There is no evidence of “institutional racism” in Britain, although there is evidence that “overt” prejudice exists, the man behind a landmark study set up in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement has said.
Tony Sewell, who is chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic disparities, said while there was anecdotal evidence of racism, there was not any proof that it was structural.
Mr Sewell said there was data to show some ethnic minorities were doing well in the jobs market and in education.
Britain's Labour Party said action was needed to tackle racism, rather than simply another report.
It follows wider discussions around racism following the death of George Floyd last year, subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, elite sports stars taking the knee before football matches, and a claim by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey that a member of the family – not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh – had made a racist comment about their son Archie.
Mr Sewell, a former teacher who grew up in Brixton, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No-one denies and no-one is saying racism doesn’t exist.
“We found anecdotal evidence of this.
“However … evidence of actual institutional racism? No, that wasn’t there, we didn’t find that.”
Repeat findings
Mr Sewell also said the term “institutional racism” was “sometimes wrongly applied” as a “sort of catch-all phrase for micro-aggressions or acts of racial abuse”.
He added: “I don’t want anyone to think this (report) doesn’t deny that companies themselves have to go out and really do better in terms of getting a broader and more diverse workforce.”
Asked whether he was hired by the British government specifically to repeat his previous findings that there was no institutional racism, Mr Sewell – who was chairman of Boris Johnson’s Education Inquiry panel when the now-prime minister was London mayor – replied: “We have some very focused recommendations on changing the landscape for ethnic minorities, and I think that’s the key thing.
“We’ve got to acknowledge that overt racism does exist.”
The report, which will be published later on Wednesday, said there have been improvements such as increasing diversity in elite professions and a shrinking ethnicity pay gap, although disparities remain.
It also found that children from many ethnic communities do as well or better than white pupils in compulsory education, with black Caribbean pupils the only group to perform less well.
And it said the pay gap between all ethnic minorities and the white majority population has shrunk to 2.3 per cent, and is not significant for employees under 30.
The commission said education is “the single most emphatic success story of the British ethnic minority experience” and the most important tool to reduce racial disparities.
Success in education and, to a lesser extent, the economy “should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries”, it added.
It also said that issues around race and racism are becoming “less important”, and in some cases are not a significant factor in explaining inequalities.
Different outcomes are complex and involve social class and family structure along with race, it said.
The report states: “We found that most of the disparities we examined, which some attribute to racial discrimination, often do not have their origins in racism.”
However, it notes that some communities continue to be “haunted” by historic racism, which is creating “deep mistrust” and could be a barrier to success.
The 264-page report makes 24 recommendations, including for extended school days to be phased in, starting with disadvantaged areas, to help pupils catch up on missed learning during the pandemic.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds should also have access to better quality careers advice in schools, funded by university outreach programmes.
And it is calling for more research to examine the drivers in communities where pupils perform well, so these can be replicated to help all children succeed.
The government has report after report after report … what we really need now is some action to implement them
The Commission also recommends that the acronym BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) should no longer be used as differences between groups are as important as what they have in common.
And it calls for organisations to stop funding unconscious bias training and for the Government and experts to develop resources to help advance workplace equality.
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said she had not yet read the full report, but said action was needed.
She told Sky News: “It’s right to recognise that progress has been made and it’s right to celebrate it, but that shouldn’t in any sense mean we don’t see the very real problems in front of us and start to act on them.
“The government has report after report after report … what we really need now is some action to implement them.”
