hankyoreh

Timo Fleckenstein

By Timo Fleckenstein, associate professor of social policy at the London School of Economics

The brutal police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020 shocked many in the United States and across the world. It reignited the Black Lives Matter movement. We saw protests in many cities worldwide, with people from different corners of society participating to express their solidarity with those who experience violence at the hand of the police. This public anger forced the issue of racial inequalities on the agenda of governments in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

While not experiencing the racial tensions we see in the United States, ethnic minorities in Britain continue to experience massive disadvantage in economic and social life. In this context, the UK government, led by conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, established a commission to investigate race and ethnic disparities.

When, in the US, the opening statements were made in the trial against the former police officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd, the UK Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) published its 264-page-long report. Instead of noting the persistence of racism in British society, the report shifts the focus toward geography, family and class, among others, to account for ethnic disparities.

The commission also appears to be pushing back against the argument of institutional racism in British society – widely accepted since the landmark 1999 Macpherson Report. Set up following the police failings in the investigation of a racially motivated murder of a Black teenager in London, the Macpherson inquiry called the Metropolitan police "institutionally racist," adding that the institution failed to "provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin."

CRED instead downplays racism and celebrates advances made in British race relations, and indeed it considers the UK a model for other white-majority countries.

Many have received the CRED report with disbelief. Certainly, social class, for instance, is important when trying to understand racial inequalities, as the theory of intersectionality tells us. However, it is difficult to reconcile CRED's skeptical stance toward institutional racism with the lived experience of ethnic minorities in the UK, where everyday racism is a constant feature.

In London, for instance, young black men are 19 times more likely to be stopped and searched than the general population. Black women are twice more likely to experience a stillbirth than white women, and they are two times more likely to die during pregnancy or labor. Black men and women are about four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. How about education? We find that Black students are the most likely to have their grades underpredicted by their teachers (8.1%), followed by Asian students (6.5%) –only 4.6% of white students receive underpredicted grades.

Other examples of racial inequalities, based on institutional and structural racism, could easily be brought forward. Even the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, cannot escape Britain's racism, as revealed in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The UK government should focus on the lived experiences of ethnic minorities and the massive challenges the country still faces, rather than focusing solely on progress made so far. Britain has a long way to go before it even comes close to being a "post-racial society."

The government should promote a discourse that brings people together, not one that divides them. It should also implement meaningful, progressive social and education policies as goodwill and rhetoric only won't make much difference.

South Korea, unlike the UK, is ethnically homogenous. However, ethnic diversity has been increasing and will increase further – given that approximately one in every 10 marriages involves a non-ethnic Korean spouse. This translates into a rising number of multiethnic children in a country with little experience dealing with ethnic diversity.

The South Korean government recognizes this challenge and has been making efforts. But it should pay close attention to other multiethnic states' mistakes in developing its own strategy to build an inclusive society.

Diversity should not be perceived as a "threat" that needs to be dealt with but as an exciting opportunity for a more interesting, creative and innovative society. Difference is strength.

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