Dear Runnymede supporter,
The delayed report of the government’s much criticised ‘Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities’ (the Sewell Report) is expected for release today. Ordinarily, such a report would be eagerly awaited by equality campaigners, but not this time. Tony Sewell was not considered a suitable person to chair such a commission, because of his previous damaging comments on race and other equality issues, such as that the inequalities faced by BME groups ‘may in fact have little to do with racism itself’.
The Sewell report is expected to downplay the role of structural and institutional racism, and repeat the myth that the ‘white’ working class are being disadvantaged because there is too much focus on the disadvantage faced by ethnic minority communities. If advice on the use of the term "BAME" is the extent of the Commission's findings, or the most pressing of its recommendations, then Britain's ethnic minority communities are being insulted by this report and its authors. We are at risk of allowing a climate to be created in which even the existence of racism is denied.
We have to be ready to counter the negative impact of the Sewell report, but use it as an opportunity to create a genuine dialogue about race and racism. By responding proactively to the media coverage, we can actually engage people who are concerned about inequality and raise the level of our nations understanding of issues such as institutional racism and inequality of outcomes.
Runnymede has already begun the task of challenging this government’s attempt to suggest that advances for BME communities come at the expense of the ‘white’ working class communities (see our #OneWorkingClass initiative)
We want hundreds of people to share their experience of racism with us, so that we can share them as part of our response. Can you record a short (30 – 60 second) video on your phone outlining either a racist experience you personally have had, a family member/friend has had, or a statistic outlining the prevalence of racism in the UK.
Please email this to Rohini Kahrs, our Communications Officer, uploading your video using wetransfer and copying your link in the email body to [log in to unmask]. Instructions for how to do this can be viewed here. Please contact her with any questions on the video or to know more about the event.
We plan to run a live streamed event (more details to follow) but since we did not know the date of the report release we have just a few hours to gather an audience. Will you help us by committing to promoting the event on your social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc)?
Will you cascade this email on to your networks, or get it circulated via organisations you are a member of?
Twitter: @Halima_Begum | @RunnymedeTrust
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