A major survey into race equality in Britain has revealed that ethnic and religious minorities are suffering from “strikingly high” levels of abuse.
The study, conducted over two years by the universities of St Andrews, Manchester, and King’s College London, found that more than one in three people from minority backgrounds have experienced racially motivated physical or verbal abuse. The research, collated into a book entitled Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis, also highlighted widespread racial discrimination in areas such as work, education, housing, and dealings with the police.
Racism is “part of daily lives”
Nissa Finney, professor of human geography at St Andrews and head of the research project, stated that the study proves that racism is “part of daily lives”. She added that the UK is “immeasurably far” from being a racially just society, stating that the inequality highlighted in the study would not exist if the UK was just.
What survey found?
More than 14,000 people from 21 ethnic groups, including white British, questioned in the survey, which funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The survey found that over a quarter of people from minority ethnic groups had experienced racial insults, with almost one in three experiencing racism in a public place. Additionally, one in six reported suffering racism from neighbors, while 17% had suffered damaged property in racist attacks.
The survey also revealed that one in six minority ethnic and religious groups had been victims of racist physical assault prior to the corona virus pandemic. This figure increased to one in five for Jewish people and more than one in three for respondents from Gypsy, Traveller, and Roma groups. Discrimination in education and employment reported by 29% of respondents from ethnic and religious minorities, with almost a fifth reporting the same in the search for housing.
More than one in five respondents reported discrimination in dealings with the police, with this figure rising to 43% for black Caribbean groups and more than one in three for those from Gypsy, Traveler, and Roma groups. Overcrowding in housing and lack of outdoor space at home also common issues highlighted by the survey, with 60% of Roma families living in overcrowded conditions and a quarter of Pakistani and Arab people reporting the same.
The study’s findings had widely reported and expected to prompt renewed calls for action to address racial inequality in the UK.
