'UK is far from a racially just society', new study reveals

While the United Kingdom managed to have a Prime Minister of Indian origin, a new study revealed that more than a third of people from ethnic and religious minorities have experienced racism in their day-to-day lives. The survey conducted by researchers from St Andrews Univesity, Manchester University and King’s College London, found that several Britons are facing “strikingly high” levels of abuse that are racially motivated. According to The Guardian, the alarming figures were published in a book called “Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis,” which was released this week. The British news outlet called it the biggest and most comprehensive survey of racial inequality in the United Kingdom in more than a quarter of a century.

“Britain is not close to being a racially just society,”  the two-year research project concluded. The project also urged the British ministers to tackle the “substantial ethnic inequalities” that exist in the country. The figures are jarring since both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom are of Indian origin. According to The Guardian, the new study detailed solid evidence of discrimination and unfairness which directly challenges the findings of the government-funded Swell Report. The government-commissioned report on racial disparities was heavily condemned by the UK MPs in 2021 when it was published. At that time, it was argued that the report downplayed the presence and impact of structural and institutional racism in the country. 

According to a recent survey, almost one in six people of minority ethnic and religious groups had experienced a racist physical assault prior to the pandemic. The figures include more than one in five Jewish people and more than one in three gypsy, Travellers and Roman people. The figures become even more deplorable when it comes to analysing people’s experience with racial insults. More than a quarter of all respondents of the minority groups have experienced racial insults. 17%  of the respondents even claimed that their properties have been damaged due to racially motivated attacks.

‘The UK is far from just society’: Researchers 

The researchers of the two-year project expressed their concern over the deplorable numbers. “The UK is immeasurably far from being a racially just society. The kinds of inequality we see in our study would not be there if we had a really just society,” said Nissa Finney, a professor of human geography at the University of St Andrews. It was Finney who led the survey across the country. However, there were some aspects of the survey which gave the researchers a sigh of relief. According to The Guardian, the survey revealed that despite abundant evidence of racial discrimination and unfairness, the survey found that the vast majority of people belonging to these groups still have a sense of belonging to the United Kingdom along with a deep attachment to their own ethnic identity. The survey also stated that “ethnic minority people tended to trust the UK parliament more than white British people did.” The researchers urged the British government to take the plight of the British minority groups under consideration and take some action over the issue.