education specialists in England – policy makers at <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963625/Research_for_EIF_framework_updated_references_22_Feb_2021.pdf">Ofsted</a>, authors of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Closing-the-Vocabulary-Gap/Quigley/p/book/9781138080683">teacher textbooks</a> and the <a href="https://global.oup.com/education/content/dictionaries/key-issues/word-gap/?region=uk">education publishing industry</a> at large – of this idea, which is rooted in 1960s theories of <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1525/aeq.1978.9.2.04x0736h">verbal deprivation</a> and was recycled in 1990s <a href="https://products.brookespublishing.com/Meaningful-Differences-in-the-Everyday-Experience-of-Young-American-Children-P14.aspx">educational psychology</a>.</p>
<p>As education secretary in 2012, Michael Gove <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/debates/GetDebateAsText/1210294000012">told the UK parliament</a> that the lack of attainment in children from disadvantaged backgrounds was due to “growing up in households where they are not read to and where they do not have a rich literary heritage on which to draw”. Amanda Spielman, chief inspector at Ofsted <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/amanda-spielman-at-the-pre-school-learning-alliance-annual-conference">reiterated</a> this position in 2018: “These children arrive at school without the words they need to communicate properly.” </p>
<p>This reductive argument poses that the solution to systemic inequalities but in giving marginalised children more, “better” words than what their families and communities provide them with. In other words, it blames not the socioeconomic system for failing these communities but the communities themselves for not having the right language and literacy practices.</p>
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<p>In one school, where management had subscribed to this kind of thinking, believing that it was in the best interests of marginalised children, I found that <a href="https://educationblog.oup.com/primary/why-closing-the-word-gap-matters-the-oxford-language-report">word-gap interventions</a> meant black working-class children were much more likely to have the way they speak categorised as deficient. Rather than developing their vocabulary, this strategy too resulted in children keeping quiet in lessons, internalising the idea that their language was <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405841.2019.1665411">not academic</a> enough. </p>
<h2>Challenging anti-black linguistic racism</h2>
<p>Educational linguists have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0020486710090509?journalCode=ueee20">consistently pointed out</a> that language hierarchies are not based on empirical fact but stem from institutional racism. As sociologists Remi Joseph-Salisbury and Derron Wallace put it, “speech codes and vernacular associated with black youth are seen as oppositional to, and disruptive of, academic orientations”. </p>
<p>To counter this, the teachers I collaborated with in my research designed new classroom materials that would, instead, affirm students’ voices. We worked with the black British writer <a href="https://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/benjamin-zephaniah">Benjamin Zephaniah</a>, using his 2020 novel Windrush Child and interviews he has given in which he talks about his experiences of having his language and racial identity policed. </p>
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<p>His experiences matched many of the students we worked with. For example, when asked to complete a linguistic profile of themselves, one student Joy, who, with Nigerian heritage speaks English and Yoruba, drew a portrait of herself with her mouth clamped shut. She was able to unpick how her Yoruba, previously, had been silenced in school. </p>
<p>Children were encouraged to interrogate the intersections of power, class and race which sees their own language stigmatised. Their discussions were also, crucially, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622408/we-want-to-do-more-than-survive-by-bettina-love/">joyful and full of love</a> for black language and culture. </p>
<p>Another teacher collaborated with parents and students on a new whole-school language policy, which insisted that black children are just as linguistically dexterous as their white peers and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Linguistic-Justice-Black-Language-Literacy-Identity-and-Pedagogy/Baker-Bell/p/book/9781138551022">emphasised</a> that there is no racial justice without linguistic justice. The first draft of the policy stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We do not believe in the existence of a word gap and wholly reject such deficit and racist descriptions of language. If a gap does exist, it exists in the way that people perceive language, rather than how they use it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Beliefs about language are <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/abs/unsettling-race-and-language-toward-a-raciolinguistic-perspective/30FFC5253F465905D75CDFF1C1363AE3">never just about language</a>. They reflect institutional power dynamics. As one black teacher I collaborated with put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We need to stop thinking that the way children speak is the problem, and start thinking about the way that adults listen as the problem</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cushing receives funding from the British Association of Applied Linguistics, the British Educational Research Association, and the Spencer Foundation. </span></em></p>Beliefs about language are never just about language. They reflect institutional power dynamics.Ian Cushing, Senior Lecturer in English and Education, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949812023-03-09T13:40:00Z2023-03-09T13:40:00ZNonprofits serving or led by people of color get less funding than similar groups led by white executive directors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513765/original/file-20230306-16-lztpzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C73%2C7824%2C3912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does systemic racism obstruct nonprofit fundraising?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/confident-african-american-businesswoman-against-royalty-free-image/1366567352?phrase=Black%20People&adppopup=true">Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Nonprofits that serve people of color or are led by nonwhite executive directors have a harder time getting the funding they need than other organizations, increasing their financial hardships.</p>
<p>That’s what we found when we surveyed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640221122812">more than 200 social services and arts nonprofits</a> across the U.S. that focus on the needs of particular racial and ethnic groups. We researched three kinds of organizations: those helping meet immigrants’ needs; those promoting different cultural heritages or preserving the traditions of particular ethnic groups; and <a href="https://www.internationalfolkart.org/learn/what-is-folk-art.html">folk arts</a> nonprofits. About one-third of those surveyed serve mainly white communities such as Irish Americans or Polish Americans, while the rest serve mainly people of color.</p>
<p>To measure the level of financial pressures these groups faced, we created an index, ranging from 0 to 18, with higher numbers indicating the biggest shortfalls. The average was 11 for all of the groups. However, we found that among comparable organizations, the index was an average of 1.8 points higher for nonprofits serving mostly nonwhite clients and 1.4 points higher for nonprofits led by nonwhite executive directors.</p>
<p>We also determined that the main reason for this disparity is that nonprofits led by or serving nonwhite people raise less revenue through both donations and grants – whether from the government, foundations or corporations.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we found that nonprofits serving primarily people of color while also being led by a nonwhite executive director didn’t have more trouble in this regard compared with those organizations in one of these categories or the other.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Our findings underscore the severity of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1635192">some of the structural barriers</a> faced by nonprofits that serve people of color or are led by people of color.</p>
<p>And we believe that these patterns along racial and ethnic lines could make it harder for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mus061">nonprofits to fill gaps</a> in the services not fully provided by the government and companies – particularly for organizations serving marginalized communities.</p>
<p>Because white leaders are <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/nonprofit-trends-and-impacts-2021">overrepresented in the nonprofit sector</a>, relative to the overall workforce, as is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/09/us/powerful-people-race-us.html">the case in general</a>, we believe that the trend we have identified may make it harder for nonwhite leaders to succeed and build their careers. </p>
<p>We also are confident that these findings are indicative of typical funding patterns, even though our sample included proportionally more groups led by people of color than is the norm in the nonprofit sector.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We have begun to research whether the racial identity of a group’s leaders or their clients is tied to lower levels of funding for other kinds of nonprofits that tend to rely more heavily on private contributions than those covered in this study.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mirae Kim is a visiting scholar at Independent Sector and a non-paid board member at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bo Li does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of more than 200 social services and arts groups points to the severity of structural barriers.Mirae Kim, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Studies, George Mason UniversityBo Li, Doctoral Candidate in Nonprofit Management, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981032023-01-23T12:26:20Z2023-01-23T12:26:20ZPrince Harry is wrong: unconscious bias is not different to racism<p>When Prince Harry <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-08/harrys-first-interview-about-controversial-memoir-airs-on-itv">sat down</a> with ITV journalist Tom Bradby for a conversation about his marriage, his estrangement from the royal family and his tell-all memoir, Spare, one particular segment stood out. Bradby said that Harry had accused some members of his family of racism, but Harry shook his head firmly. </p>
<p>“The difference between racism and unconscious bias,” he said, “the two things are different.” He went on to argue that unconscious bias could become racism if it was pointed out to the perpetrator they did nothing about it.</p>
<p>The exchange between Harry and Bradby has prompted widespread debate. In <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/prince-harry-spare-unconscious-bias-racism">op-eds</a>, on <a href="https://twitter.com/SholaMos1/status/1612719519792828416?s=20&t=G2x2Sxp8l2lv5G_hhFrDOg">TV</a>, and on <a href="https://twitter.com/jasebyjason/status/1612216833410584576?s=20&t=G2x2Sxp8l2lv5G_hhFrDOg">Twitter</a>, people have rightly questioned whether Harry’s family members really were unaware of their own biases, whether it mattered, and whether their views could be disconnected from racism.</p>
<p>When a person expresses racial bias, then that bias, conscious or not, is racism. But racism won’t be overcome simply by pointing out unconscious bias. Instead, anti-racism means challenging the systems and institutions that have made racism “common sense”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bridal couple in an open-topped carriage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505590/original/file-20230120-22-mhk8a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harry has repeatedly condemned the racist media coverage Meghan has received.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/windsor-berkshire-united-kingdom-may-19th-1096947959">Blueskynet</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Testing for unconscious bias</h2>
<p>This is not the first time Harry has appealed to the concept of unconscious bias in order to explain individual behaviour. In September 2019, he <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/prince-harry-jane-goodall-september-2019-issue">said</a>: “The way that you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view – unconscious point of view – where naturally you will look at someone in a different way.”</p>
<p>Harry isn’t the first to claim that unconscious bias can be challenged, either. From the Labour Party leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/06/keir-starmer-to-sign-up-for-unconscious-bias-training-amid-criticism">Keir Starmer</a> to accountancy firm <a href="https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/practice/people/kpmg-staff-to-receive-compulsory-unconscious-bias-training">KPMG</a>, prominent people and institutions routinely respond to charges of racism by pledging to combat unconscious bias.</p>
<p>The concept of unconscious bias has its origins in psychology. In 1995, US psychologists Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1995-17407-001">argued</a> that unconscious attitudes and stereotypes shaped people’s understandings and, in turn, their actions. They said that a child growing up in a racist society – with racially segregated neighbourhoods and schools, racist depictions in the media and parents and teachers propagating racial stereotypes – will internalise racism without realising it. They would then go on to express racist views unconsciously.</p>
<p>Building on this idea, in 1998, Banaji and Greenwald worked with social-cognitive psychologist Brian Nosek to develop the implicit association test (IAT). This has since become a popular tool in classrooms and corporate diversity <a href="http://wilbankspartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/The-Big-Business-of-Unconscious-Bias-The-New-York-Times.pdf">training</a>. On the IAT <a href="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/user/uk/uk.static/takeatest.html">website</a>, users can test their unconscious bias with regard to a wide array of categories, ranging from race and gender to ability and nationality. </p>
<p>The concept has gained further traction in the fields of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/220/Supplement_2/S62/5552356">medicine</a>, <a href="https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/emlj58&section=43&casa_token=8YBDhyIo_wcAAAAA:Cq0OdWkhJzEivOYbKqV-_NgYUxgpNngQDBkVtEbQ1uBPx3qRHSUYysrfuNd9t6IYJODELegENg">law</a> and <a href="https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Unconscious-Bias_Ed-Leadership.pdf">education</a>. </p>
<h2>What unconscious bias doesn’t tell us</h2>
<p>The appeal of the IAT and the concept itself lies in its simple design. As a tool, it demonstrates just how widely held racist attitudes are –- particularly among people who are not conscious of holding them.</p>
<p>It is, however, precisely this simplicity that makes the concept inadequate. The IAT presents users with a succession of words and images, including the names and faces of Black and white people, and asks them to categorise them as “good” or “bad”, as quickly as possible. The user then receives a score, which shows their level of unconscious bias. </p>
<p>Left out of this test is any analysis of where users’ associations might have originated. Research has long shown that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306396801432002">institutional racism</a> pervades society at every level, from <a href="https://pure.northampton.ac.uk/en/publications/institutional-racism-in-the-academy-a-case-study">education</a> and the <a href="https://web.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=21527857&AN=92734614&h=grwN1fpVhTsst44bDSbg1MxDRZyfteqw1K%2bxL2Pyu0TqO%2f6yRl1h5zGNi4CaD5T2yr%2f7GhCiQmxLDGUh%2bCgFsw%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d21527857%26AN%3d92734614">media</a> to the <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmhaff/139/13911.htm">justice</a> and <a href="https://www.nhsrho.org/news/new-review-calls-for-radical-action-on-stark-ethnic-inequalities-across-healthcare/">healthcare</a> systems. </p>
<p>When Harry states that members of his family hold unconscious bias, he does not situate this within the larger context of institutional racism. This is particularly concerning when we consider who, exactly, he is talking about. </p>
<p>The royal family is the institution at the heart of power in Britain. Members of this family derive their <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lucy-worsley-historic-royal-palaces-review-slave-trade-kensington-palace-tower-of-london-hampton-court-b1391904.html">wealth</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/17/commonwealth-british-empire-britain-black-brown-people">international status</a> from political and social institutions that are the product of racism and colonialism. But ascribing only unconscious bias to these family members ignores these institutional roots. It reduces racial prejudice to the conscious, deliberate attitudes of individuals. </p>
<p>Further, for people on the sharp end of racist violence, it matters little whether the people responsible were conscious of their attitudes and actions or not. Unconscious bias only makes sense from the vantage point of the perpetrator. Black people face the same detrimental consequences, regardless of whether the perpetrators of racism are conscious of their bias or not. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843483/">Doctors</a> prescribe fewer painkillers to Black patients than to white patients, even though they report similar levels of pain. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/15/bame-offenders-most-likely-to-be-jailed-for-drug-offences-research-reveals">Judges</a> hand down custodial sentences for Black and Asian offenders that are 1.5 times longer than for white offenders. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/banks-biased-against-black-fraud-victims-237z7rxvm">Bankers</a> are twice as likely to deny compensation to Black fraud victims as they are to white victims.</p>
<p>Unconscious bias is useful as a tool for helping people who think racism is irrelevant to them – that is, people who hold power in a racist society – to understand that their biases are the product of institutional racism. But suggesting that unconscious bias is somehow less harmful than racism posits the latter as something only to be overcome at the individual level. The institutions that made racism possible, and, crucially, the people on the sharp end of its effects, remain invisible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198103/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan Tinsley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When a person expresses racial bias, then that bias, conscious or not, is racism.Meghan Tinsley, Presidential Fellow in Ethnicity and Inequalities, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1915212022-11-04T17:06:02Z2022-11-04T17:06:02ZHow can black people feel safe and have confidence in policing?<p>The <a href="https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/statement-read-out-opening-inquest-death-chris-kaba">inquest</a> into the death of Chris Kaba opened on October 4 2022. Kaba, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed in Streatham Hill, south London on September 5 2022 by a Metropolitan police officer. </p>
<p>Whatever the outcome of this inquest, the feelings it has evoked in black communities are all too familiar. Kaba’s death comes in the wake of recent, high-profile cases that have severely shaken the trust many black people have in the police throughout the UK. These include the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-is-at-the-heart-of-racism-in-britain-so-why-is-it-portrayed-as-a-black-problem-181742">strip-search of Child Q</a> in London, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dalian-atkinson-manslaughter-conviction-for-pc-but-justice-for-police-violence-remains-elusive-163457">manslaughter of Dalian Atkinson</a> in Telford, and in Bristol, <a href="https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/judah-adunbi-the-long-battle-for-justice/">the tasering of Judah Adunbi</a>, a respected community elder and former police race relations advisor. </p>
<p>It also sits alongside shocking statistics concerning the disproportionate use of force, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-strip-searches-not-a-matter-of-public-debate-in-the-uk-186515">stop and search</a>, against racialised minorities.</p>
<h2>How disproportionate policing impacts black communities</h2>
<p>In 2019-2020, black people in England and Wales were <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/disproportionate-use-of-police-powers-a-spotlight-on-stop-and-search-and-the-use-of-force/">5.7 times</a> more likely to have force used on them than white people, and nine times more likely to have Tasers drawn against them. In the same year, people from racialised minorities in England and Wales were 4.1 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. For black people, this figure rises to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/27/black-people-nine-times-more-likely-to-face-stop-and-search-than-white-people">8.9 times</a>. </p>
<p>Most police forces <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/disproportionate-use-of-police-powers-a-spotlight-on-stop-and-search-and-the-use-of-force/link">cannot adequately explain</a> this disproportionality – despite His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services issuing repeated instructions for them to improve their record-keeping. </p>
<p>Context is everything. If disproportionate policing is to be effectively tackled, it is vital to truly understand the depth of the fear and hurt it creates and the impact it has on the daily lives of people. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/law/news/2022/clare-torrible-policing-law-i-am-judah.html">My involvement</a> in a new documentary about Judah Adunbi’s experience at the hands of Bristol police has brought home to me the importance of recognising this context. The film, entitled <a href="https://www.facebook.com/iamjudahfilm">I am Judah</a>, depicts police officers tasering Adunbi in the face after mistaking him for another black man. It explores the criminal and misconduct process which exonerated both the officers involved. It also forms an active part of Adunbi’s fight for justice and change. </p>
<p>As a crowdfunded project, this documentary bears witness to the community’s outrage at the way Adunbi was treated, and the frustration people feel when the police are not held properly to account. It also speaks to the fear of ongoing harassment and arbitrary force that disproportionate policing engenders in communities. </p>
<h2>How police misconduct is assessed</h2>
<p>Central to these cases is how police behaviour is assessed and when it amounts to misconduct. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/4/made">Police regulations stipulate</a> that any use of force be “necessary, proportionate and reasonable in all the circumstances”. A crucial consideration here is whether what is “reasonable in all the circumstances” is judged objectively, or whether it is based on the officers’ honest belief at the time. </p>
<p>The court of appeal recently confirmed that it is for the misconduct tribunal to decide what was reasonable in all the circumstances. Until this ruling, officers’ honest belief was <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/RW80-v-APPROVED-JUDGMENT-SUMMARY-1.pdf">a more dominant factor</a>. </p>
<p>This is a significant decision. If the test of whether police use of force amounts to misconduct centres on what the officer honestly believed, it runs the risk of not taking into account <a href="https://theconversation.com/bias-be-gone-can-our-unconscious-prejudices-be-overcome-175636">unconscious bias</a>. </p>
<p>Mistaking one black man for another black man and then basing the use of force on that mistake is just one example of police behaviour that can be rooted in such bias. A misconduct system that permits honest mistakes to operate as a defence can then inadvertently reinforce that bias. In doing so, it not only means that the right lessons are not <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2020.1838516">learned by the police</a>. It also fails to reassure racialised communities that they will not be subjected to arbitrary use of force. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-police-in-england-and-wales-must-do-more-than-just-learn-lessons-179052">Research has repeatedly found</a> a defensive and uncooperative culture within the police in relation to allegations of wrongdoing. This coincides with a tendency for internal performance and misconduct processes to meticulously gather evidence, while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2016.1191486.">failing</a> to meaningfully challenge officers’ accounts of events. A system that focuses on officers’ honest belief only serves to support this tendency. </p>
<p>Police stakeholders are now appealing to the supreme court over the court of appeal’s ruling. They are seeking a return to the focus on officers’ honest belief, which is concerning. </p>
<p>The incoming Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley was appointed in September 2022, following <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-62839529">serious concerns</a> over police occupational culture. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/27/new-met-commissioner-declines-to-say-whether-force-is-institutionally-racist">His refusal</a> to confirm or deny a view on whether the Met is institutionally racist reinforces that concern.</p>
<p>For unconscious bias to be eradicated and the disproportionate policing it results in to be tackled, it is crucial the supreme court upholds the court of appeal’s decision. Without it, black communities’ fears will not be allayed and their confidence will not be restored.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Torrible does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For disproportionate policing to be effectively tackled, it is vital to understand the fear and hurt it creates.Clare Torrible, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1917112022-10-13T12:21:29Z2022-10-13T12:21:29ZIt’s taking more time to cast a ballot in US elections – and even longer for Black and Hispanic voters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488876/original/file-20221009-59000-q1tu3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1022%2C1107%2C5235%2C3068&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Voters line up at a polling station in Houston to cast their ballots during the Texas presidential primary on March 3, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/voters-line-up-at-a-polling-station-to-cast-their-ballots-news-photo/1204959570?phrase=2020%20election%20voting%20lines%20houston&adppopup=true">Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the November 2020 election brought out about 155 million voters. That represented 67% of Americans over 18, and it was the <a href="https://electionlab.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2021-09/Lessons-Learned-in-the-2020-Election.pdf">highest voter turnout of any modern election</a>.</p>
<p>Americans also set records in the percent and number of people <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2020-early-voting-data-continues-hit-record-numbers/story?id=73701061">voting early</a> and <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/what-methods-did-people-use-to-vote-in-2020-election.html">by mail</a>, continuing a decadeslong trend away from voting only on election day.</p>
<p>That was the good news.</p>
<p>The 2020 elections also saw record numbers of Americans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/04/upshot/voting-wait-times.html">forced to wait longer to vote</a>, partly because of the increased number of voters and the difficulties of safely voting during a lethal pandemic. Tellingly, as in <a href="http://websites.umich.edu/%7Elawrace/disenfranchise1.htm">the past</a>, if you waited over 30 minutes to cast a vote, you were more likely to be a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/04/upshot/voting-wait-times.html">low-income Black American</a>. </p>
<p>Since 2012, when more than <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2015/01/22/the-presidential-commission-on-election-administration-1-year-later">5 million Americans</a> were forced to wait longer than an hour to cast their ballots, long waits have become a visible indicator of voting problems.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.eac.gov/news/2014/01/22/presidential-commission-election-administration-presents-recommendations-president#:%7E:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20Jan.,experience%20in%20casting%20their%20ballots.">Presidential Commission on Election Administration</a> stated in 2014 that <a href="http://web.mit.edu/supportthevoter/www/files/2014/01/Amer-Voting-Exper-final-draft-01-09-14-508.pdf">“No citizen should have to wait more than 30 minutes to vote</a>.” </p>
<p>Eight years later, that goal is further away than before. Where you are and who you are significantly affect how long it will take you to vote. As well as demanding more time and commitment – including arrangements for child care if needed – long waits can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7438211/">discourage future voting</a>. </p>
<h2>Increasing wait times</h2>
<p><a href="http://electionlab.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2020-12/How-we-voted-in-2020-v01.pdf">Average waits</a> nationally increased to 14.3 minutes in 2020 from 10.4 minutes in 2016, a 40% jump. These waits were concentrated in poorer neighborhoods with a higher percentage of nonwhite voters.</p>
<p>A further indication that waiting is a growing problem was its <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/epdf/10.1089/elj.2022.0041">addition in 2022 to the voting inconvenience category</a> by the <a href="https://costofvotingindex.com/">Cost of Voting Index</a> project, which measures the ease or difficulty of voting in individual states.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hundreds of people dressed in winter jackets wait in line to vote." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488875/original/file-20221009-58641-jav3jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hundreds of voters wait in line at an early voting site in Farmingville, N.Y., on Oct. 27, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/hundreds-of-voters-wait-in-line-to-vote-at-the-early-voting-news-photo/1283547806?phrase=2020%20election%20voting%20lines%20US&adppopup=true">John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the great majority of Americans waited only a few minutes to vote in 2020, a significant minority did not. </p>
<p>One in 7 voters – 14.3% – waited longer than the 30-minute 2014 goal set by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, compared with 1 in 12 – 8.3% – in 2016. And 1 in 16 voters – <a href="https://costofvotingindex.com/data">6.3%</a> – surveyed by the <a href="https://electionlab.mit.edu/">MIT Election Data Science Lab</a> waited over an hour. </p>
<p><a href="https://costofvotingindex.com/data">Twelve states</a> – including Alabama, Georgia, New York, Indiana and Maryland – exceeded that average. In 2020, Delaware voters reported the <a href="https://medium.com/mit-election-lab/how-we-voted-in-2020-8534ee1f30ea">highest average wait</a> at 35 minutes – up strikingly from 5 minutes in 2016. South Carolina had the second-longest wait at 30 minutes, up from its nation-leading 20 minutes in 2016. </p>
<p>But the time spent waiting in line to cast a ballot is only the most visible cost of voting. </p>
<p>The full cost not only includes the actual vote, but also the time and effort of registration, staying registered and the nonpartisan counting and administration of the vote. Most <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-faith-and-the-honor-of-partisan-election-officials-used-to-be-enough-to-ensure-trust-in-voting-results-but-not-anymore-189510">election administration officials</a> are partisan figures, though they are expected to <a href="https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/news/peace_publications/democracy/new-models-keeping-partisans-out-election-admin-013122.pdf">administer the election</a> in a nonpartisan manner.</p>
<h2>Partisan voting laws</h2>
<p>Political parties are using the voting process itself as a way to gain advantage.</p>
<p>Researchers have found a <a href="https://electionlab.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2021-07/pomante-esra-2021.pdf">correlation</a> between the number of Republican legislators in a state and the greater the cost to vote will be <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/patterns-introduction-and-passage-restrictive-voting-bills-are-best">disproportionately to Black voters</a>. </p>
<p>In at least one state, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4497">Florida</a> from 2004 to 2016, as the number of Democratic voters increased in a county, so did the number of voters per poll worker, thus increasing the potential for waiting and other delays. </p>
<p>Strict voter identification laws appear to <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/716282">disproportionately affect minority voters</a> but not overall voter turnout, although <a href="https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voter-identification">the full impact of these laws remains uncertain</a>.</p>
<p>In 2021-22, 21 states passed <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-october-2022">42 laws making voting more difficult</a>. Some of those laws include imposing new photo ID requirements, limiting Election Day registration and requiring voters to provide identification numbers when they apply to vote by mail.</p>
<p>On the other side, 25 states passed 62 laws making voting easier. In June 2022, for example, New York Governor Kathy Hochul <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-landmark-john-r-lewis-voting-rights-act-new-york-law">signed into law</a> the landmark <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S1046">John Lewis Voting Rights Act</a> that created new legal protections against voter suppression, vote dilution and voter intimidation.</p>
<p>Despite the greater number of bills that made voting easier, the restrictive laws were more encompassing, often rolling back successful pandemic-based efforts to encourage early and absentee voting. Despite research showing <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2007249117">no partisan advantage</a> to early and absentee voting, restrictive laws were passed <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/10/26/voter-suppression-or-voter-expansion-whats-happening-and-does-it-matter/">primarily in Republican states</a> and expansive laws primarily in Democratic states. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A gigantic banner with the words Early Voting hangs on a wall above dozens of people waiting to vote." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488877/original/file-20221009-66750-19zbt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Voters line up inside State Farm Arena, Georgia’s largest early voting location, for the first day of early voting in the general election on Oct. 12, 2020, in Atlanta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/voters-line-up-inside-of-state-farm-arena-georgias-largest-news-photo/1229030627?phrase=2020%20election%20voting%20lines%20Georgia&adppopup=true">Jessica McGowan/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A question of fairness</h2>
<p>The effect of these laws on turnout is <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-states-are-making-it-harder-to-vote-some-are-making-it-easier-but-its-too-soon-to-say-if-this-will-affect-voter-turnout-in-2022-176102">uncertain</a>, especially if they inspire a <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w25522">“backlash mobilization” or civic education efforts</a>. Lawsuits may block some laws. In early October 2022, a Montana state judge <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/us/politics/montana-lifts-voting-restrictions.html">deemed three laws unconstitutional</a> – one that required additional identification if voting with a student ID, another that halted third-party ballot collection and a third that banned same-day voter registration. </p>
<p>The last two laws would have <a href="https://dailymontanan.com/2022/09/30/judge-strikes-down-three-montana-voting-laws-as-unconstitutional/">adversely affected Native Americans</a>, who might live 50 miles from a polling place. </p>
<p>In September 2021, the GOP-controlled Texas legislature passed <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/01/texas-voting-bill-greg-abbott/">a new election law </a> that restricted early voting, tightened absentee voting, instituted new rules for voter assistance and added criminal penalties for some violations. </p>
<p>One ramification occurred during the 2022 primary, when Texas election officials <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/06/texas-mail-in-ballot-rejection-voting/">rejected over 12% of absentee ballots</a>, a huge increase from the normal 1% to 2%. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/06/texas-mail-in-ballot-rejection-voting/">rejections equally affected voters</a> in Republican and Democratic Texas primaries, strict rules about who could vote absentee meant most of those disqualified voters were <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/06/texas-mail-in-ballot-rejection-voting/">over 65 or had disabilities</a>. </p>
<p>Depending on who was the majority party, Texas Democratic and Republican politicians have long led the nation in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting">making voting difficult</a> for Black citizens since the end of the Civil War, and more recently once Republicans gained power in the 1980s.</p>
<p>In 2020, Republican Governor Greg Abbott <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/27/texas-voting-elections-mail-in-drop-off/">restricted ballot drop boxes</a> to only one per county, giving the 4.7 million people in the 1,778 square miles of Harris County, which is <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/harriscountytexas">20.3% Black</a>, the same ability to drop off their ballot as the 10,500 people in the 275 square miles of Franklin County, which is <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/franklincountytexas">4.8% Black</a>. </p>
<p>Before the ban, Harris County intended to <a href="https://lawyerscommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Texas-Drop-Boxes.pdf">provide 11 ballot boxes</a> for easier access. Abbott claimed he was increasing ballot security, but the reality was that he increased the difficulty for city dwellers, <a href="https://citymonitor.ai/government/the-urban-rural-divide-only-deepened-in-the-2020-us-election">who increasingly lean Democratic</a> and nonwhite, to vote. </p>
<p>Perhaps the country’s most restrictive election law, <a href="https://vote.cae.gatech.edu/get-informed/sb202-election-integrity-act-2021">Georgia’s Election Integrity Act of 2021</a>, reduced mail and early voting while making the State Election Board a more political office. Fulton County, the largest county with over a million people <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fultoncountygeorgia">and is 44.7% Black</a>, will be <a href="https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/registration-and-elections/sb-202-changes">limited to eight ballot drop boxes</a> – all indoors – instead of the usual 38 outdoor drop boxes. In addition, the law banned the county from using mobile voting buses. </p>
<p>Media attention, however, focused on <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/food-and-water-ban-at-the-polls-upheld-in-georgia-elections/XQVWU5KSXFC4JN7JLKSBKV2LSI/">a ban on offering food or water to voters</a> within 150 feet of a polling place or within 25 feet of voters waiting in line. An exception was made for poll workers and election judges who can provide water to voters.</p>
<p>Just as some nonprofits have helped states <a href="https://civicdesign.org/fieldguides/accessible-forms-print-pdf/">improve the clarity and legibility of their ballots</a>, so too could similar nonpartisan expertise of <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/long-waiting-times-voting-put-democracy-line/">resource optimization and supply chain management improve the administration of elections</a>.</p>
<p>Like other state governments, Georgia could minimize the time needed to vote if it provided the resources, training and communication to its staff that administers elections, and thus encourage American citizens to exercise their ability to vote. </p>
<p>“A cornerstone of our election process is fundamental fairness,” Matthew Weil, the <a href="https://bipartisanpolicy.org/policy-area/elections/">Bipartisan Policy Center Elections Project</a> director, stated. “If different people are experiencing the election system, the voting experience, quite unequally, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/04/upshot/voting-wait-times.html">that’s a problem</a> – full stop.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Coopersmith is a Democrat and has contributed to numerous campaigns, causes, and organizations, including the Brennan Center. He prefers to vote early.</span></em></p>A 2014 US Presidential Commission set a guideline that voters should not have to wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballots. In some voting districts, it’s taking longer than an hour.Jonathan Coopersmith, Professor of History, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908332022-09-20T01:56:33Z2022-09-20T01:56:33ZPolice texts in Kumanjayi Walker case another sordid example of systemic racism in Australia’s legal system<p><em>This article contains information on deaths in custody, racist language and violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian justice system. It also contains references to and the names of people who have passed away.</em></p>
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<p>The three-month coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker’s death in police custody began on September 5 at the Alice Springs Local Court. </p>
<p>During an attempted arrest, 19-year-old Warlpiri teenager Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot on November 9 2019 by Northern Territory police constable Zachary Rolfe. In March 2022, Rolfe was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/11/zachary-rolfe-found-not-guilty-of-over-kumanjayi-walker-fatal-shooting">acquitted of murder</a>, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.</p>
<p>Last week, the inquest heard details of several <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/14/racist-and-disgusting-inquest-into-kumanjayi-walker-death-hears-of-shocking-texts-sent-by-zachary-rolfe">text messages</a> between Rolfe and other members of the NT police, including officers in more senior positions than Rolfe.</p>
<p>The texts contain derogatory and racist comments about Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>Racism among police will come as little surprise to many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indeed, systemic racism is entrenched in Australia’s legal system. </p>
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<h2>Racist texts are relevant for this inquest</h2>
<p>Rolfe’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-13/nt-walker-inquest-rolfe-texts-examined-ex-fiance-witness/101432856">lawyers had objected</a> to the inclusion of text messages between police officers downloaded from his phone after his arrest. But this was rejected by Coroner Elisabeth Armitage, who ruled the text messages should be examined by the inquest as potential evidence of racism playing a “conscious or unconscious” role in Walker’s death. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-432-indigenous-deaths-in-custody-since-1991-no-one-has-ever-been-convicted-racist-silence-and-complicity-are-to-blame-139873">Despite 432 Indigenous deaths in custody since 1991, no one has ever been convicted. Racist silence and complicity are to blame</a>
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<p>That ruling was in contrast to Rolfe’s March 2022 trial, at which Supreme Court Justice John Burns ruled the text messages to be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-18/zachary-rolfe-text-messages-supreme-court-supression/100921248">inadmissable</a>. </p>
<p>In the opening week of the inquest, Peggy Dwyer, counsel assisting the coroner, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/zachary-rolfe-texts-left-off-evidence-summary-at-kumanjayi-walker-inquest/xd756c6l8">said</a>: “some of those text messages do suggest negative attitudes towards Aboriginal people that should and will cause great concern”.</p>
<p>Dwyer also stated the importance of understanding where these racist attitudes were coming from, and if there was a way to prevent them, asking: “Is there a risk that if we don’t, those attitudes may lead again to deadly confrontation?”</p>
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<h2>Racist attitudes from police are nothing new</h2>
<p>Despite the media attention these racist text exchanges are now receiving, such racism is far from an isolated incident.</p>
<p>More than 30 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, systemic racism remains entrenched in the Australian legal system. Systemic racism refers to colonial structures that perpetuate white racial superiority across institutions, laws, police and practices which continue to disadvantage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.</p>
<p>More than 500 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people have <a href="https://www.nit.com.au/inquest-into-drowning-death-of-22yo-gomeroi-man-hears-police-laughing-and-swearing-on-video-after-incident/">died in custody</a> since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. No one has been held criminally responsible for any of these deaths.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-systemic-racism-and-institutional-racism-131152">Explainer: what is systemic racism and institutional racism?</a>
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<p>Police racially targeting Aboriginal people does not just happen in the NT. In Melbourne in 2020, Korey Penny said he was violently thrown from his bicycle by police who <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/aboriginal-man-accuses-police-of-violent-assault-and-racist-abuse-20200904-p55si9.html">subjected him to foulmouthed racist abuse</a>. Although it was <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/aboriginal-man-sues-over-alleged-police-brutality-after-bike-light-arrest-20210324-p57dmq.html">reported</a> Penny is pursuing court action, it’s unknown whether he has reached an outcome.</p>
<p>In the same year, three South Australian police officers were filmed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/16/south-australia-police-investigate-video-appearing-officers-striking-indigenous-man">violently arresting a 28-year-old Aboriginal man</a>. And just last week, a 14-year-old Aboriginal boy was taken to hospital in New South Wales with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/nsw-police-review-incident-teen-boy-hospitalised-coraki/101446068">lacerations to his head</a>. The boy’s family allege the head injuries were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/16/nsw-police-to-review-arrest-that-left-14-year-old-boys-face-covered-in-blood">caused by the violent arrest</a> and excessive use of force by police.</p>
<p>Holding police accountable for violence, excessive use of force and systemic racism must involve an active approach to addressing police culture and dehumanising behaviours. The current investigative process, in which police conduct internal investigations of wrongdoing, is simply not working. The oversight of an external global body into systemic racism and police would be best placed, rather than police investigating police.</p>
<p>However, this coronial inquest is at least an improvement on internal police investigations, as the investigative process involves Walker’s family members’ questions being answered, and keeps them informed as far as practicable. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-kumanjayi-walker-murder-case-echoes-a-long-history-of-police-violence-against-first-nations-people-179289">The Kumanjayi Walker murder case echoes a long history of police violence against First Nations people</a>
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<p>The acceptance and dismissal of racist language makes it easier for discriminatory behaviour to continue. Addressing systemic racism must go beyond further training and education for police. </p>
<p>Until colonial governments acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and are held accountable for it, Aboriginal people will never see just outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Newitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Until authorities acknowledge systemic racism and are held responsible for it, Aboriginal people will never see equity or just outcomes.Robyn Newitt, Lecturer, Criminology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878712022-07-29T16:01:06Z2022-07-29T16:01:06ZScottish cricket has long had a race problem – time to build a better culture in the sport<p>Scottish cricket has been found to be institutionally racist following the <a href="https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/7801/changing-the-boundaries-independent-review-into-racism-in-scottish-cricket-report.pdf">Changing the Boundaries report</a> published by Plan4Sport on July 25. The governing board of <a href="http://www.cricketscotland.com/">Cricket Scotland</a> resigned ahead of the report’s publication and issued an apology to anyone who had experienced any kind of discrimination.</p>
<p>The independent report, commissioned by <a href="https://sportscotland.org.uk/about-us/">Sport Scotland</a>, identified a lack of diversity at all levels of the organisational structure of Cricket Scotland, inadequate systems to report instances of racism and a lack of transparency in its talent selection processes. The report found that Cricket Scotland failed on 29 out of the 31 indicators of institutional racism. </p>
<p>A total of 448 examples of racism were analysed in the review. And inn a survey study conducted as part of the inquiry, a total of 62% of respondents had experienced, seen or reported incidents of racism or discrimination, with 34% having experienced racism personally.</p>
<p>Evidence also highlighted discrimination experienced on the grounds of gender and religion. Most worryingly, where racist discrimination was evident, 41% of respondents took no action because they had little or no confidence that it would be managed by Cricket Scotland, the regional association or their club.</p>
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<h2>Calling out institutional racism</h2>
<p>The Met Police were famously found to be institutionally racist by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/22/macpherson-report-what-was-it-and-what-impact-did-it-have">Stephen Lawrence inquiry</a> in 1993. Sir William Macpherson described institutional racism as “the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.” </p>
<p>At the end of last year, Azeem Rafiq <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/14/azeem-rafiq-profile-from-england-hopeful-to-revealing-crickets-racism">made headlines</a> when he told MPs about racism he had experienced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. In Scotland, players Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh were inspired by Rafiq and also <a href="https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/cricket-racism-crisis/majid_haq_qasim_sheikh_cricket_scotland_institutional_racism.html">spoke out publicly</a> about the racism they have faced in their long careers playing at an elite level. Haq <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/11/majid-haq-sent-home-scotland-racial-accusation-cricket-world-cup">was sent home from the 2015 World Cup</a> after calling out the discrimination he had experienced.</p>
<p>In order to raise awareness of the prevalence of racism in Scottish cricket the <a href="http://www.runningoutracism.org/">Running Out Racism</a> (ROR) campaign was set-up in 2021. I spoke to two of the founding members, Ammar Ashraf and Raza Sadiq, to get their views on the report and the future of the game.</p>
<p>Ashraf previously worked for Cricket Scotland but told me had left his job after feeling isolated and ignored by senior management after raising concerns about racism he witnessed within the organisation. In particular, he was concerned by the selection bias he saw from coaches at performance training:</p>
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<p>I’ve been at performance training and a lot of the coaches spend most of the time with the white children and not the Asian children. They are often just left hanging about themselves in these situations. When I’ve challenged that I’ve been fobbed off.</p>
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<p>But he also said that he is hopeful for the future of the game, “now Cricket Scotland is out of the denial phase, and it’s out in the open”.</p>
<p>Raza Sadiq is CEO of the <a href="https://activelifeclub.org/what-we-do/">Active Life Club</a>, a sports charity which uses sport as a tool for promoting anti-racism in the southside of Glasgow. Sadiq witnessed racism in his long experience of playing in the <a href="https://wdcu.co.uk/">Western District Cricket Union</a>. He told me that racism was rife at a club level:</p>
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<p>People were swearing and spitting, calling names … they introduced a new system where you had to bring a printed page with each player’s photograph and name before you went on the field. They had a sample sheet with different pictures and names. For one guy, a Pakastani guy with a beard, they wrote underneath Osama Bin Laden. They said it was just banter.</p>
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<p>Sadiq believes that the recent revelations will inspire others to speak out:</p>
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<p>Now more and more people are coming out, which is a good thing. Before it was suppressed, there was a fear of “What are they going to do to me? What are they going to say to me?” Now the evidence is out … more and more people want to tell their story … This is how we change things.“</p>
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<h2>Doing better in future</h2>
<p>Following the recommendations of the inquiry a new Cricket Scotland board must be in place by September 2022 and consist of a minimum gender balance of 40% male and 40% female, with 25% of board members coming from an ethnic minority.</p>
<p>Cricket Scotland must come up with a plan to implement the recommendations of the report, a process which could take years. Already, other sports in Scotland are taking inspiration from the findings to ensure more inclusive selection processes and introduce strict penalties for those found to have engaged in racist behaviour.</p>
<p>The findings of the inquiry again confirm that the often repeated ”<a href="https://www.luath.co.uk/politics-and-current-issues/no-problem-here-racism-in-scotland">no problem here</a>“ narrative regarding racism in Scotland is far from the truth. These findings can help ignite a long overdue national conversation about the prevalence of racism in Scotland and prompt proper measures to redress institutionally racist practices.</p>
<p>Sport does not exist in a vacuum and is just one arena where we can identify institutional racism. The courageous testimonies of these cricket players should encourage us all to do better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187871/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Nicolson receives funding from the European Commission funded Horizon 2020 project D.Rad.</span></em></p>Disturbing findings of a new report reveal the extent of racism in Scottish cricket.Marcus Nicolson, PhD Candidate, Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838532022-05-30T15:23:23Z2022-05-30T15:23:23ZThe police won’t acknowledge institutional racism in their race action plan – here’s why that matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465709/original/file-20220527-23-z0qxh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C91%2C8635%2C5683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rear-view-metropolitan-police-officers-wearing-1207902019">Ian_Stewart / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In light of racially disproportionate <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-and-search-disproportionately-affects-black-communities-yet-police-powers-are-being-extended-165477">stop and search practices</a>, the case of <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-people-are-often-associated-with-deviance-but-i-never-understood-the-true-impact-until-i-was-racially-profiled-179259">Child Q</a> and other <a href="https://theconversation.com/cressida-dick-has-resigned-but-the-met-polices-problems-are-bigger-than-one-person-177001">accusations of misconduct</a>, police in England and Wales are under pressure to address racism in their ranks. But their plan to do this through changes such as mandatory anti-racism training for all officers refuses to accept that the service itself is institutionally racist. </p>
<p>This is not just semantics. Barrister Abimbola Johnson, chair of an independent board overseeing police plans for race equality, advised that police forces must publicly accept that the label of institutional racism <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/12/uk-police-leaders-debate-public-admission-institutional-racism">still applies</a>. Without this admission, any promised reforms risk being dismissed by Black communities with low levels of trust in the police. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://assets.college.police.uk/s3fs-public/Police-Race-Action-Plan.pdf">race action plan</a>, published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing, acknowledges racial disparities in stop and search and apologises for the “racism, discrimination and bias” that still exists within policing. But it avoids describing the police as institutionally racist, an omission which effectively rejects the findings of the 1999 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf">Macpherson report</a>. </p>
<p>Commissioned after the 1993 murder of Black British teenager Stephen Lawrence, the report is arguably the most influential public inquiry on police behaviour to date. Its findings set the stage for a number of reforms on tackling racist crime, recruiting and retaining Black officers, and independent investigation of complaints against the police. </p>
<p>It defined institutional racism as “the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin”. </p>
<p>The new action plan acknowledges police shortcomings in this regard, but avoids accepting the label of institutional racism. The plan commits the police to becoming an “institutionally anti-racist organisation”. But it is not clear how this is achievable while chief constables dismiss institutional racism as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/24/not-up-to-black-officers-to-solve-police-racism-says-barrister-as-plan-launched">a label that can be quite divisive</a>”.</p>
<p>Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, concluded: “It is unclear how their plan could deliver actions to something policing did not truly believe is real.”</p>
<h2>Landmark reports</h2>
<p>The question of whether the police are institutionally racist has been debated for years, such as during the 1971 trial of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08vy19b">Mangrove Nine</a>. The trial, which acquitted Black British activists of incitement to riot charges from an anti-police protest the year before, was the first time the British judicial system acknowledged racial prejudice in the police.</p>
<p>Ten years later, a public inquiry concluded that anti-police uprisings in England were linked to widespread racial discrimination and aggressive policing. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631579.stm">The Scarman report</a> made a number of recommendations to make the police more accountable, but concluded that “‘Institutional racism’ does not exist in Britain.”</p>
<p>Little actually changed after Scarman’s report. Many of the recommendations were either ignored or <a href="https://www.racearchive.org.uk/rearranging-the-social-kaleidoscope-looking-back-at-the-1981-moss-side-disturbances/">not effectively implemented</a>.</p>
<p>The conversation shifted in 1999, after a public inquiry, chaired by Sir William Macpherson, into Lawrence’s murder in 1993. The inquiry concluded there had been a failure of leadership by senior Met officials and numerous examples of professional incompetence in the police investigation that followed.</p>
<p>Most notably, the Macpherson report concluded that the Met was “institutionally racist”. Macpherson made 70 recommendations, of which 67 were implemented fully or in part <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2019-0052/">over the following years</a>.</p>
<p>Like Scarman, Macpherson refused to recommend ending police use of stop and search, contending it is “required for the prevention and detection of crime”. This is despite <a href="https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/does-stop-and-search-reduce-crime">ample evidence</a> that stop and search is discriminatory and ineffective. There was a brief reduction in stop and searches around the time of the inquiry, but it <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/ehrc_stop_and_search_report.pdf">soon returned to similar levels of racial inequality</a>.</p>
<h2>Understanding institutional racism</h2>
<p>Remedies that Scarman and others had proposed – such as changes in police training or education – focused on individual wrongdoing rather than broader structural issues.</p>
<p>Macpherson, on the other hand, understood institutional racism as a more pervasive issue, where racism is a product of how that institution “normally” functions. This is key to his support of the argument that racism cannot be addressed with responses targeted at extracting or educating “bad apples”.</p>
<p>The new action plan proposes mandatory training to equip police with the knowledge and skills to actively tackle racism within the service and society. But unless police culture and wider societal attitudes change, it is unlikely that anti-racist training as proposed for individual officers will <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/10/workplace-diversity-training-does-it-work-racial-justice">have much impact</a>. </p>
<h2>Where are we after Macpherson?</h2>
<p>One reason Macpherson’s inquiry had deeper understandings of institutional racism was the involvement of Black people describing their experiences of it. As one Black activist summarised: “<a href="https://irr.org.uk/article/macpherson-and-after/">We taught Macpherson and Macpherson taught the world</a>”. But this lesson has not been acted on.</p>
<p>In the 23 years since Macpherson, there has been little evidence of fundamental changes in police organisational culture. Some critics argued that Macpherson’s generalised definition of institutional racism prevented progress. But there has also been a failure to situate the police within the broader structural racism of the state and institutions <a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-is-at-the-heart-of-racism-in-britain-so-why-is-it-portrayed-as-a-black-problem-181742">acting to maintain white supremacy</a>.</p>
<p>Ignoring institutional racism contributes to wider attempts to portray Britain as moving beyond race-based disparities. The government’s controversial 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities also rejected the idea that institutional racism exists within Britain. Halima Begum, the chief executive of race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, criticised this denial as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56585538">“deeply, deeply worrying”</a>. She argued that it ignored the realities of life in Britain and further added to mistrust of authorities.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/research-learning/Report_on_Metropolitan_police_Service.pdf">A 2013 report</a> by the independent police complaints watchdog concluded that the Met failed to deal with racist behaviour or to investigate complaints effectively. And, in 2019, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mcpherson-report-anniversary-how-much-has-the-metropolitan-police-changed-20-years-on_uk_5c6fe92be4b00eed08332c1b">the Met commissioner declared</a> the police were no longer institutionally racist – while also admitting it would take over 100 years for the police to be representative of the communities they serve.</p>
<p>In 2019, Macpherson commented that, while police had taken steps in the right direction, “there’s obviously a great deal more to be done”. Grand proclamations acknowledging institutional racism in itself may not make much difference to how these institutions function, but accepting its existence is a vital starting point.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183853/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Peplow has received funding from the AHRC and Institute of Historical Research.</span></em></p>A landmark report in 1999 concluded that the police were institutionally racist, but the new action plan fails to acknowledge it.Simon Peplow, Associate Professor in 20th Century British History, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1817422022-05-19T14:22:01Z2022-05-19T14:22:01ZWhiteness is at the heart of racism in Britain – so why is it portrayed as a Black problem?<p>In 2020, <a href="https://chscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Child-Q-PUBLISHED-14-March-22.pdf">two police officers</a> in Hackney strip-searched a 15-year-old Black girl at her school. Police conducted the search of this child, known as Child Q, without the consent of her parents, without an appropriate adult present (despite this being required by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984), and with the knowledge that she was menstruating. </p>
<p>The subsequent safeguarding review, held in March 2022, concluded that “racism (whether deliberate or not) was likely to have been an influencing factor in the decision to undertake a strip search.”</p>
<p>The fallout from the case of Child Q has followed a script that is all too familiar. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/29/we-must-all-tackle-the-systemic-racism-that-led-to-the-abuse-of-child-q">Anti-racist campaigners</a> have pointed to the incident as further evidence that racism remains a problem in contemporary Britain. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60873858">Teachers</a> at the school in question have expressed shock, reportedly claiming not to have known about the search. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60873858">The Metropolitan Police</a> has put the two officers directly involved on desk duty. </p>
<p>Each narrative, and each response, focuses squarely on Child Q and on the violence she suffered. There is a reason why this all seems so predictable. Discussions of racism in Britain centre around the experiences and traumas of Black people, but rarely on the perpetrators.</p>
<h2>How we talk about racism</h2>
<p>When we talk about incidents of racism, the focus – from both individuals and institutions – is often placed on the victim’s behaviour or background. </p>
<p>British police have routinely justified using stop and search more often against ethnic minority groups by incorrectly <a href="https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/foi-media/metropolitan-police/priorities_and_how_we_are_doing/corporate/frontline-policing---stop-and-search-recommendations">claiming</a> that crime and gang membership among these groups is higher. Research, however, shows that <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-spent-seven-years-observing-english-police-stop-and-search-heres-what-we-found-149563">racial bias</a> is at the root of this disproportionate use of stop and search: Black people in Britain are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/27/black-people-nine-times-more-likely-to-face-stop-and-search-than-white-people">nine times</a> more likely to be affected than white people.</p>
<p>Similarly, discussions around the higher <a href="https://covidandsociety.com/ethnic-inequalities-in-covid-19-acknowledge-multifaceted-influence-racism/">COVID death rates</a> among minority groups puts disproportionate focus on the health problems (vitamin D deficiency, diabetes) in the affected population groups. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-black-and-asian-people-at-greater-risk-of-coronavirus-heres-what-we-found-140584">Research shows</a>, however, that racism has been <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112305">a fundamental cause</a>. It explains why minority ethnic people were more likely to be in dangerous, frontline professions; unable to work from home; more likely to face unemployment and deprivation; and more likely to avoid contact with health professionals. Racism is multifaceted. </p>
<p>As writer and academic Gary Younge <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/16/systemic-racism-covid-gary-younge">put it</a>, “The virus does not discriminate on grounds of race. It didn’t need to. Society had done that already.” </p>
<h2>How we respond to racism</h2>
<p>When incidents of racism make the news, even activists and protesters emphasise, in response to each case, the victim’s innocence and vulnerability. In other words, the victim becomes the whole story: Black people themselves are depicted as the source of racism. American sociologist WEB Du Bois identified this impossible situation in 1897 – over a century ago – when he <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/">asked</a>, “How does it feel to be a problem?”</p>
<p>Left out of the discussion, every time, is whiteness. Black victims of racism are made hypervisible, while white perpetrators are kept invisible. There is power in this invisibility. Because white people are not racialised – they are seen as the default, and any other racial group is seen as “other” – their experiences are presented as those of individuals: race is not considered a factor in what they do. </p>
<p>When teachers referred Child Q to the police, they denied her the right to be taught and protected from harm. Instead, they treated her as a threat to other students, thereby effectively placing her outside of the educational institution. Research has highlighted how these institutions are <a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-characterises-higher-education-institutions-so-why-are-we-surprised-by-racism-93147">characterised by whiteness</a>, in terms of cohort racial makeup and the student experience and outcomes for people of colour. </p>
<p>When the police officers searched Child Q, they denied her the protections that the law guarantees to children. Instead, they treated her as a criminal adult. In the process, they drew, knowingly or not, from a long history of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26677660">criminalising</a> and <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/46908/9781776146789_WEB.pdf?sequence=1#page=10">dehumanising</a> Black people for the (imagined) protection of white people. </p>
<p>They also engaged, as the safeguarding review noted, in <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/research-confirms-that-black-girls-feel-the-sting-of-adultification-bias-identified-in-earlier-georgetown-law-study/">adultification bias</a>, wherein adults consider Black children to be older and less innocent than white children. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60956799">Police leaders</a> in Tower Hamlets and Hackney <a href="https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/hackney-top-cop-mortified-child-q-scandal-8790460">have since acknowledged</a> as much. </p>
<p>Whiteness underpins racism. Ignoring whiteness perpetuates its violence. US writer <a href="https://www.ijeomaoluo.com/">Ijeoma Oluo</a> made this point <a href="https://medium.com/the-establishment/white-people-i-dont-want-you-to-understand-me-better-i-want-you-to-understand-yourselves-a6fbedd42ddf">emphatically</a> after the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism-comments/588067/">2016 US presidential election</a>. “White people,” she wrote, “I don’t want you to understand me better; I want you to understand yourselves. Your survival has never depended on your knowledge of white culture. In fact, it has required your ignorance.” It is only by making whiteness visible that we can understand what leads to violence against Black people. </p>
<p>At the heart of racism is not the existence of Black people, but the active work of white institutions to maintain white supremacy. White supremacy is bigger than the sum of individual white people’s actions. </p>
<p>At its most basic level, whiteness is a way of categorising people, humanising some by dehumanising others. This shapes the way that people exist in society and interact with institutions. It also helps to explain what happened to Child Q. Her <a href="https://chscp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Child-Q-PUBLISHED-14-March-22.pdf">statement</a> is a harrowing reminder of how the maintenance of whiteness makes it impossible for Black people to simply exist. “I can’t go a single day,” she said, “without wanting to scream, shout, cry or just give up.”</p>
<p>Understanding contemporary racism as the legacy of centuries-old colonialism and slavery may make it seem even more overwhelming. But recognising that whiteness is at the heart of racism can and should change our response. Opposing racism means working to overcome whiteness and reclaim humanity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan Tinsley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Discussions of racism in Britain centre around the experiences and traumas of Black people, but rarely on the perpetrators.Meghan Tinsley, Presidential Fellow in Ethnicity and Inequalities, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1703122022-01-27T12:56:37Z2022-01-27T12:56:37ZSocial care: how Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children face discrimination across Europe and the UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442585/original/file-20220125-19-16a39cj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Roma boy and his horse in Velykyi Bereznyi, a settlement in the Carpathian mountains, in Western Ukraine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/velykyi-bereznyi-ukraine-february-28-2021-1962358759">Brum | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout Europe – from Italy to Hungary – Romani children are <a href="http://www.errc.org/reports-and-submissions/life-sentence-romani-children-in-institutional-care">overrepresented</a> in institutional care. This is particularly acute in eastern Europe. As many as four in five children in the care institutions of some countries <a href="http://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/5284_file1_blighted-lives-romani-children-in-state-care.pdf">are of Roma</a> origin. In Bulgaria, while the Roma comprise less than 10% of the population, they account for more than 60% of the children’s home population. In Slovakia, that number rises to 80%. </p>
<p>The situation in the UK <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-policing-bill-will-criminalise-gypsy-and-traveller-families-there-is-a-better-approach-174487">isn’t much better</a>. <a href="https://www.criticalpublishing.com/anti-racist-social-worker">Social work experts</a> estimate that between 2009 and 2015, there has been an increase of 733% in the number of Roma children in foster care. A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcab265/6500256">recent analysis</a> of the UK government’s own data from 2020 confirms that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are over-represented in child welfare services in England. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Financing-Roma-Inclusion-with-European-Structural-Funds-Why-Good-Intentions/Kostka/p/book/9780367582951">research shows</a> that Roma communities across Europe are routinely denied access to essential services but are instead subjected to oppressive state intervention. Senior public servants I have interviewed in Slovakia and the Czech Republic alike have expressed explicitly prejudiced views. </p>
<p>Those interviewees held that all Roma share predictable beliefs, values and behaviours and are prone to violence, negligence, laziness, addiction and illiteracy. They see the abject poverty experienced by many Roma families as an active choice or a cultural norm rather than the result of centuries of oppression and ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-communities-endure-worsening-racism-and-inequality-this-must-be-a-turning-point-114890">discrimination</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young children smile up at the camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442587/original/file-20220125-27-1mzyqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roma children in the Old Town of Constanta, in Romania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/constanta-romania-august-22-2015-happy-308745359">ELEPHOTOS | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Poverty pathologised</h2>
<p>Across Europe, many Roma families have little or no access to social support. Preventative measures are scarce or non-existent. According to <a href="http://www.errc.org/reports-and-submissions/life-sentence-romani-children-in-institutional-care">a 2011 report</a> by the European Roma Rights Centre, poverty is often cited as the reason for children being removed. And removal is often the first, rather than the last recourse. </p>
<p>The report cites the harrowing case of one Hungarian Romani family. When their home was damaged in a storm, instead of receiving financial help to make the necessary repairs, the family’s newborn baby was placed in foster care.</p>
<p>In the media, these communities are frequently portrayed as uneducated, culturally backward and lazy, predisposed to criminality and to exploiting benefits. In Poland, headlines talk of Gypsies attacking people, of Roma being not poor but <a href="https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,16280560,kradna-oblapiaja-niszcza-i-nie-sa-biedni-jak-gazeta-wroclawska.html?disableRedirects=true">liars and thieves</a>.</p>
<p>I have found that, despite not knowing very much about Roma culture, public authorities treat the coping strategies of the most at-risk families as problematic and abnormal, under assumptions that equate Roma culture and poverty with harmful behaviour. In Slovakia, charity workers told me that the authorities view marginalised Roma communities as a threat to mainstream society.</p>
<p>For a study of Romanian Roma migrants in Poland in 2013, I conducted <a href="https://intersections.tk.mta.hu/index.php/intersections/article/view/387">interviews</a> with social workers who insisted that removing Roma children is necessary and justifiable, citing nomadic lifestyles as a reason. As the manager of one social-work team in Wroclaw told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The parents come and go, they don’t want to work, or send their children to school, it is not possible to work with them, they lie; but worst of all they force children to beg. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Britain, there are legal prohibitions on child removals on the grounds of poverty or deprivation. However, research has found that <a href="https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research_report_12inequalities_experienced_by_gypsy_and_traveller_communities_a_review.pdf">Gypsy</a> and <a href="https://policypress.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1332/policypress/9781847428738.001.0001/upso-9781847428738">Traveller</a> children are often placed in care following official “concern” and amid disputes over accommodation, school attendance and employment-related practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Travellers walk alongside horsedrawn painted wooden caravans down a road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442588/original/file-20220125-15-5gjzun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the UK, social workers often feel ill-equipped to properly assess Traveller families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stafford-england-june-21st-2019-traditional-1430319233">Andy J Billington | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Damaging stereotypes</h2>
<p>The British historian, <a href="http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781780232577">Becky Taylor</a>, underlines that this oppression has a long history. From their arrival in Britain in the 16th century, Gypsies were actively prosecuted for their costumes and nomadic way of life, which was deemed a threat to British society. The 1530 Egyptian Act aimed to end the “naughty, idle and ungodly life and company” of Gypsies by either forcing them to assimilate or face exile and death. The 1824 Vagrancy Act further criminalised the nomadic Gypsy lifestyle, equating it with harmful behaviour and risk. </p>
<p>Stereotypical views held by care professionals still lead to discrimination. Of the 137 child-protection professionals surveyed in a <a href="http://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/the-fragility-of-professional-competence-january-2018.pdf">2018 study</a> in England, half believed that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller <a href="https://theconversation.com/care-system-fails-gypsy-roma-and-traveller-children-31477">children</a> were more at risk of significant harm than any other child. They cite parental neglect rather than poverty as reasons for the commencement of child proceedings. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ippr.org/files/publications/pdf/Roma-communties-and-Brexit_Oct2016.pdf?noredirect=1">Recent Roma arrivals</a> to the UK have similarly suffered from being labelled as as hard to reach, hard to engage, or uncooperative by social services. <a href="https://www.advicenow.org.uk/lawforlife/law-for-life-projects/multimedia-toolkit-for-roma-parents/">Dada Felja</a>, from the Law for Life charity, which supports Roma parents, says that this mistrust stems from the discrimination and racism they have long experienced at the hands of public officials. </p>
<p>Within the assessment and referral process, <a href="https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2019/june/new-report-roma-migration-benefits-to-britain/">language barriers,</a> cultural differences in family structure and child-rearing practices, acculturative stress (the stressors associated with being an immigrant or ethnic minority and adapting to the local culture) and isolation are rarely considered. </p>
<p>Research has shown that social workers often do not <a href="http://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/the-fragility-of-professional-competence-january-2018.pdf">properly assess</a> Roma children and their families, because they feel ill-equipped or unable to do so. Assessments are crucial to understanding the child’s experience and what support the family might need. They also help to ascertain whether alternative carers could be found within the extended family. Failing to undertake such assessments is a clear indicator of discrimination and structural inequality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Kostka does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Romani children across Europe are overrepresented in institutional care. Research shows widely held prejudical views and structural inequality is to blame.Joanna Kostka, Lecturer in social work and sociology, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701682021-10-18T18:33:14Z2021-10-18T18:33:14ZAs a patriot and Black man, Colin Powell embodied the ‘two-ness’ of the African American experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427041/original/file-20211018-20-8qfg2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3099%2C2063&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A complex legacy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ObitPowell/d8c0b643cb3e4277ae88f7fdfcb0edb8/photo?Query=colin%20powell&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=674&currentItemNo=15">AP Photo/Vincent Michel</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colin Powell knew where he fit in American history.</p>
<p>The former secretary of state – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/us/politics/colin-powell-dead.html">who died</a> on Oct. 18, 2021, at 84 as a result of COVID-19 complications – was a pioneer: the first Black national security advisor in U.S. history, the first Black chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and also the first Black man to become secretary of state.</p>
<p>But his “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/133242/my-american-journey-by-colin-powell-with-joseph-e-persico/">American journey</a>” – as he described it in the title of an autobiography – is more than the story of one man. His death is a moment to think about the history of Black American men and women in the military and the place of African Americans in government. </p>
<p>But more profoundly, it also speaks to what it means to be an American, and the tensions that Colin Powell – as a patriot and a Black man – faced throughout his life and career. </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=7f443ffde35747ba69faca210faff07145fab78c">scholar of African American studies</a> who is currently writing a book on the great civil rights intellectual W.E.B. DuBois. When I heard of Powell’s passing, I was immediately reminded of what DuBois referred to as the “<a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/">double-consciousness</a>” of the African American experience.</p>
<p>As DuBois put it <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/">in an 1897 article</a> and later in his classic 1903 book “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/">The Souls of Black Folk</a>,” this “peculiar sensation” is unique to African Americans: “One feels his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”</p>
<p>This concept profoundly describes Colin Powell as a soldier, a career military man and a politician.</p>
<h2>What it means to serve</h2>
<p>On the surface, Colin Powell’s life would seem to refute DuBois’ formulation. He stood as someone that many people could point to as an example of how it is possible to be both Black and a full American, something DuBois viewed as an enduring tension. There is a narrative that Powell <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3843957">used the military to transcend race</a> and become one of the most powerful men in the country. In that sense, he was the ultimate American success story.</p>
<p>But there is a danger to that narrative. Colin Powell’s story was exceptional, but he was no avatar of a color-blind, post-racial America.</p>
<p>The U.S. Army has long been seen as a route for Black Americans, especially young Black men, out of poverty. Many chose to turn their service into a career. </p>
<p>By the time Powell, the <a href="https://bronx.news12.com/bronx-raised-colin-powell-leaves-behind-a-legacy-in-nyc">Bronx-raised</a> son of Jamaican immigrants, joined the U.S. Army, there was already a proud history of African Americans in the U.S. military – from the “<a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/proud-legacy-buffalo-soldiers">Buffalo Soldiers” who served in the American West, the Caribbean and South Pacific</a> after the U.S. Civil War to the <a href="https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/tuskegee-airmen">Tuskegee Airmen</a> of World War II.</p>
<p>Powell was part of that military history. He joined in 1958, a decade after <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=84">desegregation of the Armed Forces</a> in 1948.</p>
<p>But the military was – <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-military-racism-discrimination-4e840e0acc7ef07fd635a312d9375413">and still is</a> – an institution characterized by structural racism. That was true when Powell joined the Army, and it is true today.</p>
<p>As such, Powell would have had to wrestle with his blackness and what it meant in the military: What did it mean to serve a country that doesn’t serve you?</p>
<p>As a military man during the Vietnam War, Powell also stood apart from many Black political leaders <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/beyond-vietnam">who condemned U.S. action</a> in Southeast Asia. </p>
<p>While Muhammad Ali <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/28/muhammad-ali-50-years-ago-today-was-told-to-step-forward-he-refused/">was asking why</a> he should “put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people” at a time when “so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights,” Powell was making his way up the military ranks.</p>
<p>It helps explain why despite Powell’s undoubted achievements, his legacy as a Black leader is complicated. His identity – being of Jamaican heritage – posed questions about what it means to be an African American. His life in the military prompted some to ask why he would serve a country that has historically been hostile to nonwhite people in the U.S. and around the world. The veteran activist and singer Harry Belafonte likened Powell in 2002 to a “house slave” in one <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/oct/11/news">particularly contentious remark</a> questioning his loyalty to the U.S. system.</p>
<p>Powell acknowledged the realities of racism in the U.S., while at the same time believed it should never serve as an obstacle nor cause Black people to question their American-ness. In a <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/cpowell.html">May 14, 1994 commencement speech at Howard University</a>, Powell told graduates to take pride in their Black heritage, but to use it as “a foundation stone we can build on, and not a place to withdraw into.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Colin Powell, seated behind a microphone and 'United States' nameplate speaks to the United Nations Security Council." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colin Powell addresses the United Nations Security Council.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Obit-Powell/66a341e1e4e2487fbfe7ea59c2ac4fda/photo?Query=colin%20powell%20united%20nations&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=12&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Elise Amendola</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And then there are his political affiliations. He was Ronald Reagan’s national security advisor and George H. W. Bush’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at a time when the domestic policies of both presidents were devastating Black America, through <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/history-mass-incarceration">mass incarceration of Black men and women</a> and <a href="https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc52b.pdf">economic policies</a> that stripped services in lower-income areas.</p>
<p>That was before one of the most consequential and controversial moments in Powell’s political life. </p>
<p>In February 2003, Powell <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/06/lie-after-lie-what-colin-powell-knew-about-iraq-fifteen-years-ago-and-what-he-told-the-un/">argued before the United Nations Security Council</a> for military action against Iraq – a speech that erroneously claimed that Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. He hadn’t, and the war that Powell helped steer the U.S. into scars his legacy.</p>
<h2>A complicated existence</h2>
<p>Powell’s two-ness, to use the DuBois phrase, manifested later in his decision in 2008 to endorse Barack Obama as presidential candidate over his fellow Republican and military man, John McCain.</p>
<p>In Obama, Powell saw “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/19/colin.powell/">a transformational figure</a>” in America and on the world stage.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>In endorsing Obama, Powell chose the historic significance of the U.S. having its first Black president over loyalty and service to his friend and political party. </p>
<p>His drift from Republicanism furthered after Donald Trump seized the reins of the party. He became <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/colin-powell-calls-trump-liar-says-he-skirts-constitution-will-n1227016">increasingly vocal in opposing Trump</a>, who saw Powell – as did many of Trump’s supporters – as something of a traitor.</p>
<p>That view ignores the history.</p>
<p>Powell was a patriot who embodied DuBois’ “two warring ideals in one dark body.” For Powell to have reached the heights he did required dogged strength and perhaps far greater effort to hold it together than his white predecessors. </p>
<p>In America, being Black and a patriot is – as DuBois hinted at more an a century ago, and as Powell’s life attests to – a very complicated, even painful, affair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chad Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of African American studies explores how the former secretary of state, who died at 84, dealt with what WEB DuBois described as the ‘double-consciousness’ of being Black and American.Chad Williams, Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1670912021-10-05T12:26:14Z2021-10-05T12:26:14ZCentury-old racist US Supreme Court cases still rule over millions of Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423392/original/file-20210927-21-1u678wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C5068%2C3338&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, the flags of the U.S. and its territory fly side by side.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-walk-through-the-el-morro-national-monument-in-old-news-photo/1308296260">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 4 million inhabitants of five U.S. territories – Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Marianas Islands, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands – <a href="https://today.law.harvard.edu/insular-cases-constitutional-experts-assess-status-territories-acquired-spanish-american-war-video/">do not have the full protection of the Constitution</a>, because of a series of Supreme Court cases dating back to 1901 that are based on archaic, often racist language and reasoning. </p>
<p>A call from Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/us/politics/gorsuch-supreme-court-insular-cases.html">overturn more than a century of precedent</a> has been <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/wethepeopleproject/pages/210/attachments/original/1651087779/Fitisemanu_v._United_States_-_Cert_Petition_-_AS_FILED.pdf?1651087779">joined by advocates for equal citizenship</a> for everyone born in those U.S. territories. If the court decides to take up the question, it would review a long-standing status quo.</p>
<p>Now, no U.S. citizen living in any of those places can vote for president. They don’t have a voting representative in Congress, either. </p>
<p>But this inferiority is inconsistent. Puerto Ricans are American citizens and can vote in federal elections if they reside in a U.S. state, but <a href="https://noticiasmicrojuris.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/fea-gelpi_0311.pdf">not if they live in Puerto Rico</a> or one of the other territories.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.axios.com/american-samoa-birthright-citizenship-ruling-4a438f31-5e68-4169-bddc-211128e97f26.html">American Samoans are not U.S. citizens</a>, so they can’t vote for president even if they live in the 50 states. That is <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-is-born-a-us-citizen-127403">being challenged in federal courts</a>.</p>
<p>It’s all a result of a political and legal mindset that is more than 100 years old, but is still in force.</p>
<h2>Superiority complex</h2>
<p>Up until the end of the 19th century, everyone assumed that all U.S. territories would, eventually, become full-fledged states, whose residents would become U.S. citizens with rights fully protected by the Constitution. The <a href="https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/Northwest-Ordinance-1787/">Northwest Ordinance of 1787 outlined the process</a>: As new lands opened to Americans, Congress would initially appoint a governor and judges for the territory and establish a rule of law. When the territorial population exceeded 5,000 adult men, voters would elect a legislature and send a nonvoting delegate to Congress. When the territory reached a population of 60,000, the territory would petition for statehood and be admitted to the union.</p>
<p>That process assumed the territories would be in North America and that most of the territorial population would be people of European descent. Those assumptions changed when the United States claimed Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam in 1898 as spoils of war at the end of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico and Guam are still U.S. territories. </p>
<p>That expansion gave Americans a clear sense of the nation’s purpose and power in the world, summarized effectively by U.S. Sen. Albert Beveridge of Indiana in a <a href="https://china.usc.edu/us-senator-albert-j-beveridge-speaks-philippine-question-us-senate-washington-dc-january-9-1900">congressional speech on Jan. 9, 1900</a>: “[God] has made us the master organizers of the world to establish system where chaos reigns. He has made us adept in government that we may administer government <a href="https://noticiasmicrojuris.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/fea-gelpi_0311.pdf">among the savage and servile peoples</a>.” </p>
<h2>A new type of territory</h2>
<p>Starting in 1901, a set of court cases, collectively called the “Insular Cases,” created new constitutional law regarding the United States’ relation with its territories. They began when import companies challenged tariffs imposed on goods transported from the newly acquired territories into the U.S. The companies claimed there should not be tariffs, because the goods were moving from one part of the U.S. to another.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the companies were correct, that transport within the U.S. was not subject to tariffs, but created an exception in which the new lands were neither foreign countries nor part of the U.S.</p>
<p>Those territories, the Supreme Court would rule in the first of the Insular Cases, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/244/">Downes v. Bidwell</a> in 1901, were “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep182244/">foreign in a domestic sense</a>,” “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep182244/">inhabited by alien races</a>,” and therefore governing them “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep182244/">according to Anglo-Saxon principles may for a time be impossible</a>.” </p>
<p>The ruling included other prejudice-revealing statements, too, such as, “<a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/182/244.html">It is obvious that in the annexation of outlying and distant possessions</a> grave questions will arise from differences of race, habits, laws, and customs of the people, and from differences of soil, climate, and production, which may require action on the part of Congress that would be quite unnecessary in the annexation of contiguous territory inhabited only by people of the same race, or by scattered bodies of native Indians.”</p>
<p>As a result, the court created a new distinction: “Incorporated” territories of the U.S. were expected to one day become states. “Unincorporated” territories, by contrast, were not – and, therefore, their inhabitants were, and still are, denied some of their constitutional rights. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Puerto_Rico_Statehood_Referendum_(2020)">2020 referendum</a> vote in Puerto Rico favored statehood; <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/30/statehood-dc-puerto-rico-and-guam-what-do-their-residents-want/7413044002/">Guam officials</a> have called for statehood; and Stacey Plaskett, who represents the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands in Congress, says her constituents deserve the <a href="https://plaskett.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=129">full rights of citizenship</a>, including the right to vote.</p>
<p><iframe id="8n5jb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8n5jb/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>The cases and context</h2>
<p>Both at the time and since, the Downes decision has been described as meaning “<a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LIB19010601.2.3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">the Constitution does not follow the flag</a>.” The territories might be ruled by Congress, but not necessarily by the Constitution.</p>
<p>What that meant for the people of those territories was unclear. And despite <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/upjiel29&div=14&id=&page=">five other cases in 1901</a>, and others in the subsequent 20 years, the Supreme Court has never truly clarified which constitutional protections were available to whom and which weren’t. It left open questions about whether key elements of the Constitution, like trial by jury, or even the Bill of Rights, were available in the unincorporated territories.</p>
<p>Hawaii was also acquired in 1898, but was treated differently and ultimately became a state. The differences were <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/902334807/simmering-disputes-over-statehood-are-about-politics-and-race-they-always-have-b">probably for reasons to do with partisan politics</a> and a Republican-Democratic balance in Congress.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people stand next to a flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423395/original/file-20210927-19-rv7zt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two people from American Samoa who work for the territory’s government made different choices about U.S. citizenship. Filipo Ilaoa, at left, became a citizen; Bonnelley Pa'uulu remains a U.S. national without full citizenship rights and privileges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AmericanSamoaCitizenship/864cd2c018fb450f9baeb6c461995f0b/photo">AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Supreme Court interpretation over the years</h2>
<p>Since the mid-20th century, the court has <a href="https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/after-aurelius-what-future-for-the-insular-cases">made incremental changes</a> to the Insular Cases’ effects, tweaking technical definitions concerning taxes, trade and governmental benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the court has not addressed the overall inferior constitutional status of the territories and the people who live there.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until 1957, for instance, in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/354/1.html">Reid v. Covert</a>, that the Supreme Court ruled that defendants in the territories had a right to trial by jury – a right that citizens have because of <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/#article-3-section-2-clause-3">Article III of the Constitution</a>. Several justices made clear that “<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/354/1/">neither the cases nor their reasoning should be given any further expansion</a>.” That statement was widely viewed as a signal that <a href="https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/after-aurelius-what-future-for-the-insular-cases">the influence of the Insular Cases was declining</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/442/465.html">Torres v. Puerto Rico</a> (1979), the court further weakened the Insular Cases. Although narrowly applied to the territory at hand, the Supreme Court made clear that the Bill of Rights actually did apply in a U.S. territory.</p>
<p>In its 2008 ruling in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/06-1195-nr1.html">Boumediene v. Bush</a>, the court held that detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had the constitutional right of habeas corpus to challenge the validity of their detention. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion said, “It may well be that over time the ties between the United States and any of its territories <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/723/">strengthen in ways that are of constitutional significance</a>,” and said the federal government did not “have the power to switch the Constitution on or off at will.”</p>
<p>But in its 2020 ruling in <a href="https://casetext.com/case/fin-oversight-mgmt-bd-for-puerto-rico-v-aurelius-inv-llc">Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment</a>, the court pulled back from its trend of extending constitutional protections to the unincorporated territories. It ruled that President Barack Obama’s appointments to the board, a government body focused on helping Puerto Rico return to financial stability, were local officials, not “<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-2/#article-2-section-2-clause-2">officers of the United States</a>,” and therefore did not require Senate confirmation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four people march carrying a flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423396/original/file-20210927-25-z9pirs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Athletes from the U.S. Virgin Islands arrive at the Paralympics in Tokyo in August 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Tokyo2020ParalympicsOpeningCeremony/253ad414684d4a49bfecda6a1404d24b/photo">AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Into the future</h2>
<p>Many <a href="https://noticiasmicrojuris.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/fea-gelpi_0311.pdf">legal scholars view</a> the court’s mention of U.S. territorial connections strengthening “over time” as a possible key to overturning the Insular Cases. The original distinctions assumed that the U.S. would “<a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/354/1.html">govern temporarily territories with wholly dissimilar traditions and institutions</a>.” Most acknowledge those perceived distinctions clearly no longer exist.</p>
<p>These territories have established institutions and principles grounded in American traditions. The internal governments of these territories have established laws, governmental institutions and legal traditions that are indistinguishable from any state in the union. They hold elections, <a href="https://harvardcrcl.org/ongoing-denial-of-voting-rights-in-u-s-territories-incompatible-with-our-founding-values/">have residents serving in the U.S. military</a>, and play a role in building the nation.</p>
<p>But without equal voting rights and congressional representation, the Americans living in these territories <a href="https://hnrdems.medium.com/the-insular-cases-c52a8294b370">cannot remedy their status at the ballot box</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article originally published Oct. 5, 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Bellone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A series of Supreme Court cases based on racist language and reasoning still govern the lives of 4 million Americans.Eric Bellone, Associate Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies, Suffolk UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1649832021-09-09T14:44:40Z2021-09-09T14:44:40Z4 ways white people can be accountable for addressing anti-Black racism at universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419052/original/file-20210902-25-oxa7lm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C529%2C5793%2C3431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">White folk aren't 'beyond race.' Interrogating Black people's pain at forums supposedly dedicated to undoing racism is part of the problem.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>“I am colonized, and I must live in a world of the colonizer. Although the proverbial shackle has been removed, I am enslaved by systemic barriers. My heart bleeds of pain and anger … My lived experiences will never be based on your level of comfort.”</em> </p>
<p><strong><em>- passage from the author’s journal</em></strong></p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-lives-matter-movement-uses-creative-tactics-to-confront-systemic-racism-143273">resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement</a> has ignited an ongoing debate on the role of education in the collective awakening or re-awakening on racial injustice. </p>
<p>Post-secondary institutions can provide the space to cultivate new knowledge and critically discuss social inequality. As the new school year begins, many of us are eager to return to our new “normal” as we both adapt to new health measures due to COVID-19 and prepare to discuss various social issues. </p>
<p>Universities are increasingly establishing formal mandates for <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/addressing-anti-black-racism-on-campus/">addressing anti-Black racism on their campuses</a>. In the attempt to acknowledge their diverse student bodies, some professors may be preparing to teach a new <a href="https://www.asccc.org/content/decolonizing-your-syllabus-anti-racist-guide-your-college">“inclusive” syllabus</a>.</p>
<p>As these changes take place, it is critical to speak openly about social accountability.</p>
<h2>Understanding one’s historical social position</h2>
<p>I am a <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/i-cant-breathe-feeling-suffocated-by-the-polite-racism-in-canadas-graduate-schools/">Black PhD candidate</a> in sociology who examines systematic racism embedded in educational institutions. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A woman holds a sign up that says 'I can't breathe.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Karine Coen-Sanchez at a Black Lives Matter rally in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have found myself both formally and informally called upon to educate white people about anti-Black racism.</p>
<p>On many campuses, Black academics — regardless of whether they are actually studying racism or not — are asked to take on additional labour related to equity work often <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/21/scholars-talk-about-being-black-campus-2020">without compensation or the assurance that recommendations will be heeded and without acknowledgement of the risks</a>.</p>
<p>What are the risks? Black, racialized and Indigenous people are <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566247/white-fragility-by-dr-robin-diangelo">exposed to white denialism</a>, which provokes a narrative of “us versus them.” We are also subject to emotional eruptions where white people are at the centre or put in a position where they are pressed to offer personal antidotes as a testimony to the realities of systemic racism.</p>
<h2>Interconnection of race, power, practices</h2>
<p>It is critical that we pay attention to and recognize what scholars like George J. Sefa Dei, a professor of education, has named <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1427586">the interconnection of race, social powers and cultural practices</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uua.org/files/pdf/d/diangelo-white_fragility_and_the_rules_of_engagement.pdf">White accountability</a> for addressing and eradicating anti-Black racism isn’t about validating the experiences of the Black communities — it is about understanding facets of one’s own <a href="https://ccrweb.ca/en/anti-oppression">social position</a>. </p>
<p>This means understanding the various ways that race or citizenship have shaped access to both material and cultural resources — and shaped what a person takes for granted. For example, white settlers in Canada and other colonial settler societies must acknowledge the harms <a href="https://theconversation.com/reparations-for-slavery-and-genocide-should-be-used-to-address-health-inequities-111320">associated with international colonization and the slave trade and the inter-generational effects</a> on Black, racialized and Indigenous communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-canada-committed-genocide-against-indigenous-peoples-explained-by-the-lawyer-central-to-the-determination-162582">How Canada committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples, explained by the lawyer central to the determination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In order to undo anti-Black racism and all systematic racism white people need to take accountability for the various ways they experience and exercise privilege. It also means understanding how they may covertly benefit and contribute to the <a href="https://troymedia.com/education/repeating-the-cycle-of-racism-through-education/#.YP8LOo5Kg2w">cycle of racism</a>. </p>
<p>Sefa Dei has advocated <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402057700">for incorporating Africentric curricula and insights</a> into everyday learning to undo the centring of white perspectives. But a deep incorporation of this knowledge hasn’t happened in universities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protestor is seen with a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protestors at a Black Lives Matter rally are seen outside a police detachment in downtown Toronto last July.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond ‘calling out’ & ‘calling in’</h2>
<p>Executive coach Mya Hu-Chan, who helps workplaces address racism,
notes that dialogues about addressing racism often revolve around being <a href="https://www.inc.com/maya-hu-chan/calling-in-vs-calling-out-how-to-talk-about-inclusion.html">called out or called in</a>.</p>
<p>This is a start, but much more needs to be done to create space for <a href="https://www.racialequitytools.org/resources/plan/change-process/accountability">accountability</a> if campuses are truly to become more diverse and inclusive. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/twitter-shaming-wont-change-university-power-structures-142450">Twitter shaming won't change university power structures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We all have a social responsibility. The notion of community engagement and dismantling institutional racism involves everyone.</p>
<p>White accountability for addressing and eradicating anti-Black racism means understanding and acknowledging that verbal commitments must be also transformed into actions. The actions must be formed, validated and determined in dialogue with the Black community. </p>
<h2>What accountability means</h2>
<p>Accountability requires ongoing dialogue between the privileged and the underprivileged, and challenging the ingrained covert forms of racism embedded in our everyday lives. </p>
<p>Accountability also refers to entering a space with sincere purposes. But sincerity alone isn’t enough. Uniting your intent with action will ultimately determine a person’s level of commitment to anti-racism. By first understanding and recognizing our contribution to the systematic barriers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2020-0158">we shift the conversation from intentions to accountability</a>. </p>
<p>Only when honest, open collaboration takes place can we begin to overcome the ingrained racist structures that shape all our lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign at a demonstration reads 'It's a privilege to educate yourself about racism instead of experiencing it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to shift the conversation from intentions to accountability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(James Eades/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Steps to create space for accountability</h2>
<p>Based on my experience and research in the field of educating people about anti-Black racism I propose that creating the space for accountability requires the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Listening, trusting and empathizing with the lived experiences of Blacks or maginalized groups; NOT reacting. It is important that before white people engage in anti-racism spaces with maginalized people, they
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2019.1610048">manage their own defensiveness and become adept at regulating their emotions</a>, including anger. They also need to to be aware of the intrusion of “<a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2020/07/13/de-constructing-the-white-saviour-syndrome-a-manifestation-of-neo-imperialism/">saviour mentality</a>” — the view that white people are especially equipped for and tasked with solving problems. </p></li>
<li><p>Awareness and reflecting <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498506731/White-Self-Criticality-beyond-Anti-racism-How-Does-It-Feel-to-Be-a-White-Problem">on your own social positioning</a>: This means spending time in personal self-reflection and also in community contexts. In seeking to address and eradicate anti-Black racism, white people should seek to talk with other white people seeking to be committed to undoing anti-racism — but also with Black people in diverse spaces that are dedicated to anti-racism work.</p></li>
<li><p>Educating other whites about privilege and accountability. Calling out racist behaviour <a href="https://wearerestless.org/2020/06/12/white-saviour-complex">and white saviourism</a> with resolve <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-media-loves-the-white-racist-story-110952">and humility in acknowledging that you too</a> have had help in unlearning racist behaviours. </p></li>
<li><p>Developing an action plan that is facilitated and guided by the Black community.</p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-be-a-mindful-anti-racist-147551">How to be a mindful anti-racist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Objective of equality</h2>
<p>As Malcolm X states: “<a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1964-malcolm-x-s-speech-founding-rally-organization-afro-american-unity/">Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today</a>.” </p>
<p>But education needs to happen ethically in a way that respects Black people’s identities and experiences or else we are going the wrong way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karine Coen-Sanchez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>White denialism of racism provokes a narrative of ‘us versus them.’ Self-reflection and listening are among the ways to be accountable for interrupting and eradicating racism.Karine Coen-Sanchez, PhD candidate, Sociological and Anthropological Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1588222021-06-30T15:16:31Z2021-06-30T15:16:31ZStructural racism: what it is and how it works<p>From the moment it was published, the UK’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities’ <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf">report</a> was met with a media storm driven by both its supporters and detractors. Months later, amid continued division over the report’s position that racism isn’t pronounced in the UK, there’s still some confusion about what exactly some of the report’s buzzwords mean. </p>
<p>The terms “structural racism” and “institutional racism” are among many of the concepts that have been mentioned in relation to the report’s position on whether or not racism is ingrained in the UK. </p>
<p>But assessing the truth behind the Commission’s suggestion that these forms of racism aren’t factors in driving racial inequality first requires decoding these terms. </p>
<h2>Structural and institutional racism</h2>
<p>Defined initially by political activists Stokely Carmichael and Charles Vernon Hamilton in 1967, the concept of institutional racism came into the public sphere in 1999 through the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf">Macpherson Inquiry</a> into the racist murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence.</p>
<p>Institutional racism is defined as: “processes, attitudes and behaviour(s) which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people”. </p>
<p>As Sir William Macpherson, head of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, wrote at the time, it “persists because of the failure … to recognise and address its existence and causes by policy, example and leadership”.</p>
<p>Institutional and structural racism work hand in glove. Institutional racism relates to, for example, the institutions of education, criminal justice and health. Examples of institutional racism can include: actions (or inaction) within organisations such as the Home Office and the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43782241">Windrush Scandal</a>; a school’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pimlico-academy-student-protest-afro-hijab-b1825186.html">hair policy</a>; institutional processes such as stop and search, which discriminate against certain groups. </p>
<p>Structural racism refers to wider political and social disadvantages within society, such as higher rates of poverty for Black and Pakistani <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/01/nearly-half-of-bame-uk-households-are-living-in-poverty">groups</a> or high rates of death from COVID-19 among <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/16/bame-people-more-likely-to-die-from-covid-than-white-people-study">people of colour</a>.</p>
<p>In plain terms, structural racism shapes and affects the lives, wellbeing and life chances of people of colour. It normalises historical, cultural and institutional practices that benefit white people and disadvantage people of colour. It also stealthily replicates the racial hierarchy established more than 400 years ago through slavery and colonialism, placing white people at the top and Black people at the bottom.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-about-white-privilege-isnt-harmful-to-white-working-class-children-viewpoint-163390">Learning about white privilege isn't harmful to white working class children – viewpoint</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>Structural racism is enforced through institutional systems like seemingly neutral recruitment policies, which lead to the exclusion of people of colour from organisations, positions of power and social prominence. It exists because of <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2017/06/30/no-i-wont-stop-saying-white-supremacy">white supremacy</a>: a pattern of beliefs, assumptions and behaviours which advance the interests of white people and <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/190762255.pdf">influences decision-making</a> to maintain their dominance. </p>
<p>White supremacy lies at the heart of how systems in society work. It’s the main reason behind inequalities such as the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ethnicity-pay-gap-report-april-2019-to-march-2020/ethnicity-pay-gap-report-1-april-2019-to-31-march-2020#:%7E:text=Ordinary%20pay&text=In%202020%2C%20the%20mean%20ethnicity,%2DBAME%20staff%20is%2034.8%25.">ethnic pay gap</a> across many institutions, as well as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/mar/28/judges-ethnic-sex-diversity-judiciary">fewer judges</a> and university vice chancellors of colour. </p>
<h2>How does structural racism work?</h2>
<p>Structural racism exists in the social, economic, educational, and political systems in society. Many of the issues that come with it have been escalated by the pandemic, including the disproportionate deaths of <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020">people of colour</a> from COVID-19. </p>
<p>These challenges have worsened because of existing structural racial inequalities which mean that Black and Pakistani communities are more likely to work in <a href="https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/employment/employment-by-occupation/latest">unskilled jobs</a>. As a result, many have had to work through the pandemic as key workers, increasing their exposure and susceptibility to catching or dying from the virus. </p>
<p>In fact, large numbers of health workers of colour reported being too afraid to complain about the issues they faced, with some being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/nhs-doctors-lacking-ppe-bullied-into-treating-covid-19-patients">“bullied and shamed”</a> into seeing patients, despite having no PPE. Their exposure to these inequalities can’t be blamed on pessimism or class or culture, but the structures within which they worked.</p>
<p>Structural and institutional racism account for under-representation in many fields. These barriers are responsible for everything from the 4.9% <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45421437">ethnic pay gap</a> between white medical consultants and medical consultants of colour, a lack of teachers of colour <a href="https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/school-teacher-workforce/latest#main-facts-and-figures">in schools</a>, the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55723120">1% of Black professors</a> in universities and the absence of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/13/decolonising-dermatology-why-black-and-brown-skin-need-better-treatment">medical training</a> about skin conditions and how they present on black and brown skin. The examples are endless. </p>
<p>It would be easy to blame the people affected, but that would ignore how structural racism works. Black people, for example, can work exceptionally hard but still encounter significant barriers that can be directly traced to issues of structural racism. </p>
<p>It’s also tempting to believe that the success of a small selection of people of colour means that the same opportunities are available to all. The suggestion being that these gains are evidence of a meritocracy (the idea that people can gain power or success through hard work alone). But this ignores the invisible hurdles that on average make the likelihood of achievement for various communities of colour much slimmer than for white people.</p>
<p>Critical Race Theory (a concept devised by US legal scholars which explains that racism is so endemic in society that it can feel non-existent to those who aren’t targets of it) also <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/education/research-centres/crt-4-Vols-intro-to-vol-1.pdf">debunks the idea that we live in a meritocracy</a>. It describes meritocracy as a liberal construct designed to conceal the barriers which impede success for people of colour. </p>
<p>If structural and institutional racism can’t be explained away by the idea that people of colour simply don’t work hard enough, or are “overly pessimistic” about race, it’s apparent that society needs alternative solutions. One of which is accepting not only that racism exists, but that it’s much more far-reaching than it seems to white people. We can’t eradicate these forms of racism without courage, commitment and concerted efforts from those in positions of power, which in the UK especially includes action from the white majority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Acknowledgement: My thanks to Professor David Gillborn for his guidance and suppport with this article.</span></em></p>After ongoing claims that the UK is devoid of this form of discrimination, what does the term actually mean?Vini Lander, Professor of Race and Education and Director of the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality in the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1610912021-05-25T05:33:34Z2021-05-25T05:33:34ZCarceral feminism and coercive control: when Indigenous women aren’t seen as ideal victims, witnesses or women<p>The SBS documentary series See What You Made Me Do aimed to spark a national conversation about criminalising coercive control. Instead it highlighted the stark power imbalances in conversations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She wasn’t being a good victim, she wasn’t standing there in the sheet dripping in blood and trying to control all this emotion that was going on with her […] she said I want my Dad, I want my Dad and they decided she couldn’t have her Dad. The two policeman, one woman and one man, they said that Tamica spat and they said, ‘That’s assault and you’re getting arrested.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These were the words of Kathleen Pinkerton, a Widi woman from the Yamatji nation. Kathleen was describing the police treatment of her niece, Tamica Mullaley, who was a victim of domestic violence. Rather than being treated as a victim, the police treated her as an offender, which resulted in the most <a href="https://justice.org.au/wa-police-left-a-baby-at-the-scene-of-a-brutal-domestic-violence-attack/">tragic of consequences</a> for her baby Charlie.</p>
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<h2>The good victim</h2>
<p>Tamica’s story was at the centre of episode two of the documentary series <em>See What You Made Me Do</em>, which is based on journalist Jess Hill’s book of the same name. <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/see-what-you-made-me-do-is-must-watch-tv-here-s-what-needs-to-happen-now-to-address-domestic-abuse">SBS claims</a> the documentary “is not just about making TV content, it’s about making change”. </p>
<p>Indeed, Hill’s <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/criminalising-coercive-control-will-replace-the-broken-lens-we-have-on-domestic-abuse/">aim</a> to criminalise coercive control is part of a larger national agenda. It was the first priority set for the Queensland government’s recently established <a href="https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/initiatives/womens-safety-and-justice-taskforce">Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce</a>. </p>
<p>The taskforce and documentary both call for a carceral solution to coercive control – coercive control refers to systemic domestic violence that operates through a matrix of subtle practices including surveillance, gaslighting, financial control, and fear of potential violence. </p>
<p>This plan for criminalising coercive control has been met with <a href="https://www.sistersinside.com.au/in-no-uncertain-terms-the-violence-of-criminalising-coercive-control-joint-statement-sisters-inside-institute-for-collaborative-race-research/">sustained critique</a> from a range of Indigenous women academics, activists and frontline workers. They argue such a solution would result in more Indigenous women being imprisoned than protected. </p>
<p>These concerns are evidenced statistically, by the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/prisoners-australia/latest-release#data-download">staggering increases</a> in Indigenous female incarceration. They are also shown clearly in the story of Tamica herself, who was “misidentified” as an offender by the police (which included a female officer). </p>
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<p>In the documentary, Tamica’s tragedy is used to make a case for extending police powers and consideration of female-only police stations. Yet, her story negates the case being made by demonstrating how police-based solutions will harm Indigenous women. </p>
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<p>This has many rightfully questioning the function of Indigenous women’s trauma in narratives constructed by <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0090591719889946?journalCode=ptxa">carceral feminists</a> - those who see state institutions such as police and prisons as <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/652918">appropriate solutions</a> to gender based violence.</p>
<p>A key point we raise is the failure of this approach to understand how the state itself perpetrates abuse and coercive control over Indigenous women.</p>
<p>The terms of reference of the Queensland government taskforce <a href="https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/672706/womens-safety-justice-taskforce-tor.pdf">expressly state</a> Indigenous women should be considered as “victims <em>and</em> offenders.” While Indigenous women and children may be positioned in public debate as victims to lever emotional support for carceral solutions, it is clear Indigenous women are already considered potential perpetrators by the taskforce meant to protect them. </p>
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<p>Sadly, concerns raised by Indigenous women have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/18/racist-coercive-control-laws-could-harm-indigenous-women-in-queensland-advocates-warn">fallen on the deaf ears</a> of those who claim to care. Here, we see how Indigenous women make for neither good victims nor good witnesses. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-public-outrage-no-vigils-australias-silence-at-violence-against-indigenous-women-158875">No public outrage, no vigils: Australia's silence at violence against Indigenous women</a>
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<h2>The good witness</h2>
<p>This was on display in Hill’s expert panel discussion that followed the airing of the final episode of See What You Made Me Do. Dr Hannah McGlade, a Noongar academic expert, lawyer and head of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, cogently challenged Hill’s call to criminalise coercive control. </p>
<p>McGlade spoke of the reality of Aboriginal people being over-policed. Hill responded by replying directly to McGlade about “what gives her heart and keeps her advocating for these laws” despite just having heard why they are deeply problematic. Later, she again responded to McGlade, telling her that actually Indigenous women advocate for the laws rejecting her claim that Aboriginal women are fearful of contacting police.</p>
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<p>In bringing her expertise to the conversation, McGlade interrupts what was meant to be Hill’s conclusion from the three part documentary - that a “revolution” is required to save women, which includes criminalising coercive control. But the dynamics of the panel reflected the dynamics of the debate: where Indigenous women and female academics are not only not believed, but ignored and told they’re wrong. </p>
<p>Indigenous women, much like in Tamica’s case, are not deemed worthy of protection. In Queensland, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/03/women-murdered-by-husbands-labelled-perpetrators-of-domestic-violence-by-queensland-police">nearly 50%</a> of Indigenous women murdered in domestic violence contexts have previously been named by the state as perpetrators. We argue that Indigenous women are framed as a threat to be contained, whether they seek protection for themselves in domestic violence situations or for other Indigenous women in public debate. </p>
<p>The current dialogue around coercive control troubles white Australia’s limited understanding of who can commit violence against whom, and who can be a victim and who is a perpetrator. </p>
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<p>Theorists such as Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire and Judith Butler, have examined who is <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2339-judith-butler-precariousness-and-grievability-when-is-life-grievable">grievable</a> (the good victim) and who is <a href="https://meanjin.com.au/essays/black-and-white-witness/">believable</a> (the good witness). </p>
<p>White Australia tends to see both white women and state agents like police as fundamentally good, and both are almost always deemed grieveable and believable.</p>
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<p><a href="https://meanjin.com.au/essays/black-and-white-witness/">Amy McQuire</a> reminds us of the importance of recentering “the voice of the Black Witness”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Like the White Witness, the Black Witness also uses the language of war. While the White Witness uses it to stage an attack, the Black Witness will mount a defence, because it is not the White Witness’s war they want to talk about, it is the real war — the continuing resistance against an occupying force […] </p>
<p>While the White Witness thrives on accounts of the brutalisation of black bodies, most commonly of black women and children, the Black Witness pushes these same black women to the forefront — they are the ones with the megaphones in the centre of the Melbourne CBD — in the very heart of white, respectable space.”</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>When we listen to Indigenous women, it is clear they don’t necessarily want inclusion in the agendas of white women. They are insisting upon a broadening of policy development that ensures safety and justice for all women.</p>
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<p>Indigenous women shine a light on a form of violence that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0090591719889946">carceral feminism</a> continues to overlook. This violence is not only between the police officer (male or female) and Aboriginal women, but between the state and its citizens. It often manifests as exactly the kind of subtle entrapment Hill describes as coercive control - using isolation, surveillance, financial scrutiny, gaslighting, refusal of care and threats to children. </p>
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<p>The problem with criminalising coercive control isn’t only a matter of poor design or of perception of deserving victims. The problem is it results in an extension of power by the state. </p>
<p>In Queensland, this extension of state authority justified using the same kind of framing of female trauma Hill uses in <em>See What You Made Me Do</em>. It follows other <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/LASC/2021/YJandOLAB2021/submissions/050.pdf">concerning expansions of police powers</a> and resources <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/91070">in</a> <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/92097">recent</a> <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/91954">months</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-linda-burney-on-the-treatment-of-indigenous-women-158299">Politics with Michelle Grattan: Linda Burney on the treatment of Indigenous Women</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>The Good Women</h2>
<p>In this moment, it is Indigenous women who are refusing to aid an already authoritative state accrue more power. There is little that is revolutionary about carceral feminism. Hill herself acknowledges her calls to criminalise coercive control aim “to reform the current domestic violence law”. Yet, such a reform serves to further entrench abusive power relationships against Indigenous women. </p>
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<p>Gomeroi Kooma woman Ruby Wharton offers the revolutionary imagining required when <a href="https://www.lowitja.org.au/content/Image/Lowitja_PJH_170521_D10.pdf">she speaks of decarceration</a> and Black deaths in custody:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>it’s not about doing performative things within their system, but abolishing it […] we can’t demand incarceration of police when we are dying of the same system […] as long as we walk in love we will be able to seek justice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>From Wharton, we see the kind of care so desperately needed in this conversation - in which all people are afforded care. The refusal of carceral feminists to think about care in its most inclusive sense is a refusal to “walk in love” alongside Indigenous women. This is because they exercise their virtue on the basis of an authority afforded by a racial order that exists within Australia, which privileges them above Indigenous women.</p>
<p>Distinguished professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson in her seminal text Talkin’ Up To The White Woman some 20 years ago concluded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the real challenge for white feminists is to theorise the relinquishment of power so that feminist practice can contribute to changing the racial order. Until this challenge is addressed, the subject position middle-class white woman will remain centred as a site of dominance. Indigenous women will continue to resist this dominance by talkin’ up, because the invisibility of unspeakable things requires them to be spoken.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chelsea Watego is affiliated with Inala Wangarra. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a Director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alissa Macoun is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Grant focused on Building an Indigenist Health Humanities. She is a Director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Singh is a Director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Strakosch is a Director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research. She is a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Grant on Indigenous-State Relations. </span></em></p>A documentary series aimed to spark national conversation about criminalising coercive control. However, it highlighted power imbalances in conversations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women.Chelsea Watego, Principal Research Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of QueenslandAlissa Macoun, Lecturer - School of Justice, Queensland University of TechnologyDavid Singh, Senior Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandElizabeth Strakosch, Lecturer in Public Policy and Governance, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583372021-04-06T18:27:32Z2021-04-06T18:27:32ZYes, there is structural racism in the UK – COVID-19 outcomes prove it<p>The release of the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf">Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report</a> has generated a groundswell of negative reaction, specifically of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/04/the-observer-view-on-the-sewell-commissions-race-report">disappointment and frustration</a>.</p>
<p>The report minimises structural racism, a reality for so many that negatively impacts on their opportunities to achieve their full potential. It cites deprivation, geography and differential exposure to key risk factors as the major drivers of health inequalities but fails to include ethnicity. </p>
<p>This reductive view is far removed from the vast body of robust research, including our own, which identifies racism as key to generating and reinforcing longstanding health inequity. In health terms, <a href="https://globalhealtheurope.org/values/inequity-and-inequality-in-health/">inequity</a> specifically refers to systematic differences in outcomes between groups that are unfair or discriminatory. This has never been more true than during a pandemic that is having a <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-asked-70-000-people-how-coronavirus-affected-them-what-they-told-us-revealed-a-lot-about-inequality-in-the-uk-143718">disproportionate impact</a> on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-black-and-asian-people-at-greater-risk-of-coronavirus-heres-what-we-found-140584">ethnic minority communities</a>. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has placed ethnic inequities in health outcomes in sharp focus. Of the first 100 NHS clinical staff to die of the disease, <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/Facts%20Dont%20Lie%20(2021)-Begum%2C%20Treloar%20.pdf">60 were from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background</a>, despite the fact that overall only 20% of NHS staff are from these backgrounds. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/1/e042140">own research</a> reveals further inequalities. As frontline doctors witnessing first hand the toll of the pandemic on the east London communities where we work, we sought to explore COVID-19 outcomes across ethnic groups. </p>
<p>Our cohort of 1,737 COVID-19 patients admitted to Barts Health NHS Trust served as one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/49-more-likely-to-die-racial-inequalities-of-covid-19-laid-bare-in-study-of-east-london-hospitals-153834">largest and most diverse groups of COVID-19 patients in the UK</a>. The detailed nature of our dataset enabled us to address whether a range of factors including social and economic background, previous underlying conditions, lifestyle and demographic factors contributed to patient outcome.</p>
<p>We identified clear differences in outcome according to ethnic background. Black and Asian patients were respectively 30% and 49% more likely to die within 30 days of hospital admission compared to patients from white backgrounds of a similar age and baseline health. Black patients were 80% and Asian patients 54% more likely to be admitted to intensive care and need invasive mechanical ventilation.</p>
<p>When we accounted for the role played by underlying health conditions, lifestyle, and demographic factors, this did not alter the increased risk of death in Black and Asian populations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A health worker runs between two rows of ambulances." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393575/original/file-20210406-17-ehs0kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the hospitals of East London, Black and Asian patients were respectively 30% and 49% more likely to die within 30 days of hospital admission with COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-united-kingdom-january-19-2021-1897804942">Ilyas Tayfun Salci/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within our cohort, all ethnic groups experienced high levels of deprivation. However, deprivation was not associated with higher likelihood of mortality suggesting that ethnicity may affect outcomes independent of geographical and socioeconomic factors. </p>
<p>In our study, we named structural racism as one of the risk factors associated with these worse outcomes associated with ethnicity, alongside living conditions such as multi-generational households, underlying health status, public-facing jobs and socio-economic status. We also emphasised the need to take account of a number of potential factors including household composition, environmental concerns and occupation. </p>
<h2>Naming racism</h2>
<p>Racism can operate and manifest at different levels: <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/structural-racism-definition/">interpersonal, individual, institutional and structural</a>. </p>
<p>Institutional racism (which the government report said “is used too casually as an explanatory tool”) refers to the way that the policies and practices of institutions, including schools, workplaces and healthcare providers, produce outcomes that chronically advantage or disadvantage different ethnic groups, whether intentionally or not. Structural racism is a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations work in varied ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. Not driven by individual behaviour, it is a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all exist. </p>
<p>Any analysis of health inequalities that only cites economic and social factors, and omits racism, will be limited in its ability to generate understanding and solutions. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-black-and-asian-people-at-greater-risk-of-coronavirus-heres-what-we-found-140584">Why are black and Asian people at greater risk of coronavirus? Here's what we found</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>The conclusions of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report fail to acknowledge the wealth of evidence documenting the complex, intersecting role of systems of racism in shaping the social determinants of health, including <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043750">education, housing and income</a>. </p>
<p>There is also evidence to show the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721418770442">cumulative experiences of racism and discrimination</a> have themselves been associated with outcomes such as hypertension, coronary artery disease and asthma. </p>
<p>The report states that there is patchy data on life expectancy but concludes that life expectancy is improving for ethnic minorities. This is clearly contradicted by a <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/the-marmot-review-10-years-on">review last year</a> which described widening health inequalities, a stall in life expectancy improvements and an increase in time spent in ill health – all compounded by ethnicity. The review states: “Intersections between socioeconomic status, ethnicity and racism intensify inequalities in health for ethnic groups.”</p>
<p>The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report must not deter us from focusing on equity as we recover from the pandemic. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1446334/">Health equity</a> means assuring everyone has the conditions for optimal health, which requires valuing all individuals and groups equally, rectifying historical injustices, and addressing contemporary injustices by providing resources <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1446334/">according to need</a>. </p>
<p>Achieving health justice and truly eradicating inequalities requires new laws, policies and governmental protocols to be written and implemented with the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28221739/">explicit goal of achieving equity</a>. There must be a renewed emphasis, across all sectors, to respectfully document, acknowledge and respond to people’s experiences. Our collective frustration must shift to ongoing advocacy for commitment and action to achieve health equity and justice for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Apea has received funding from Barts Charity </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yize Wan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our research shows that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black and Asian people, and racism is part of the explanation why.Vanessa Apea, Consultant Physician in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine, Queen Mary University of LondonYize Wan, Clinical Lecturer in Intensive Care Medicine, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583162021-04-01T17:55:40Z2021-04-01T17:55:40ZRace commission report: the rights and wrongs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393163/original/file-20210401-13-4x23tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4415%2C2167&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/silhouette-profile-group-men-women-diverse-1808618392">melitas/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Confusion and outrage greeted the UK government’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf">Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report</a>. As opponents grapple with some of the more alarming findings, such as its assertion that there is little evidence of institutional racism in the UK, critiques and questions about the validity of its claims have begun to circulate widely on social media.</p>
<p>So, what does the report get wrong about racism in the UK, and does it get anything right?</p>
<h2>The main arguments</h2>
<p>From start to finish, the race commission puts huge emphasis on the “agency” of people from racial and ethnic minority groups, explaining away racial inequalities based on the choices of certain groups, or in favour of other social factors like class. </p>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2019-to-2020/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2019-to-2020">findings of other reports</a>, it suggests that hate crime isn’t worsening but that perceptions of an increase have been influenced by internet trolling. It claims that the term “BAME” should be abandoned because it obscures specific issues among different groups; and that structural racism in work, education and elsewhere is hard to prove.</p>
<p>This finding on structural racism runs contrary to earlier findings such as the 1999 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf">Macpherson inquiry report</a> into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and other more recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lammy-publishes-historic-review">evidence that</a> is yet to be adequately addressed.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most blatant issue is the report’s reliance on tactics that the government appears to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-ethnic-minorities-death-rate-cases-latest-government-report-b1208012.html">have employed</a> time <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-10-20/debates/5B0E393E-8778-4973-B318-C17797DFBB22/BlackHistoryMonth">and again</a>: using <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/critical-race-theory-racism-kemi-badenoch-black-history-month-bame-discrimination-b1227367.html">Black and Asian representatives</a> to minimise the credibility of racism in its many forms.</p>
<p>The commission was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/15/dismay-over-adviser-chosen-set-up-uk-race-inequality-commission-munira-mirza">handpicked by</a> Munira Mirza, the director of the Number 10 Policy Unit, who has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/15/dismay-over-adviser-chosen-set-up-uk-race-inequality-commission-munira-mirza">said to</a> dismiss institutional racism as “a perception more than a reality”. </p>
<p>The commission’s chair, <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/tony-sewell-race-and-ethnic-disparities-commission-review-chair-937598">Tony Sewell</a>, has previously dismissed the existence of systemic racism. Co-author Samir Shah <a href="https://shirazsocialism.wordpress.com/">has expressed</a> similar views, and so has <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-race-lobby-is-peddling-lazy-generalisations-mkx09xs25">Mercy Muroki</a>. Another member, Dambisa Moyo, is <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/race-commission-report-uk-racism-b1824922.html">in favour of</a> ending foreign aid to Africa because it creates a dependency culture. And Kemi Badenoch, the minister for equalities that the commission directly reports to, has also <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52913539">previously denied</a> the existence of systemic racism. It is of little surprise then than institutional racism has been dismissed in the evaluation of the commission’s findings.</p>
<h2>A selective view</h2>
<p>Certain racial and ethnic groups have <a href="https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/%20PEXJ5011_Bittersweet_Success_1116_WEB.pdf">become wealthier</a> in the UK in recent decades, and the commission is right to highlight that. Calls to prioritise social class are also important. But while the report appears to back an approach that looks at how class, race, gender and other social identities overlap, it stops short of accounting for how race intersects with sexuality and disability. </p>
<p>Singling out white underachievement in education throughout the report is striking. Yet it doesn’t account for what happens afterwards in terms of <a href="https://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2164/12563/DP_2019_2.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y">employment and increasing wealth</a> (long-term outcomes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/01/pay-gap-black-white-uk-workers-widens-more-qualifications">tend to be better</a> for white graduates, for example).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-pakistani-students-benefit-the-most-from-going-to-university-158088">Why Pakistani students benefit the most from going to university</a>
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<p>Pitting white underachievement against outcomes for ethnic minority groups also echoes arguments often touted by the extreme right. Race equality think tank, the Runnymede Trust, <a href="https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/WhoCaresAboutTheWhiteWorkingClass-2009.pdf">describes this</a> as playing “into cultural readings of inequality, which pitch [white people’s] interests squarely against those of ethnic minorities, and simultaneously allows middle class commentators to blame the ‘underclass’ for their own misfortunes”.</p>
<p>The report focuses on comparing different groups’ health, education, criminal justice and employment with what it claims is a data-driven approach. But we contend it’s ideologically driven. For instance, while <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/54634">high levels of COVID-19</a> among racial and ethnic populations are acknowledged, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908434/Disparities_in_the_risk_and_outcomes_of_COVID_August_2020_update.pdf">roots of inequity</a> are said to lie in socio-economic factors like living in higher population density and deprived areas and working in higher-risk occupations. </p>
<p>While this is undeniable, the report also stresses that disproportionate COVID-19 levels aren’t down to systemic racism, overlooking the fact that race and ethnicity significantly affect the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/oct/18/racism-discrimination-employment-undercover#:%7E:text=Undercover%20job%20hunters%20reveal%20huge%20race%20bias%20in%20Britain's%20workplaces,-This%20article%20is&text=A%20government%20sting%20operation%20targeting,with%20African%20and%20Asian%20names.">jobs and housing</a> some groups can get in the first place.</p>
<p>There are several other shortcomings. There’s hardly any mention of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-uks-working-definition-of-islamophobia-as-a-type-of-racism-is-a-historic-step-107657">racialisation of religion in Islamophobia</a>; one mention of the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-work-women-and-people-of-color-still-have-not-broken-the-glass-ceiling-115688">glass ceiling</a>”; nothing on white dominance in the <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-establishment/owen-jones/9780141974996">upper echelons of society</a>; and no attempt to critically examine or expunge the British empire’s legacies, for example the <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-colonialism-and-slavery-why-empire-needs-to-be-removed-from-the-uk-honours-system-129311">names of national honours</a>. Rather, the report vaguely refers to the “inflows and outflows” that connect the British empire with Commonwealth countries, along with one controversial reference to the effects of the “slave period” on the “re-modelled African/Britain”.</p>
<p>Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75RcBXlRwlw">said the report’s</a> efforts to belittle slavery, colonisation and the resulting injustices to millions of people as “the equivalent of a Holocaust denier being asked to develop a strategy on antisemitism. Half the people on the commission do not understand the history of Britain, the impact and implications of enslavement, or modern-day racism”.</p>
<h2>Policing language</h2>
<p>The report erases the language used to understand how race works, such as recommendations to stop using the term <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrvkbqt">“white privilege”</a> and to replace it with “affinity bias”, because it’s “alienating” to white people who don’t accept that they’re “privileged by their skin colour”. </p>
<p>It supports a divide-and-rule approach that propagates tensions within and between groups, such as suggestions that “minorities who have been long established in a country … in a context of racial and socio-economic disadvantage”, are held back because of a lack of optimism about social mobility and education, whereas “immigration optimism” from groups newer to the UK means they’re less likely to face prejudice.</p>
<p>In response, Dr Halima Begum, director of the Runnymede Trust, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75RcBXlRwlw">has said</a> that it seems that for ethnic minority groups, “if we succeed it’s on us. If we fail, it’s on us. The state has no collective duty of care on our outcomes if they are disproportionate”. </p>
<p>The timing of the report’s release couldn’t be more opportune in the wake of widely reported accusations of racism within British royalty and the establishment at large. Such rumblings threaten Brexit Britain’s international standing, especially with Commonwealth countries, with some <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/13/racism-claims-threaten-royal-rift-commonwealth/">reconsidering their continuing membership</a>. </p>
<p>All this just a few days before Boris Johnson makes his trip to India to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a323c7d5-91e6-4e2f-9965-4e6bb7f2ac41">cement alliances in the east</a>. As widespread criticism mounts, the bottom line is that although it gets a handful of things right, overall the commission’s report lacks credibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raminder Kaur does not work for or benefit from any of the organisations mentioned in the article. She receives funding from the ESRC, AHRC and Leverhulme Trust for her academic research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gill Margaret Hague does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The widely contested report has caused outrage across the UK. But is it inaccurate?Raminder Kaur, Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies, University of SussexGill Margaret Hague, Professor Emerita of Violence Against Women Studies, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556912021-03-01T12:41:19Z2021-03-01T12:41:19ZPoor vaccine take-up in BAME communities is not just down to hesitancy<p>Stories about vaccine hesitancy in various communities described as Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) have led public figures to appeal to this supposedly reluctant group through video campaigns. </p>
<p>Yet, in campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy, the relevance of the legacy of discrimination that many of these communities face is being ignored. This is in spite of glaring issues such as historical concerns about inadequate and unethical medical treatment towards members of some of these communities. What is driving some in these groups to ask legitimate questions about the vaccine before agreeing to take it isn’t necessarily due to vaccine hesitancy. In many cases, it could be more complex.</p>
<p>There is also no doubt that the reach of COVID-19 misinformation has widened in BAME communities because of their specific sensitivities and concerns. The lived experience of far too many under the BAME umbrella is one of fragile trust in the government and NHS. This lack of confidence in the state creates space for less reputable players – such as anti-vaxxers, who spread misinformation to discourage people from taking the COVID-19 vaccine – to target these groups. </p>
<p>But vaccine hesitancy is not unique to Black or Asian communities, all you have to do is look at France to see the power of <a href="https://time.com/5939521/france-covid-19-vaccine-distrust/">anti-vaxxer sentiments</a> across the population. Surveys have shown that only <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en/global-attitudes-covid-19-vaccine-october-2020">54% of people</a> in France were willing to be immunised before vaccine rollouts. Though scepticism eased slightly after vaccines arrived, <a href="https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/society/study-finds-vaccine-hesitant-public-in-france-and-us">37% of French people</a> still said they would “definitely not” or “probably not” get vaccinated. </p>
<h2>Vaccine agency is not hesitancy</h2>
<p>In the UK, the focus on hesitancy is distracting people from other key issues around the delivery of the vaccine, especially to groups who have suffered most. To understand how problematic this is, we should look at the two distinct sets of data that are currently being used as evidence of vaccine hesitancy: surveys about who’s likely to take the vaccine and figures for how many vulnerable groups from Black and Asian communities have already been vaccinated.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-uk">surveys</a> where people are asked if they will take the vaccine, Black people are less likely to give a straight “yes” when asked. Although this is alarming and progress is slow, it does not necessarily mean they won’t take it. Just as not every white person who says they will take the vaccine will end up having the vaccine. However, vaccine agency is only effective if Black communities also challenge anti-vaxxers and their sources as vigorously as they challenge the government and its scientists.</p>
<p>For many in Black communities, having the choice to either take or reject medical care is often empowering in itself. This is because Black people in the UK also look to the experiences of Black people across the African diaspora to inform decisions and to ensure the same issues don’t happen again.</p>
<p>The 40-year-long US Public Health Service <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/16/youve-got-bad-blood-the-horror-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/">Tuskeegee syphilis experiment</a>, is one glaring example of why trust is low. The study, which aimed to seem how untreated syphilis behaved misled Black male participants into participating by suggesting they’d receiving free healthcare and treatment for “bad blood”. It also observed those infected with syphilis without giving them treatment and without their informed consent, even after a cure was found. Many of these men died, while others unknowingly passed the disease to their wives and children. </p>
<h2>Ignoring structural problems</h2>
<p>The issue of getting more Black and Asian communities vaccinated is even more alarming when looking at how many of them in vulnerable groups (particularly in big cities) have now been vaccinated. The data shows that proportionately <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n357">twice as many white people as Black people</a> in the eligible categories have been vaccinated. Just as issues such as structural racism can explain why Black people are disproportionately more likely to be infected and then die from the virus, sadly, the same issues are playing a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41584-020-00524-8">leading role</a> in preventing many Black people from getting vaccinated. Unfortunately, this isn’t being discussed.</p>
<p>Ironically, many NHS Trusts report that except for doctors, BAME staff have some of the lowest vaccine uptake numbers. This too has its roots in structural issues. More BAME staff are in roles where they are more exposed to the virus but with less access to PPE. As such, BAME NHS staff were some of <a href="https://nursingnotes.co.uk/news/workforce/bame-nursing-staff-continue-lack-ppe-increased-risks/">most affected by COVID-19</a> early in the pandemic. These problems linked to structural racism aren’t new, we know they’re widespread in terms of <a href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/policy-dose/articles/2016-04-14/theres-a-huge-health-equity-gap-between-whites-and-minorities">access to healthcare</a> and poorer medical outcomes in areas such as death during pregnancy, diabetes and heart disease for many Black people.</p>
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<p>We have also seen the same pattern of poor delivery of the flu vaccine over many years to some <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(20)30074-X/fulltext">BAME groups</a>, yet these problems are either being missed or ignored. </p>
<p>Historically, <a href="https://pmj.bmj.com/content/81/953/141">concerns have been raised</a> about shortfalls in NHS and public health messaging to these groups. It seems convenient today that those in power have focused on hesitancy, which blames victims rather than identifying an inadequate system based on bias. A similar approach was taken at the start of the pandemic, when issues linked to race and genes rather than racism were suggested as the reason for disproportionate BAME COVID-19 deaths. Again, the evidence supporting this <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-its-impact-cannot-be-explained-away-through-the-prism-of-race-138046">does not exist</a>.</p>
<p>Subtle messages in recent campaigns and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9282723/Up-47-risk-ethnic-minorities-Birmingham-not-vaccine.html">some news reports</a> also suggest ignorance leading to self-imposed hesitancy as the reason the vaccine is not being accepted by BAME communities. However, the arrival of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/07/hundreds-covid-vaccine-east-london-mosque-pop-up-clinic">pop-up vaccine centres</a> which aim to reach people who aren’t using conventional vaccination centres is a small acknowledgement that the situation is far more complicated. Vaccine hesitancy is the symptom, structural racism is the disease. </p>
<p>Having had easy wins with over-70s and the vulnerable, can the government reach and deliver the vaccine to the communities they are now encouraging to take it? Going by <a href="https://www.bjfm.co.uk/barriers-to-paediatric-vaccination-discussion-based-on-a-survey-of-hcps-in-the-uk">past records of vaccine delivery</a> to these groups, we may never reach the level of vaccine uptake the government has been pushing for.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Winston Morgan receives funding from UEL and UKRI. </span></em></p>Reluctance to take the vaccine may not be as unique to Black and Asian communities as it seemsWinston Morgan, Professor of Toxicology, Equity and Inclusive Practice, Director of Impact and Innovation, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1456692020-11-13T13:39:49Z2020-11-13T13:39:49ZSegregation policies in federal government in early 20th century harmed Blacks for decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363824/original/file-20201015-17-16blmsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C11%2C2481%2C2825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 1938 stamp honoring former President Woodrow Wilson, considered one of America's most progressive presidents.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/president-woodrow-wilson?family=creative&license=rf&phrase=President%20Woodrow%20Wilson&sort=best#license">iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Economic disparities in earnings, health and wealth between Black and white Americans are <a href="https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/WP_2018-45_0.pdf">staggeringly large</a>. Historical government practices and institutions – such as <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/690944?af=R&mobileUi=0">segregated schools</a>, <a href="https://www.chicagofed.org/%7E/media/publications/working-papers/2017/wp2017-12-pdf.pdf">redlined neighborhoods</a> and discrimination in <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w22323">medical care</a> – have contributed to these wide disparities. While these causes may not always be overt, they can have lasting negative effects on the prosperity of minority communities. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?hl=en&publication_year=2014&pages=18294&journal=National+Bureau+of+Economic+Research+Working+Paper&author=Abhay+Aneja&author=John+J.+Donohue&title=The+Impact+of+Right+to+Carry+Laws+and+the+NRC+Report%3A+The+Latest+Lessons+for+the+Empirical+Evaluation+of+Law+and+Policy">Abhay Aneja</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9pu41PwAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> are researchers at University of California, Berkeley, who specialize in examining the causes of social inequality. Our <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27798">new research</a> examines the U.S. federal government’s role in creating conditions of racial inequality more than a century ago. Specifically, we researched the harmful impact of government discrimination against Black civil service employees. We also examined how such discrimination continues to affect their families decades later, rippling across future generations. </p>
<h2>Decades of discrimination</h2>
<p>Soon after his inauguration in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson ushered in one of the most far-reaching discrimination policies of that century. Wilson discreetly authorized his Cabinet secretaries to <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469628387/racism-in-the-nations-service/">implement a policy of racial segregation</a> across the federal bureaucracy.</p>
<p>A Southerner by heritage, Wilson appointed several Southern Democrats to Cabinet offices, several of whom were sympathetic to the segregationist cause. Wilson’s new postmaster general, for example, was “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Cabinet_Diaries_of_Josephus_Daniels.html?id=8Tt3AAAAMAAJ">anxious to segregate white and negro employees in all Departments of Government</a>.” Historical accounts suggest that Wilson’s order was carried out most aggressively by the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Treasury Department, the latter responsible for revenue generation including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/0952-1895.00109">taxes and customs duties</a>. Based on the data we collected, the majority of Black civilians worked in these two federal departments before Wilson’s arrival. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Income inequality as a result of federal segregation policy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367110/original/file-20201102-27584-7a0wse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Segregation as federal policy widens income disparity for Black Americans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27798">Figure by Aneja and Xu (2020)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Given his support among Southern Democrats, one goal of the Wilson administration was to limit the access of Black civil servants to the highest positions within government. This outcome was achieved through both demotions and reductions, efforts to discourage the hiring of qualified Black candidates. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-and-race-relations/">photos became required</a> to apply for government jobs in order to screen out Black candidates. Black Americans already employed in the federal civil service were transferred from relatively <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/opinion/what-woodrow-wilson-cost-my-grandfather.html">high-status posts to low-paying ones</a>. This overall policy of Jim Crow-style segregation served to shut out Black Americans from working in one of the few places where they could find opportunities for economic mobility and success. </p>
<h2>Deep roots of economic disparities</h2>
<p>Despite the potential for enormous harm, the cost of segregation to the economic status of Black civil servants has long remained unknown. Our research started by examining how President Wilson contributed to earnings disparities between Black and white civil service workers. In so doing, our research added to the collective knowledge within the social sciences about the roots of racial inequality.</p>
<p>To build a database on earnings inequality, our team undertook a large-scale data digitization of previously undigitized and, to our knowledge, unexamined historical government records containing a detailed list of all people who worked for the federal government and what they earned each year. These records were contained in eight volumes of the Official Register of the U.S., a series spanning 1907 to 1921. For 1907, we obtained information for 125,000 workers. By 1921, the size of the government workforce had more than doubled. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Segregation reaches deep into the lives of Black Americans." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363835/original/file-20201015-23-rmxdtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Segregation as commonplace as a drink of water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/segregated-water-fountains-royalty-free-image/157309135?adppopup=true">kickstand/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>This data collection and cleaning process created a <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27798">comprehensive dataset</a> to understand the operation of the American federal government at the beginning of the 20th century. It not only described a worker’s position and salary, but also contained rich personal information including a federal employee’s place of birth, the state from which they were appointed and the Cabinet department where they worked. </p>
<p>Because the register was issued every two years, our research made it possible to track a civil servant’s career progression over time. Looking at this data source, it was clear that President Wilson’s policy of segregating the federal workforce exacted an enormous cost from Black civil servants. </p>
<h2>Sidelining Black federal workers</h2>
<p>To isolate the impact of racial discrimination and establish comparable jobs and salaries, the analysis paired Black and white federal employees with similar characteristics. Each worked in the same city, the same government office and even had the same salary before President Wilson’s inauguration. Within this set of comparable workers, Black civil servants earned about 7% less than their white counterparts during Wilson’s two terms as president. </p>
<p>When we account for differences in civil servants, such as educational background, the reduction in earnings suffered by Black civil servants remains. Moreover, under the order to segregate, Black civil servants were less likely to be promoted over time and more likely to be demoted. This disparate treatment by the federal government enabled white civil servants to earn more over time than Black civil servants with the same levels of skill and experience. Our <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27798">research</a> provides strong evidence for the discriminatory nature of workplace segregation faced by Black Americans within the federal government.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Home ownership falls in relation to federal segregation policies targeting Black workers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367102/original/file-20201102-13-1bze3ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black workers targeted by federal policies earned less money and had less capacity to own a home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27798">Figure by Aneja and Xu (2020)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research shows that the damage caused by working under discriminatory conditions persisted well beyond Wilson’s presidency. The same Black civil servants victimized by discrimination in federal employment were also less likely to own a home in 1920, 1930 and 1940, almost three decades after Wilson was elected. Moreover, the school-age children of Black civil servants who served in the Wilson administration went on to have poorer-quality lives than their young white counterparts in terms of their overall earnings and quality of employment in adulthood. </p>
<p>This research can help to contribute to the understanding of the roots of economic disparities. A policy of racial discrimination – even if implemented temporarily – has lasting negative effects. A clearer understanding of historical discrimination can help to inform the design of policies aimed at remedying the painfully persistent racial inequities we observe today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guo Xu receives funding from the Hellman Foundation, and the Institute for Research on Labor & Employment, UC Berkeley. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abhay Aneja receives funding from UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. </span></em></p>President Wilson sanctioned segregation policies more than a century ago by targeting Black civil service workers.Guo Xu, Assistant Professor of Business and Public Policy, University of California, BerkeleyAbhay Aneja, Assistant Professor of Law, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1439842020-09-07T11:36:13Z2020-09-07T11:36:13ZWhat the history of diversity training reveals about its future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355576/original/file-20200831-24-1ad14nw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3784%2C2645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Clay Banks/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture a standard corporate meeting room, participants crowded around a video of multi-racial actors acting out hypothetical office scenarios. </p>
<p>They fill out workbooks about racial stereotypes, sit through psychological lessons on prejudice and discuss the recent protests against police brutality on the news. The year is 1992, and although the VHS player and the shoulder pads may be dated, other elements of this scene might be familiar to readers in 2020. </p>
<p>Readers may have sat through diversity training at their workplaces or watched as businesses responded to protests against racism. And as we have in the past when companies were called out for <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-starbucks-unconscious-bias-training-20180417-story.html">racist incidents </a> or <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthumoh/2020/05/05/google-diversity-report-shows-little-progress-for-women-and-people-of-color/#54fabb57207f">homogeneity</a> in the C-suite, we’re once again seeing a call for a familiar intervention to reduce racism: unconscious bias training. </p>
<h2>Skepticism about impact</h2>
<p>As a business historian, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see better training as a proposed solution. Yet activists and scholars in the diversity inclusion world have also expressed <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-fail">growing skepticism</a> about the impacts of unconscious bias training. </p>
<p>What’s missing from the conversation is a historical perspective on how we got here as with diversity training has become the default response. That perspective requires an examination of several strands of 20th-century North American history, including psychology, human resource management and equal employment legislation. </p>
<p>Very few corporate announcements of diversity initiatives explain that these programs were needed because of companies’ histories of discriminating on the basis of race. With the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002764298041007008">mid-1960s</a> introduction of equal employment law and affirmative action in the United States, management positions became a key battleground in attempts to desegregate white-collar work. </p>
<p>Advocates of equal employment in business identified the attitudes of largely white middle managers as particularly important targets for change, given their role in hiring and promotion decisions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in silhouette in a suit stares out an office window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355674/original/file-20200901-18-1d5nzwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The hiring and promotion decisions of largely white middle managers were a focus of diversity training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Diversity training was intended, back then, as an HR intervention to help people adjust to working in newly integrated offices, not to hold companies accountable for previous racially biased policies or incidents.</p>
<h2>The history of diversity training</h2>
<p>Some of the earliest forms of corporate training were mandated in response to employment discrimination lawsuits, as in a 1970s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/255603?seq=1">class-action lawsuit at Xerox</a>.</p>
<p>Over the course of the 1960s to 1980s, corporate training <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jhbs.21992">broadened in scope</a> to target employee personality traits. This time period also witnessed the ascendance of the <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/how-corporations-convinced-us-that-personality-tests-are-fun.html">Myers-Briggs Type Indicator</a>, a personality testing system that became widely used in management training as a way to understand how personality differences affected working relationships.</p>
<p>This diversity training aimed to teach managers a whole host of social and emotional skills necessary to manage others, including the ability to manage and mitigate conflict stemming from racial differences. Training was a part of the burgeoning “<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90462867/why-the-business-case-for-diversity-isnt-working">business case for diversity</a>,” which had diversity experts and executives alike arguing that a diverse workforce provided a competitive advantage to corporations in a globalized economy.</p>
<p>The career of <a href="https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dr-price-cobbs-40">Price Cobbs</a>, a Black psychiatrist-turned-diversity consultant, illustrates how psychology and business collided in diversity training. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-for-the-history-of-science/article/relocating-antiracist-science-the-1950-unesco-statement-on-race-and-economic-development-in-the-global-south/83DC153C208EFC078BAEAEE1130BCA67">In the wake of the Second World War</a>, social psychologists turned to the study of prejudice to explain the horrors of the Holocaust, as well as U.S. segregation.</p>
<p>They identified setting up small groups of 10 to 15 people as an important way to study and change people’s prejudice, developing techniques of unstructured group discussion that continue to be used in diversity training today.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="The jacket cover of Black Rage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=954&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1199&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1199&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355679/original/file-20200901-16-w4ogj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1199&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black Rage detailed the effects of racism on Black psychology.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Inspired by social psychology, Cobbs developed the method of the “interracial encounter group” in 1960s California, and ran weekend seminars to break down stereotypes through sensory awareness exercises and fraught interracial discussions. He co-authored a landmark book detailing the effects of racism <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/10/obituaries/price-cobbs-who-helped-define-black-rage-is-dead-at-89.html#:%7E:text=July%2010%2C%202018-,Price%20M.,%2C%20Pa.%2C%20outside%20Philadelphia.">on Black psychology entitled <em>Black Rage.</em></a></p>
<p>In the next few decades, Cobbs would be hired by the computer firm Digital Equipment Corporation to consult for a program they called Valuing Differences, which paired psychological training approaches with the Myers-Briggs to teach managers how to oversee diverse workplaces. </p>
<p>In the late 1980s, Cobbs also launched a video series called Valuing Diversity and became a popular consultant. By this point, the marketplace for diversity consulting had exploded: new consulting firms sold workbooks, video series and training seminars to corporate clients across North America.
According to his <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/My-American-Life/Price-Cobbs/9780743496223">autobiography</a>, he taught white executives at Procter & Gamble the term “institutional racism.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gdbTJiMwUhQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Price Cobbs and his friend and co-author, William H. Grier, discuss Black Rage. Reelblack.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite his efforts, Cobbs, like other Black diversity trainers, found himself constrained by white institutions and employees. Diversity trainers generally lacked any bureaucratic power within the ranks of the middle managers they were training. </p>
<p>Trainers were also cautioned to avoid upsetting white participants by calling out white racism. </p>
<h2>White backlash</h2>
<p>The white backlash became a theme in the business trade media by the early 1990s, as exemplified in <em>Business Week</em>‘s <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1994-01-30/white-male-and-worried">“White, Male, and Worried”</a> article that interviewed white men worried about diversity training. </p>
<p>Diversity training exercises risked reinforcing and revealing racial stereotypes, rather than breaking them down. One common technique at the onset of diversity training asked participants to list off common racial stereotypes — a technique spoofed in <em>The Office’s</em> “Diversity Day” episode, resulting in a torrent of racist and sexist stereotypes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ePbipufCPYw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Highlights of the Diversity Day episode of The Office. The Office YouTube channel.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More seriously, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/11/business/at-work-battling-sex-bias-in-a-store-chain.html">in one 1988 lawsuit</a>, Black employees of a California grocery store used the stereotypes displayed in training seminars, like “Black females are more aggressive,” as evidence that white managers had blocked promotion opportunities. </p>
<p>It’s this history that explains how psychological approaches and the language of “valuing diversity” became a key part of diversity training that continue to shape training today.</p>
<p>Decades of applying psychology in business to address racism came to a head in the late 1990s, when psychologists developed the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjso.12245">Implicit Association Test,</a> a computer-based test that seeks to measure buried racial biases. </p>
<p>It’s become a core part of unconscious bias training, drawing on the legacy of decades of psychological approaches to racism. </p>
<h2>Double-edged sword</h2>
<p>But the introduction of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/the-limits-of-diversity">diversity training</a> has been a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/the-limits-of-diversity">double-edged sword</a>. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/on-being-included">offered opportunities</a> for people of colour to advocate for more inclusive workplaces. But instead of identifying the specific hierarchies of power and legacies of structural racism, diversity initiatives often emphasized <a href="https://archive.org/stream/ERIC_ED364666/ERIC_ED364666_djvu.txt">a supposedly colour-blind celebration</a> of diversity, detached from power and history. </p>
<p>These programs conflated personality differences with racial differences in ways that ignored the systemic discrimination business practices had perpetuated. </p>
<p>History teaches us that we’ve been trying the same old solutions, ignoring the fact that training seminars were never intended to solve racism. They were intended as human resource interventions at organizations concerned about interpersonal conflicts stemming from diverse workforces.</p>
<p>That’s not to say individual change doesn’t matter, or that training can’t help white people address their own unconscious racial biases. But training isn’t going to fix pay inequities or police brutality. Racist structures weren’t built in a day, and they won’t disappear with a few unconscious bias training seminars. </p>
<p>To be more than window dressing, training must be integrated into other organizational policies that strike at the heart of structural inequality, such as targeted recruitment and mentoring programs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Lussier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Decades of diversity training has been a double-edged sword. It’s offered a chance for people of colour to advocate for more inclusive workplaces. But it’s done nothing to tackle structural racism.Kira Lussier, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Toronto, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1426002020-07-20T11:10:04Z2020-07-20T11:10:04ZElectoral College benefits whiter states, study shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347738/original/file-20200715-19-1uotzk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4920%2C3275&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A congressional staffer opens the boxes containing the Electoral College ballots in January 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/aide-opens-electoral-college-ballot-boxes-during-a-joint-news-photo/631096338">Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>States can force members of the Electoral College to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state’s presidential primary, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/us/electoral-college-supreme-court.html">Supreme Court</a> ruled in 2020. That July decision removed one of the two reasons why the framers of the U.S. Constitution created this election system: to empower political elites who may know more about the candidates than ordinary voters. Now, the founders’ only remaining justification for the Electoral College is structural racism.</p>
<p>Though the Electoral College has changed since it was first used to elect George Washington to the presidency in 1789, my research shows that the system continues to give more power to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2019-0019">states whose populations are whiter</a> and more racially resentful.</p>
<p><iframe id="zZ7wy" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zZ7wy/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Electoral College myths and realities</h2>
<p>The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College in large part because they feared <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2018-03-20/commentary-the-masses-were-never-intended-to-rule">voters would not know all the candidates</a> who would be running for president. In that era, most people never left their home states, so they were not likely to know candidates from other states. </p>
<p>The founders did not <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/11/what-the-founders-couldnt-have-known/382867/">foresee</a> the development of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo11315021.html">political parties</a> and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123406000081">campaigns</a>, which help teach voters about their options. Instead, Alexander Hamilton argued that those serving in the Electoral College would be “<a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed68.asp">most likely to possess the information and discernment</a>” needed to choose a president.</p>
<p>With its recent decision, the Supreme Court has abandoned the possibility that electors might <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/us/electoral-college-supreme-court.html">vote for people other than the candidate</a> who wins the popular vote in their state.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The other reason for the Electoral College was to bridge a major divide among the states: slavery. As James Madison said at the Constitutional Convention: “<a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/debates_630.asp">[T]he great division of interests</a> in the U. States did not lie between the large & small States; it lay between the Northern & Southern” because of “their having or not having slaves.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The original 13 U.S. colonies and their territorial changes from 1782 to 1802." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347733/original/file-20200715-31-1rcxks2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 13 colonies had competing land claims in the early years of the United States.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://totallyhistory.com/thirteen-original-colonies/">Kmusser</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Race in early America</h2>
<p>By the time the founders discussed how to pick a president, they had already made the so-called “<a href="https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/legal/docs2.html">three-fifths compromise</a>,” counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person in the census and allotting seats in the House of Representatives accordingly. That gave Southern slave states an advantage over the Northern states in the House.</p>
<p>Slave states – with many people and with fewer – insisted on the Electoral College to <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/498512-the-electoral-college-is-not-democratic-nor-should-it-be">preserve this advantage</a> to give them a similar advantage in presidential selection. Ultimately, delegates to the Constitutional Convention decided that each state would receive votes in the Electoral College equal to their representation in both houses of Congress.</p>
<p>As a result, after the 1790 census, Virginia got 21 electoral votes and Pennsylvania got 15, though both were home to just over <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.html">110,000 free white male adults</a>, who were then the only Americans allowed to vote. That’s because Virginia had 292,627 enslaved residents, to Pennsylvania’s 3,737, the country’s very first census shows.</p>
<p>Similarly, South Carolina and New Hampshire had <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.html">nearly identical numbers of free white men</a> – right around 36,000. But South Carolina got two more electoral votes, for a total of eight, because more than 100,000 enslaved people lived there, compared to New Hampshire’s 158 enslaved people.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Congressman Samuel Thatcher of Massachusetts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=702&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=702&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=702&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347734/original/file-20200715-19-1umr1cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Rep. Samuel Thatcher, in 1806.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Samuel_Thatcher.jpg">Fevret de Saint Memin/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1803, the 1800 census was about to shift the balance even more toward slave states. Representative Samuel Thatcher of Massachusetts <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RCbXCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA345&lpg=PA345&dq=samuel+thatcher+t%5Dhe+representation+of+slaves+adds+thirteen+members+to+this+House+in+the+present+Congress,+and+eighteen+Electors+of+President+and+Vice+President+at+the+next+election.">complained</a> that counting enslaved people added significant numbers to the slave states’ delegations.</p>
<p>The slavery bonus ensured that the nation’s first 18 presidential elections delivered a <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/slavery-in-the-presidents-neighborhood-faq">slave-owner as either president</a>, <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Richard_M_Johnson.htm">vice</a> <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_William_R_King.htm">president</a> <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_John_Calhoun.htm">or</a> <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_John_Breckinridge.htm">both</a>. Only in 1860, with the victory of Abraham Lincoln from Illinois and his running mate, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, did a team of Northern politicians manage to beat the Electoral College’s skew toward white Southerners.</p>
<h2>After the Civil War</h2>
<p>Following the Civil War, the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-14/">14th Amendment</a> removed the three-fifths clause, and the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-15/">15th Amendment</a> should have protected African Americans’ legal right to vote. But that didn’t fix the Electoral College’s anti-Black bias. It actually made the problem worse, because Southern state governments were happy to get the representation from their large numbers of Black citizens – while <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/white-only-1.html">keeping them from voting</a> through discriminatory practices like literacy tests and poll taxes.</p>
<p>Judicial decisions at the time upheld Jim Crow restrictions on the right to vote, but those practices are <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1958/584">illegal</a> <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-24/">today</a>.</p>
<p>This system benefited the Democratic Party, which was <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1153520">dominant in the South</a>. Republicans tried to counter that power by <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-american-political-development/article/stacking-the-senate-changing-the-nation-republican-rotten-boroughs-statehood-politics-and-american-political-development/76FCAD315F874CADCBC4BA1857D736F1">strategically admitting</a> new states from the Great Plains and Mountain West. In part because of <a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/land-and-the-roots-of-african-american-poverty">racially disparate postwar settlement policies</a>, these states – such as Nebraska, the Dakotas and Wyoming – were unusually thinly populated, heavily white and reliably Republican.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3000%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman looks at papers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3000%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344573/original/file-20200629-155349-g6tthx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Staff of the House of Representatives review Illinois’ Electoral College vote report in January 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/house-clerk-staff-verify-the-official-electoral-college-news-photo/631100318">Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Race and the Electoral College now</h2>
<p>Those statehood decisions made a century and a half ago still reverberate today. <a href="https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/elections/smaller-states-get-bigger-say-in-electoral-college-20161126">States with smaller populations</a> have more electoral votes per resident because, no matter how few people they might have, they still get two senators and one House member.</p>
<p>I recently performed a <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/for/17/2/article-p315.xml">quantitative analysis</a> of race and the allocation of electoral votes. The data indicate that whiter states consistently wield more electoral power partly because of their population.</p>
<p>On average, as a state’s racial composition gets whiter, its electoral power increases. For instance, in 2016, North Dakota was the seventh whitest state and 47th on the list in terms of adult population. It had more than 5.2 electoral votes per million adult residents, when an average state had just 2.2 electoral votes per million adult residents. According to my analysis, a state that is 10% whiter than the average state tends to have one extra electoral vote per million adult residents than the average state.</p>
<p>I also found that states whose people exhibit <a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.3.414">more intense anti-Black attitudes</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/12/15/16781222/trump-racism-economic-anxiety-study">based on their answers</a> to a series of survey questions, tend to have more electoral votes per person.</p>
<p>Statistically speaking, if two states’ population numbers indicate each would have 10 electoral votes, but one had substantially more racial resentment, the more intolerant state would likely have 11.</p>
<p>This is not an ironclad rule, and the inherent bias isn’t always decisive. For instance, Donald Trump owes his presidency to <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-had-a-superior-electoral-college-strategy/">winning Wisconsin</a>, a state that is whiter than the average state, but that has slightly less electoral votes per capita than average.</p>
<p>In addition, the centuries-old racial bias in the Electoral College could disappear with future population changes. Perhaps other states with relatively few people will follow the pattern of Nevada, whose population has recently become larger and more racially diverse. But the Electoral College remains a system born from white supremacy that will likely continue to operate in a racially discriminatory fashion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142600/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Blake does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With a Supreme Court ruling rejecting one of the founders’ two reasons for creating the Electoral College, only one reason remains: racism.William Blake, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.