Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A note on terminology
- Introduction
- 1 ‘Race’ and racism in modern Britain
- 2 Social work, the state and society
- 3 CCETSW’s anti-racist initiative
- 4 Research findings and the implementation of Paper 30
- 5 Implementing anti-racist learning requirements – the importance of the student/practice teacher relationship
- 6 Practice teachers and anti-racist social work practice
- 7 Backlash against CCETSW’s anti-racist initiative
- 8 Conclusion and recommendations
- Bibliography
1 - ‘Race’ and racism in modern Britain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A note on terminology
- Introduction
- 1 ‘Race’ and racism in modern Britain
- 2 Social work, the state and society
- 3 CCETSW’s anti-racist initiative
- 4 Research findings and the implementation of Paper 30
- 5 Implementing anti-racist learning requirements – the importance of the student/practice teacher relationship
- 6 Practice teachers and anti-racist social work practice
- 7 Backlash against CCETSW’s anti-racist initiative
- 8 Conclusion and recommendations
- Bibliography
Summary
Racism continues to blight the lives of the black population in Britain today. It operates in the systematic discrimination which black people face in the labour market, and the housing, education and health services (Solomos and Back, 1996). It is present in the harassment that black people face at the hands of the police and the immigration authorities (Callinicos, 1993), as is evidenced in the fact that black people are more likely to be ‘stopped and searched’, arrested, imprisoned, and even to die in custody than whites, and are likely to be seen as perpetrators of crime even when they are victims (Bowling, 1999; Younge, 2000a). It also rears its ugliest head in the violence perpetuated against black people by racist thugs, shown most graphically in the murders of Stephen Lawrence and Michael Menson, but present on street corners, and in the violence against properties and homes across the country. As CCETSW noted, at the beginning of the 21st century racism within Britain is ‘endemic’.
Institutional racism affects the representation and treatment of black people within a range of state institutions. For example, the 1997/98 Labour Force Survey revealed that:
Unemployment rates were 6% for whites, 8% for Indians, 19% amongst the black community and 21% amongst Bangladeshis and Pakistanis [and that]…. More than 40% of 16 to 17 year olds from ethnic-minority groups were unemployed compared to 18% of their white peers. (The Guardian, 21 February, 2000, p 13)
For those members of the black communities in work, their earnings are likely to be lower than white people in equivalent jobs. The Institute for Social and Economic Research found that between 1985 and 1995:
On average, Pakistani and Bangladeshi men earned just over half the salary of their white peers. (The Guardian, 21 February, 2000, p 13)
Black people are more likely to live in inferior housing in run-down areas (Ginsburg, 1992; Law, 1998), experience higher mortality and morbidity rates (Skellington and Morris, 1992; Blackburn Borough Council, 1996), differential health provision (Skellington and Morris, 1992; Ahmad and Atkin, 1996), and are often subject to differential treatment in terms of educational provision (Troyna and Hatcher, 1992; Gore, 1998).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tackling Institutional RacismAnti-Racist Policies and Social Work Education and Training, pp. 7 - 34Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2000