Government's equalities shake up must strengthen not weaken rights

Bellavia Ribeiro Addy, NUS Black Students’ Cttee

The government is in the process of transforming current inadequate equalities legislation and institutions. The process has the potential to allow a once in a generation leap forward, levelling up legislation in all areas to achieve equality including racial equality. However, the government’s proposals have been met with dismay by equality campaigners across the spectrum as they dilute existing safeguards and shift the blame of inequality away from well documented discrimination onto individual choices and ambition. This framework threatens to roll back decades of anti-racist gains. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has slammed the plans as ‘a repudiation of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry’ as they propose to end the positive enforceable duty for public bodies such as universities to promote racial equality - won as a result of the enquiry’s findings of widespread institutional discrimination.

The government must now take on board the positive proposals in submissions to its consultation, including from the NUS, trade unions and equalities organisations.

Earlier in the year, the government decided to abolish the CRE and other equalities bodies and replace them from the 1st October with the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. This new body has no guarantee of Black representation and a weakened remit and budget to tackle racism. The creation of the CRE in the 1970s was a step forward in the anti-racist struggle and its abolition now is a setback.
Students must be vigilant that such attacks on self-organisation do not find their way into the student movement as attempts to abolish or block attempts to create Black Students’ Officers and other liberation positions, and can help in the campaign to ensure legislation against racism in education is strengthened and not undermined.