The National Assembly Against Racism has today called on the Equalities
Review to completely change its framework and put fighting against discrimination
back on the agenda in what is the biggest shake up of equalities in a generation.
For more information, read the NAAR submission to the review.
Introduction
Racism is one of the most damaging problems in our society today, not only blighting individuals' lives but also damaging the fabric of our multicultural society, increasing inequality and discrimination faced by millions of people living in Britain today. Its expression in all its forms, from racist name calling to racist murders and violence, through institutional racism which leads to the systematic exclusion of Black* communities, must be rejected and challenged, if British society is to be described as an equal society.
The Equalities Review and the Discrimination Law Review are therefore of great interest to the National Assembly Against Racism, as a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to intervene and shape the future of race equality in terms of the ideological framework which will inform the necessary changes in legislation.
It is in this context that the National Assembly Against Racism is extremely disappointed with the entirety of the Equalities Review Interim Report published in March 2006.
The Interim Report must be scrapped
NAAR believes the interim report by the Equalities Review falls far short of setting out an analysis which could inform the Discrimination Law Review, which is run in parallel. There are several reasons why NAAR believes this interim report cannot the basis for the final report due to be published in the autumn and does not provide evidence useful to the DLR in considering the shape and content of a Single Equality Act.
1. The term racism is used once in the whole report: this in itself is an indicator of the lack of importance attached to analysing and identifying racism and its causes. NAAR views the lack of attention to race discrimination to be a major flaw in the interim report, one which distorts the reports conclusions and is manifested in its lack of depth and accurate analysis of the position that millions of Black people find themselves in all spheres of society: employment, education, housing and health to name but a few key questions.
2. Discrimination is not identified as a key cause of inequality. Instead the interim report provides a 'blaming the victim' framework, with for example the tenuous and highly objectionable concept of 'Home Learning Environment'. In fact, throughout the report, it seems much attention has been given to avoid addressing the crucial questions of structural inequality and discrimination, possibly because highlighting these would have to lead to making radical proposals about specific tools to reverse their longstanding impact. Demands for affirmative action and positive discrimination as 'balancing' measures are attacked. NAAR believes that such measures are precisely needed if the cumulative and historic disadvantage is to be reversed and a more equal society created.
3. Measures such as extending the public sector duty to promote equality to the private sector or more robust procurement regulations are ruled out. Again, these types of measures and legislative changes are necessary for any overhaul to provide a marked improvement of the position of Black communities.
4. The interim report suggests there is limited support for equality and therefore resources are also limited, without offering any evidence to back up this assertion. NAAR strongly rejects this view and believes that it is the responsibility of government and all those committed to promoting equality to strongly advocate for equality. This requires the opposite of what the interim report does in conceding to discrimination and demanding the highest level of resources to turn around the deep-seated racism in our society. In fact, as successive opinion polls carried out by the Mayor of London have shown, there is a tremendous amount of support for diversity and multiculturalism, and when strongly advocated for, measures to promote equality are also supported by the vast majority of people.
5. The interim report is largely incomprehensible and inaccessible to the majority of people it purports to relate to. This in itself is a reason to start again, setting up a different framework and build on existing expertise and vast amounts of knowledge.
6. The panel that drafted the interim report lacked sufficient inclusion of those with experience and expertise in any of the equality areas. NAAR argues that for the Equalities Review to fulfil its remit to 'provide an understanding of the long term and underlying causes of disadvantage that need to be addressed by public policy; make practical recommendations on key policy priorities for: the government and public sector; employers and trade unions; civic society and the voluntary sector; and; inform both the modernisation of equality legislation, towards a Single Equality Act; and the development of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights', it is necessary to take on board expert advice from all equality strands including the anti-racist movement and the Black community organisations. The five-person panel - now reduced to four following a resignation - was far too narrow to undertake the work set out in the panel's remit.
7. The contents of the interim report are random and many key questions have been left out. For example it is silent on Black communities and mental health, the criminal justice system, Islamophobia and the Muslim communities, the impact of anti-terror legislation on Black communities and much more. NAAR does not agree that demanding these and many other issues are included in the report is akin to expecting absolutely everything is covered by this particular report and therefore impossible. NAAR believes that either the Equalities Review is truly comprehensive and deals with discrimination as a key driver of inequality or it will simply fail to achieve its declared aim.
8. NAAR's response to the three questions asked at the end of the report are as follows:
• Has the analysis addressed the factors that are most important for life chances across the life cycle?
No. The report has a far too narrow framework, misses the point by not identifying discrimination as the key source of disadvantage.
• Do you agree with the priorities for action set out at page 62? If not why not? These priorities are a random list of issues, not a carefully considered and justified set of key priorities, which will make a difference to the vast majority of people who are affected by discrimination.
• Is the framework for defining and measuring equality set out at chapter 5 an appropriate way of thinking about equality? What might constitute a basket of indicators? NAAR believes this framework is inadequate in that it ignores the impact of discrimination, inappropriate in that it suggests individual life choices and trigger events are at the heart of disadvantage, and dangerous in that it assumes limited support for measures to promote equality. If this is the framework that is used to develop the first shake-up in a generation of equality legislation, NAAR expects it to fail.
Conclusion
NAAR strongly argues for this opportunity not to be missed and the process of drawing up the final report to be postponed in order that a coherent and ambitious framework for equalities is developed. The interim report in its current form is not fit for purpose.
*Black is a political term to highlight the shared experience of racism of African, Caribbean, Asian and other visible minority communities in Britain. It will be used consistently throughout this response unless it is necessary to specify the particular community being referred to.
ALSO see Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's response here.
ALSO see 1990 Trust's response here.