Black and white thinking

It seems to me there is one big problem with this story on the racial divide in Britain. The Commission for Racial Equality essentially claim that if there is evidence of racial division and inequality, it must be down to discrimination, and that the answer must be therefore to clamp down in some arbitrary way on particular instances of discrimination, and to seek, through bureaucratic and legislative measures, to stop discrimination taking place.

This is wildly simplistic. To my mind discrimination is evidence of another problem: some deeper lack of cultural connection or shared identity. The CRE is doing nobody any favours by banging on about discrimination, which everyone already knows is illegal. What's more, if the racial divide really is "deeper than ever", what does that say for the activity of the Commission for Racial Equality? This report seems to be suggesting that all problems of racial integration in Britain must come down to a matter of law, or a question of proper policing, or the removal of bias from the judicial system. I disagree. For race relations to change in Britain, individuals and communities need to inspect their own attitudes and seek consciously to encounter those of other races. Beyond providing public space, I don't see what government can or should do here.

Tags: racism, relations, britain, cre, commission, racial, equality, race.

Labels: politics, racism