Disparities in racial progress are getting worse according to a recent report, ‘Black people, racism and human rights’. This report is produced by a committee of mainly Tory MPs and unelected Lords. Despite the hypocrisy that it’s the Tory policies that these MP’s stand for had heled to increase the racial divide, the report forced to acknowledge some of the existing facts about discrimination that exist against Black and Asian in Britain.
Reported by Bharathi
In the months after the Black Lives Matter movement erupted and spilled out on to our streets, the working class, particularly the BAME community, have seen a drastic drop in living standards. Low pay, irregular and zero hour contracts, unemployment, underfunding and privatisation of the NHS, and the shutting down of local services, have all contributed to this.
The report finds that 25% of black voters are not registered to vote. Is it any surprise when the so-called ‘elected representatives’ vote for cuts in parliament and local councils? The report also finds that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been unable to gain trust in tackling racial inequality, and three quarters of black people in the UK do not believe their human rights are equally protected.
This comes as no surprise, especially with the recent government appointment of right-wing writer and journalist David Goodhart, as commissioner at the EHRC. Goodhart is a famous defender of the government’s notorious hostile environment policy. How can Goodhart act to defend human rights when he supports an inhumane policy that makes it difficult for those escaping threatening circumstances to stay in the UK?
When concluding on the statistics on maternal health where there’s a 5 times increase in maternal deaths amongst black women, the report shifts blame on the gravely underfunded NHS in not having a plan in place to achieve reducing this. What utter hypocrisy, when this committee members are the very people voting for funding cut and NHS privatisation resulting in short-staffed and fragmented services!
Even though various reports since 2009 have recommendations addressing racial inequalities in Britain, these have not been implemented. This report’s suggestions are likely to end up as another empty ‘tick box’ exercise. Investigations into why racist divisions exist should be conducted by democratically elected representatives from communities, workplaces and trade unions.
There is a huge gap for real political representation of the whole of the working class. Building such a party, organising in the trade unions, and fighting to raise living standards for all, is the first step to winning improvements for BAME communities. But that needs to be linked to a wider fight for a socialist alternative to this capitalist system that has inequalities rooted in its DNA.
