Is Britain A Racist Country?

The European Championships football competition, which ended last weekend, may not have piqued your attention. Even if you aren't a football enthusiast, chances are you are aware of it for some other reason.

More racial insults for the three black English footballers who all missed penalties in the penalty shootout that determined Italy's victory.

I'd want to say it surprised me that as soon as the referee blew the final whistle, the racists and racial keyboard warriors began abusing Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka. That, however, is not the case. I knew what was coming as a football fan and someone who can't stand racism, and I wasn't alone.

The outrage has been universal, ranging from colleagues to previous professionals, through social media, and all the way up to ministers like Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister — but more on them later.

Not long ago, I published an article about "performative allyship," or expressing support for a subject without actually doing anything about it. I'll leave it to you to decide if any of these "solidarity" activities fit into this category.

But the horrible vitriol directed at three of England's black footballers — all heroes on our route to the final, and with many of our goals scored by another black player, Raheem Sterling — prompted me to ask a specific question.

What do the numbers say?

By this time, you could have steam pouring out of your eyes. I'm outraged that I'd ever contemplated asking such a thing. I will state that I am a White British citizen. I'm not pointing a finger from afar because I witnessed the most recent incidence of public abuse, nor am I a victim of racial prejudice.

But let us think about this for a moment and be clear on one issue right now. A country's racism may be systematic, but that does not indicate that everyone in that country is racist. In a similar spirit, it is not correct to argue that everyone who voted for Brexit despises other nationalities; but, anybody who is racist will have voted for Brexit – based on the belief that “Britain is best.” I'm hoping you'll notice something.

• The first of these investigations was commissioned by the UK government, and it highlighted two major points: “While racism and racial injustice still exist, location, family influence, socioeconomic background, culture, and religion all have a bigger impact on life chances.”

• “For certain communities, previous experience of racism still haunts the present, and there was a hesitation to recognize that the UK had grown open and fairer,” says the document's preface.

• “There is still prejudice and racism,” the study and the Prime Minister both conclude, “but [the PM] would not agree that this is a racist country.”

• “Systemic racism is a severe issue, and legislation, institutional policies, and society's norms continue to affect BME groups,” according to data from civil society organizations from 2016.

• Some opponents argue that stoking prejudice is necessary for the Runnymede Trust to continue to operate. When you examine the statistics presented in the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's four-yearly report, I can't accept this stance.

• When compared to white individuals, black people are 18 times more likely to be searched by police.

• Half of the children in jail come from a BME family, with 28 percent of them being black, a 15 percent rise in the previous decade.

• With a “26-year disparity between white and BME persons with substantial and numerous learning impairments,” BME people with learning disabilities die younger than white residents.

• COVID-19 puts black individuals at a far higher risk of mortality than white people.

• The Runnymede Trust's CEO, like the government report's CEO, acknowledges improvement, but the figures remain grim.

You heard it from the top

At this point, a word of caution is in order. If you've read any of my past writings, you already know where I stand on politics. I'm not going to do a 180-degree turn on you here. However, I'd want you to examine a few additional facts in the larger context before considering certain issues.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who commissioned a research concluding that systematic racism does not exist, has a lengthy history of expressing opinions that imply a quite different personal perspective.

Here are some of his "finest moments," in case you forgot.

Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, England players have "took the knee" as a gesture of solidarity for racial equality. A fraction of England's "fans" booed this tactic during a friendly match prior to the European Championships.

What was the government's immediate reaction? Support and condemnation of this behavior without reservation? I regret to inform you that this is not the case. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, referred to the solidarity as "gesture politics," and the Prime Minister said he was "more focused on action rather than gestures."

It's interesting that, following the mistreatment of our footballers, they were so eager to denounce it - possibly to gain political capital? Maybe it's a case of "gesture politics"?

So is Britain racist?

What conclusion did you reach? In my opinion, there are far too many factors that contribute to racism, both structural and via the opinions and practices of people in positions of power.

Is this to say that everyone is racist? Of course not, because believing so would be ridiculous. Take, for example, the neighborhood that Marcus Rashford grew up in banding together to rebuild a vandalized painting dedicated to him. What caused the damage? Because he squandered a penalty kick in England's World Cup final.

But keep in mind that you have a choice if you feel elements of the system you live in are racist or disadvantage a group of people. You may either accept it, do nothing, or participate in the perpetuation of inequity. You may either fight it with action and in ways that bring about constructive change, or you can do both. Racism's spread is not unavoidable.