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:

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:

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).