When writing about race relations in the UK,
one is aware of heightened sensibilities and debilitating touchiness. We walk
on egg-shells, not wanting to offend anybody while purveying our version of the
truth in a complex situation. Our society has made enormous strides in
accepting and cherishing our BAME fellow citizens, though many inequalities
persist and opportunities are unevenly distributed.
The UK was deeply involved in Slavery as her merchants
ran the 17th and 18th century African / American slave
trade from Bristol and Liverpool and owned lucrative sugar plantations in many
Caribbean islands. Opinion, led by Evangelical Christians, moved against these
practices and the Slave Trade was abolished in British dominions in 1807 and Slavery
itself was abolished in 1833. Compensation of £20m, a huge sum then, was paid
by the government to the British slave owners. Slavery was abolished in India
and Ceylon 10 years later.
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| Leading anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce (1759-1833) |
In recent days there have been apologies and
promises to spend money philanthropically from the distant descendants of those
implicated in slavery like Lloyds of London, brewers Greene King, Royal Bank of
Scotland, among others. These gestures are well-meant but do not get to the
heart of the matter – how can the lives today of the descendants of slaves, or
those oppressed racially by the British Empire, be improved?
Just to give a context for this discussion, the
UK population (2011 census) totalling 63.1m, in percentage terms is split as
follows:
White British 87.1%
Asian (from Sub-continent and China) 7.0%
Black 3.0%
Mixed race and other ethnic groups 2.9%
100%
As you can see, we are talking about the
interests of quite small minorities, although White British opinion often
supports their cause. Contrast this with the USA which has some 40m blacks (13%
of the population) and 52m Hispanics and Latinos (16.7% of the population) – an
issue of a different magnitude altogether.
After Reconstruction, the Southern States in
the USA institutionalised racial discrimination and denied civil rights to
blacks; progress toward equality had to wait a long time for Lyndon Johnson’s Great
Society in the 1960s. The situation is improving but poorly-trained and
trigger-happy US police are often caught out in brutality. Yet the spirit of
America is inclusive and positive.
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| Eloquent Crusader Martin Luther King (1928-68) |
In Britain, the long-established minority
communities swelled after 1945 with immigration from the partitioned
Sub-continent, the overpopulated West Indies and turbulent Africa, notably
Ugandan Asians arriving with an admirable work-ethic. Immigrants congregated
with their fellow countrymen in Bradford, parts of Birmingham and above all in
London, where the White British population fell to 45%.
The biggest challenge for all these minorities
is poverty, material, educational and aspirational poverty. In both the UK and
the USA impoverished minorities have arrived and prospered. Think of the Jews,
the Irish and the Italians! Hard work, parental encouragement, equality of
opportunity and a generous State will be among the important factors propelling
our minorities to success. Focus on the relevant matters; nothing worthwhile is
gained by “giving the knee” or toppling statues of historic, largely forgotten
gentlemen, whatever the cringing dons of Oriel College, Oxford may think.
Let us rejoice in a society which, within a
generation, has seen two Asian Chancellors, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, a Home
Secretary Priti Patel, a Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and important ministers
Alok Sharma, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Shadow Justice Secretary David
Lammy. Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, is the son of a Jewish refugee from 1938
Czechoslovakia. Quite an admirable and cosmopolitan group!
Even at less exalted levels, the Black and
ethnic minorities of the UK and US are bursting with talent. In the world of
sport, in the performing arts, as TV journalists and in the wildly popular pop
music world, BAME performers have made an immense contribution, cheering us all
up.
We have recently been moved and encouraged by
the actions of black fitness instructor Patrick Hutchinson and four friends who
intervened in a BLM clash with thugs from the racist EDL in Waterloo, South
London. They rescued an EDL demonstrator who was being set upon, and was in
danger of serious injury. Patrick carried the man, draped around his neck to
the safety of police lines.
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| Inspiring Patrick Hutchinson to the rescue |
Bravo, Patrick! You have proved What Really
Matters and inspired the nation.
SMD
19.06.20
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald
2020
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