Autumn 2010 Runnymede Bulletin

RUNNYMEDE AUTUMN 2010 / ISSUE 363
girls &
school
exclusion
black
feminism
MINORITY
wOMEN ETHNIC
WOMEN &
WORK
Intelligence for
a multi-ethnic Britain
Runnymede
Bulletin
Dr Rob Berkeley editor’s
letter
Director
Sarah Isal
Deputy Director
Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard
Senior Research & Policy
Analyst
Dr Omar Khan
Analyst
Julie Gibbs
Analyst
Jessica Mai Sims
Research & Policy Analyst
Kjartan Páll Sveinsson
WELCOME to the Autumn 2010 edition of the online Runnymede Bulletin.
Phil Mawhinney
This quarter we shift our focus to women and their organisations. Though
Research & Policy Analyst most of us are still reading the fine print in an attempt to understand exactly
Jacob Lagnado how (badly) we’ll be affected by the Comprehensive Spending Review 2010,
Research & Policy Analyst few doubt that the zealous cuts in expenditure will be felt keenly by women.
Gabriela Quevedo
Four in ten working women are employed in the public sector. Enough said.
Vastiana Belfon Meanwhile women’s organisations in the voluntary and community sector
Real Histories Directory
have already been steadily culled as a result of the economic downturn’s all-
Robin Frampton
Publications Editor round pull on purse strings.
Vicki Butler
Public Affairs Officer
These miserable truths are even more emphatically the case for minority
Klara Schmitz
ethnic women and their organisations. How black women fare in the wider
Project Assistant labour market will be of particular interest in these worrying financial times,
Kamaljeet Gill and is the focus of Omar Khan’s fact-rich piece on page 6.
Project Assistant
Riffat Ahmed Meanwhile Pragna Patel paints a bleak picture for the future of black and
Arts Project Manager minority ethnic women’s organisations, which are widely expected to be
Rebecca Waller
Administrator
among the first casualties of a dearth of funding opportunities (Q&A on
page 22).
Colin Kelly
Business Development
Manager But, before you worry that our ‘women’ issue is to be wholly grim, read about
Nina Kelly the positive work being done to counter health inequalities for black women
Online Editor on page 10. And Ranjit Kaur writes in praise of black feminism from page 8.
Keep an eye out for the sign on the contents page opposite for all our
ISSN 2045-404X
women-related articles and regular features.
The Runnymede Trust,
Sept 2010. Open access,
some rights reserved,
Off theme this month, Vicki Butler explains what the Big Society is all about,
subject to the terms and how equalities may or may not fit in with it, on page 14. While Shamus
of Creative Commons Khan and Casey Stockstill give us the benefit of the US experience of
Licence Deed: Attribution-
Non-Commercial-No localism on page 12.
Derivative Works 2.0 UK:
England & Wales. You are As always, I cannot sign off without thanking all the contributors who have
free to copy, distribute,
display and perform lent us their thoughts, ideas and precious time to make this Autumn 2010
the work (including
translation) without written Runnymede Bulletin happen.
permission; you must
give the original author If you have any feedback or suggestions for our forthcoming bulletins,
credit; you may not use
this work for commercial please get in touch with me at the email address below.
purposes; you may not
alter, transform, or build
upon this work. For more
information please go to
www.creativecommons.
org. For purposes other
than those covered by
this licence, please
contact Runnymede.
Runnymede is the UK’s

leading race equality
thinktank. We are a
research-led, non-party
political charity working
to end racism. Nina Kelly, Editor
[email protected]
Front cover image by Vijay Jethwa at the Bangla Stories launch, July 2010
2 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Contents
14
On the cover 14 big society
What is it exactly, and how might
06 black women & work it affect the struggle for equality?
The facts on minority ethnic
women and the labour market 16 foreign ex-offenders
speak for themselves Vilified by the press, forgotten by
the state and hidden from view:
08 black feminism what becomes of foreign nationals
How much more inclusive will released from UK prisons?
the apparent resurgence in the
feminist movement be? 18 diversity & older people
How financial policy needs to
11 Girls & school exclusion reflect the increasing diversity of
Young women are often forgotten our older generations
in the debate on pupil exclusions
10
20 bangla stories
REgulars A new online teaching resource
focusing on the Bengali diaspora
04 news in brief
A round-up of some of the most A view from...
notable race-related news
24 ...Suffolk
22 Q&A The chief executive of the Ipswich
Pragna Patel of Southall Black and Suffolk Race Equality council
Sisters tells us why black on why race matters in Suffolk
and minority ethnic women’s
organisations matter 25 ...Latvia
With its recent history of Soviet
27 key facts occupation, xenophobic attitudes
Ten facts you ought to know to foreigners are rife in Latvia
about race and women
28 vox pops
How does ‘double discrimination’
16
affect minority ethnic women?
29 reviews
Book reviews and a round-up
from the Edinburgh fringe festival
31 director’s column
Rob Berkeley on trying to engage
20 with the ‘Big Society’ rhetoric
Features
10 breast cancer awareness

How certain groups of women
are losing out on breast cancer
care, and an innovative new
project designed to help
12 localism in the us
What could the UK’s ‘Big Society’
advocates learn from examples
across the pond?
www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 3

news in brief by Sarah Sternberg
International criticism as French

Government removes Roma people
THOUSANDS OF TRAVELLER AND and the EU’s freedom of movement laws must Internationale that he is “worried about
Roma communities have been removed by be respected. the risks of populist provocation and the
French police as part of the government’s new As EU Fundamental Rights Commissioner prompting of certain xenophobic reactions at
scheme to reduce crime associated with this Viviane Reding prepared to report on whether a time of economic crisis.”
ethnic group. the policy contravened EU law, French Human rights groups and the left-wing
More than 186 people were flown to ministers met a selection of EU Commissioners opposition have called the crackdown a crude
Bucharest on just one day in August. This in Brussels on 6 September 2010 to defend and divisive policy being used to bolster the
marked the beginning of a controversial their country’s expulsion of Roma migrants. government’s right wing credentials. Many
‘crackdown’, justified as a means of tackling They insisted that European law had been opposing the expulsions have also been
crime. The deportation, which is part of respected ‘scrupulously’ and that deportations involved in grass-roots activism in the form
President Sarkozy’s new anti-crime initiative, were in keeping with EU rules allowing for the of rallies and protests, with thousands of
is described as a ‘voluntary reform procedure’. free circulation of citizens within the 27-nation demonstrators taking to the streets of more
The intention is to dismantle at least half the bloc. French immigration minister Éric than 100 cities and towns across France.
country’s estimated 300 illegal Roma camps Besson, talking to the International Herald In London, a rally on 4 September 2010
within three months. This year so far more than Tribune, emphasised that those expelled were organised by the Irish Traveller Movement
8,000 individuals have already been deported, targeted because they “posed a threat to public in Britain (ITMB) attracted around 50
with almost 1,000 of the removals taking place order”. However, Reding’s speech, though she supporters, and ended with a delegation of
in August. Although this compared with little has since backtracked on the more extreme demonstrators delivering a petition to the
fewer than 10,000 total removals of members parts of it, was unreserved and comprehensive French embassy.
of the Roma and Traveller community in 2009. in its condemnation of the scheme. Yet almost While much UK media coverage has
Although the individuals in question are 80 per cent of French people polled supported highlighted the injustice of the deportation,
citizens of the European Union (EU), and the deportation, according to a poll taken by little has focused on the experience of the
therefore entitled to live and work in member Le Figaro newspaper and released on 6 August deportees, or of the Bulgarian communities
countries such as France, they are required 2010. It is not known whether supporters that have received them. Boyko Borisov, the
under French law to have a valid permit to may have decreased in number after hearing Bulgarian Prime Minister defended France’s
remain in the country after three months. Each the outcry from the European, and wider actions, after a meeting with ex-Spanish
adult that ‘volunteers’ to return is entitled to international, community. prime minister José María Anzar, but has not
300 euros compensation, while children will In fact, dissent among the international released an official statement on the matter.
receive 100 euros each. community has been rife, with commentators The Roma and Traveller community is
The European Commission has been in France and across Europe condemning the the largest ethnic minority group in Europe,
closely monitoring the expulsions and expulsions. Jean-Pierre Grand, a member of including an estimated 7.9 million people.
commented that, while France does have the the governing UMP Party has compared the There are 15,000 Roma of Eastern European
right to take measures regarding foreigners raids to the round-ups of Jews and Gypsies origins in France. Members of the community
living on their territory, EU law requires that during Nazi occupation. Teodor Baschonsi, still experience high levels of discrimination
each person’s case is dealt with individually Romania’s foreign minister told Radio France and inequality in many European countries.
Campaigners and police in bid to ban racist march

ANTI-FASCISM CAMPAIGNERS AND the march could result in violent civil unrest that occurred in 2001 during the Bradford race
local police were successful in their bid to Despite this, the police and the Home riots was notably absent. Paul Meszaros, of
ban a planned English Defence League (EDL) Office had no authority to prevent the EDL the anti-fascist Bradford Together campaign,
march through Bradford. from holding a protest in which marching was said: “In the face of provocation, the way
Chief constable of the West Yorkshire not an element. all the people of Bradford, particularly the
Police, Sir Norman Bettison, applied to The ‘static demonstration’ that resulted Muslim people, reacted was wonderful.”
Bradford Council requesting a ban for the included 700 activists throwing bricks, bottles The EDL formed in Luton last year and,
march planned on 28 August 2010. The and smoke bombs, fighting with police, and according to the Guardian, has become the
application was also supported by a petition shouting racist chants. most significant far-right street movement in
with 10,000 signatures, handed to home The protest was countered by thousands the UK since the National Front in the 1970s.
secretary Theresa May earlier in the month. of anti-racist activists and local residents, While it purports to be a peaceful, non-
The ban was authorised less than two through events organised around the city. racist organisation opposed only to ‘militant
weeks before the date planned for the march. Thirteen arrests were made following the Islam’, racist behaviour and violence are
The grounds for the ban included the fear that protest, but violence and rioting of the kind recurrent elements of EDL events.

Ethnic minorities
turning from banks
CERTAIN ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS
are less likely to engage with mainstream
banks and other financial institutions than
the white population, according to a report
published by Runnymede.
The report, entitled Saving Beyond
the High Street, reveals that Bangladeshi,
Caribbean and Chinese people are less likely
to engage with formal finance, often because
they lack trust in banks and are reluctant to
get into debt.
Instead, informal community savings
schemes are becoming a popular alternative
for some ethnic groups in the UK. These
more traditional forms of saving, such as
‘pardnas’ (among Caribbean communities),
are typically organised by a group of no
Photo: Steve Cadman
more than 20 people agreeing to save a small

amount of money among themselves, usually
involving relatives or members of close-knit
communities.
While there is no return on the investment
Ethnic minority groups suffer from (savers get out exactly what they put in over
time), such savings clubs are proving popular.
lack of access to green space in UK The self-run schemes are seen by participants
as instilling financial discipline in the saver.
Ethnic minority groups HAVE quarters of white people interviewed. Other forms of financial investment that
a startling lack of access to green spaces Differences between ethnic groups do not involve reliance on banks, such as
compared to white people, a new study are also evident in respondents’ investing in property, are also popular.
has found. comments on how well they were The report found that these alternative
A government report released by satisfied with their local parks and green saving decisions are not necessarily taking
the Commission for Architecture and patches. More than 70 per cent of people place due to poor financial understanding, but
the Built Environment (CABE) in July in affluent, predominantly white, wards are rather the result of a perception that banks
2010 revealed the disparity between UK are satisfied. This compares with only 50 are insecure or unethical. This perception,
residents of different races. per cent of satisfied residents in wards according to Runnymede’s research, has
In areas where residents are almost where more than 40 per cent of the become more widespread following the
entirely white, there is 11 times more population are from BME groups. banking crisis. The report recommends
green space than in areas where 40 The research has received attention in that, in response, banks need to to consider
per cent of residents are from black or the public policy and academic spheres. how to extend their support and expertise to
minority ethnic (BME) groups. There Danny Dorling, professor of human community and local banking.
is also a discrepancy in the quality of geography at Sheffield University, Runnymede director Rob Berkeley said:
green space UK residents of different comments that the report ‘shows that the “We now appreciate more than ever the
ethnic backgrounds can expect to have inequality in provision of green space is central role that banks play in providing
access to. even worse than inequality in schooling, access to money for investment, but for some
The study draws on a number of housing, jobs and health’. communities banks fail to offer appropriate
themes around the provision of green Recommendations from report services, meaning that they miss out on
space, including investigating survey authors CABE include local authorities custom, but also that some groups may be
respondents’ attitudes to the use of it. working with voluntary groups to make missing out on investment opportunities. To
Interesting findings included feelings it easier for people to improve the green serve all parts of society banks should do
of safety, with only half of Bangladeshi spaces on their doorsteps and allowing more to reach out, or alternative solutions
people reporting feeling safe in their more scope for communities to take over must be found.”
local green space, compared with three temporarily vacant land.
The full report is available to download for
free at this link: http://bit.ly/savingsreport

How do black women
fare in the job market?
Omar Khan examines the statistics representing black and minority
ethnic women’s chances in the labour market. While this group reports
a diverse set of experiences, overall there is a disappointing trend
B
lack and minority ethnic (BME) Data on employment in the UK distinguishes Nonetheless, more women are inactive
people and women generally have employment, unemployment and inactivity. than men, and this raises the wider question
worse experiences in the labour ‘Inactive’ people are not actively seeking of expectations for different genders. For
market, whether in terms of their work, either because of caring responsibilities, many years research has shown that people
employment rate, earnings, promotion, because they are studying, or because they treat male and female babies differently, and
or experiences of discrimination. Black are disabled or unable to work. ‘Unemployed’ this continues throughout childhood and into
and minority ethnic women are therefore statistics therefore refer to people actively early adulthood, particularly in education.
particularly disadvantaged in the labour seeking employment, and the rate for BME For example, at age 16 boys and girls choose
market. However, the experience of these women is currently 13.5%, which is 6.3% subjects at a similar rate: girls represent 52%
women differs significantly across different higher than for females overall. The groups of pupils studying English literature, 51%
sectors and ethnic groups. with significantly higher unemployment rates studying a science double, 50% studying
Most of us consider our job to be one are Pakistani/Bangladeshi women (19.8%) and mathematics, and 46% studying design &
of the most important parts of our lives. black African women (18.0%). technology. By A-level (age 18), however, 71%
National statistics on unemployment, working In general women have higher levels of of students taking examinations in English
conditions, and wages have become the crucial economic ‘inactivity’ than men, in large part literature are women and 76% of students
indicators to the relative ‘success’ of a country. due to caring responsibilities. However, the taking physics are men; at higher education the
Work has become the predominant way of figures vary considerably for different ethnic numbers are more extreme when 82% of those
measuring people’s contribution to society, groups. While the overall female inactivity rate studying education (teaching) are women and
and indeed their own self-worth, meanwhile is 25.8%, it is one and a half times this number 86% of those studying engineering are men.
women have increased their participation in the for ethnic minority women at 39.6%; roughly For apprenticeship courses the segregation
workforce. Women’s wages and the diversity four in ten BME women are economically is greater still, with nine in ten in health and
of their work experience have also expanded inactive. Within these percentages, however, social care, hairdressing, and early years care
significantly. This has resulted from genuine the numbers of inactive for different ethnic and education being women. In contrast, at
struggle on the part of many women (and groups vary significantly. For Pakistani least 97% of those doing an apprenticeship
men), acting both individually and collectively (62.2%) and Bangladeshi (58.7%) women, in engineering, the automotive industry,
to ensure fairer access to employment. the figure is much higher than the next highest construction, plumbing and the electro-
However, it is widely understood that ethnic group (Other Asian at 40.1%). technical industry are men.
whatever success women have achieved in the Having set out the headline figures it is Some argue that women’s ‘preferences’
labour market, a significant ‘pay gap’ persists worth trying to explain them in further detail. explain the pay gap, as they are less likely to
in every sector of the economy, and for every Starting with the last point, some black and want to work in high-pressure jobs with long
level of skill and talent. Black and minority minority ethnic women are particularly likely hours. If it is true that women prefer socially
ethnic people experience a similar gap, and so to be economically inactive, meaning that useful work in care professions and jobs with
it is hardly surprising that black and minority they are not seeking a job. This is most likely flexible hours and more scope for better work-
ethnic women are generally disadvantaged in because they are carers, many of them raising life balance, there is increasing recognition
the labour market. children. It appears that for some groups, and in that men would also benefit from similar work
According to the most recent data (from particular Bangladeshi and Pakistani women, conditions and flexibility. It is not obvious why
the second quarter of 2010), the female the value of family life currently trumps their these jobs should have lower rates of pay.
ethnic minority employment rate is 52.3%. participation in the labour market. Of course it It is hard, however, to sustain the argument
This represents a gap of 16.5% compared to is also true that these same women also have that women’s unequal outcomes can be
women generally, and 15.7% compared to men the highest unemployment rates, meaning explained wholly by their different preferences,
from ethnic minority groups. These gaps have that inactivity rates alone cannot explain their especially given that at age 16 males and females
declined only slightly over the past five years. labour market position at the bottom of the pile. study courses at roughly similar percentages,
Among BME women, black Caribbean Indeed, these high unemployment rates may but that university subject choices were heavily
(64.0%) and Indian (64.4%) women have the convince Bangladeshi and Pakistani women skewed. Is it likely that so few women do not
highest employment rates, while Pakistani that they cannot get a job easily or fairly, which like or have any interest in jobs in engineering,
(29.6%) and Bangladeshi (35.0%) have the could result in more of these women choosing the automotive industry, construction, plumbing
lowest employment rates. to be ‘inactive’ for that very reason. and the electro-technical industry? Should

feature
Photo: Vijay Jethwa

we interpret these outcomes as examples of a of these strategies over the other, but this As with women generally, BME women
person’s ‘preferences’ or as a ‘constraint’ on difference does matter in thinking about, for are particularly under-represented in positions
their opportunities? example, caring responsibilities. Women suffer of power. This includes in the financial sector,
As with women generally, BME women are a significant disadvantage in the labour market where there is a very large pay gap for women
more likely to work in particular industries. following the birth of their first child, and this overall. There are only four minority ethnic
As with their male counterparts, Bangladeshi often persists over time. Evidence suggests women directors in the FTSE 100, or 0.4%
and Chinese women are much more likely to that more highly educated women who return of the total. There are only ten BME female
work in the distribution, hotel and restaurant to full-time work do not suffer this penalty as MPs (about 1.5%), though this is a significant
industry, according to the Office for National much as less-educated women. Policies that improvement from two in the last parliament.
Statistics (ONS). might respond better to maternity leave, or Only 1% of all councillors are women from
Further statistics from the ONS reveal even adopt more generous parental leave for an ethnic minority background and only one
that two in five Chinese women and one in both parents, could potentially alleviate some high court judge. In the media, academia, the
three Bangladeshi women worked in this of this disadvantage. voluntary sector, and the arts, while women
industry in 2004, compared with one in five This raises another point: that women’s may do well at lower levels of the job scale,
of all women in employment. Half of black experiences, including among ethnic minority they become increasingly less common higher
Caribbean and black African women (54% women, are not all the same. For example, up, with ethnic minority women particularly
and 52% respectively) worked in the public black women of Caribbean or African heritage under-represented.
administration, education or health sector. have a higher hourly wage than their male Although black and minority ethnic
Indian, Pakistani and black African women counterparts. This is partly explained by women have a diverse set of experiences,
were around four times more likely than white the low wages of black Caribbean and black they are significantly disadvantaged in the
British women to be working as packers, African men, but also indicates the relatively labour market. No group earns the median UK
bottlers, canners and fillers. better position of some black women. In this wage, and all groups have lower employment
If minority ethnic women’s concentration context, it is perhaps worth noting that many rates than men. Responding to these gaps is
in these sectors is really down to their more black women are single mothers, so their a challenge, and requires policymakers to
preferences, must we conclude that Chinese apparent success in the labour market may not challenge both racism and sexism.
women particularly like working in catering, or mean that they have higher levels of wellbeing. There appear to be particular biases about
that black African women are four times more Given the lack of good public provision of the competencies of some ethnic minority
keen to work as packers, bottlers, canners and childcare, the high cost of private care, and women that prevent them from advancing
fillers? This raises a fundamental question when many men’s unavailability to help in parenting further. However, there are also wider social
addressing current labour market disadvantage. responsibilities, black women are particularly and cultural expectations about the role of
Should we focus on ensuring that employers vulnerable to reductions in benefits. women that make it difficult to tackle labour
treat existing and future female staff equally, Black and minority ethnic women, as with market disadvantage in one neat policy. Unless
raise their pay and status? Or do we need to BME employees generally, are more likely black and minority ethnic women become
change deeper social expectations about gender to be in low-paid jobs. Half of Pakistani and more likely to occupy a more diverse set of
roles, both inside and outside the job market? Bangladeshi women have net incomes below jobs in the future, including more powerful
We obviously do not have to choose one £100 per week, for example. ones, pay gaps will persist.

Black women have always had
a role in feminism, if not a voice
Originally published in the Women expertise gained through their work in the communities
affected. Equally worrying is the accusation that some black
Resource Centre’s Source, here women’s groups are beginning to behave similarly towards
other black women’s groups. An example of the former
Ranjit Kaur outlines her hopes for was the funding crisis at Southall Black Sisters (SBS) and
their legal battle with Ealing Council, which threatened the
an inclusive brand of feminism organisation’s core services (see page 24 for an interview with
Several new books about feminism have been published SBS trustee Pragna Patel). Thankfully, and unsurprisingly,
recently, such as The Equality Illusion, by Kat Banyard. SBS won the case securing a landmark decision not just for
Coupled with the creation of a plethora of new websites themselves, but for the whole of the voluntary sector. What
dedicated to discussions about feminism, this has led to is shameful is the fact that while they were busily involved in
claims that we are experiencing a new surge in feminism. this campaign, another women’s group saw fit to approach
Ealing Council and offer to take over the services. Such
For those of us who have spent the majority of our lives, time unsisterly and predatory behaviour reinforces the view that
and energy arguing and campaigning for equality and human some mainstream women’s groups only pay lip service to the
rights, any surge in feminist activity is very welcome. This is notion of an inclusive women’s sector.
especially pertinent at a time when our hard-earned rights
are under growing threat, and funding to the women’s sector Women’s issues not a priority
is likely to be cut, further threatening the existence of many
worthwhile and important projects for women. However, one Within the black community too, women’s issues are often
concern I do have is whether the feminist movement has forced down the agenda. Yasmin Rehman, women’s rights
learnt lessons from the past and whether it can be said to campaigner and chair of Domestic Violence Intervention
be truly inclusive in reflecting the needs and aspirations of Project (DVIP) and formerly the most senior Asian woman in
black women. policing in the United Kingdom illustrates the problem when
she says:
Lack of diversity in the women’s movement
“I do think there is a resurgence in feminism but this
From my discussions with other black feminists, it is clear resurgence is limited to white women. Black women’s
that they do not believe that the women’s movement has issues are again being subsumed in the wider debates
actively engaged them or is that interested in their issues around guns, gangs, youth crime and of course the counter
and views. In researching this article, I was given numerous terrorism debate. It’s a repeat of the 1970’s - black women
examples of how black women feel marginalised by the key are campaigning with black men on these wider issues while
issues that are being promoted as the so-called modern issues affecting women are suppressed until a later date.
‘feminist agenda’. A common theme was how the feminist The policy of divide and rule has succeeded. Where we once
movement continues to fail to recognise that the experiences all stood together as black sisters we are now so divided by
of black women in relation to sexism and violence differ in ethnicity, faith,etc. This silences the possibility of a collective
comparison to those of white women and how the impact of voice and makes the battle for funding even more difficult
racism and social class are conveniently ignored. and intense - pitting sisters against sisters.”
As Jocelyn Watson, a black lesbian socialist activist, put it However, there is also a feeling that the reason we have not
to me: seen a resurgence in black women’s activism is because
black women have never stopped fighting to secure equality
“In these times of global economic crisis it is crucial that the and their basic human rights on a number of fronts. Talk
voices of the most marginalised in society – black and minority of resurgence implies that something had become less
ethnic women, disabled, elderly, refugee and asylum seeking important or extinct. Being complacent has never been an
and impoverished women are heard, listened to and supported option for black women. It is no coincidence that the leading
in their struggles by feminists throughout the world”. women’s campaigning group in the UK today is SBS as
evidenced through their successes and public acclaim.
An unwelcome consequence of the funding crisis has been Nor is it a coincidence that the Million Women Rise Coalition
the accusation that some mainstream women’s groups are (MWR), one of the most successful feminist movements since
behaving unscrupulously in competing with black women’s the suffragettes, is largely driven by black women. Sabrina
groups for funding on issues such as forced marriage and Qureshi, MWR coordinator said:
honour crimes. Historically, these are areas where it has been
generally accepted that black women have unparalleled “I did not learn about feminism through books. I learnt it

feature
Photo: Courtesy of the Women’s Resource Centre

Southall Black Sisters
and supporters celebrate
their High Court victory
through life and through my own experiences I learnt it what is said and it results in tangible change.
through the experiences of my mother and grandmother and
other black women and their mothers’ and grandmothers’ Susana Klien, Head of Programmes at Womankind
experiences.” Worldwide and former director of Latin American Women’s
Rights Services offers the following advice:
Exciting times for black women “The women’s movement and women’s organisations need
to work on inclusiveness and have a political analysis of
These are interesting times for black women. Diane Abbott poverty, disempowerment and women’s rights. Women,
is standing for the leadership of the Labour Party; Oona King in particular the poorest, face multiple discrimination.
is hoping to stand as the Labour candidate in the London You can’t see gender as the only cross cutting issue. In
Mayoral election and a record number of black women order to engage and really be inclusive you need to be
were elected to parliament at the recent general election. open to be challenged, you need to be open to have your
Film director Pratibha Parmar will be releasing an updated assumptions on how the world should be challenged, and
version of her film A Place of Rage at the end of this year. you need to listen. You need to be aware of multiple ways in
The film focuses on black American feminists Angela Davis, which you exercise power, even in your relations with other
Alice Walker and June Jordan. The updated version looks at organisations. And be clear if you want your agenda to be
how these women, along with Rosa Parks and others, played pursued, or you are prepared to develop a joint agenda with
a significant part in events leading to the eventual election of points for agreements and disagreement, but a joint agenda
the US’s first black president. Many black feminists, myself that may allow collective action.”
included, have been greatly influenced by the work of black
American feminists and the release of the film in the UK will So, what is my dream for the future? I would like to see the
be welcomed. women’s movement develop a greater sense of genuine
solidarity and sisterhood, and in all its diversity attempt to
So where do we go from here? How can we ensure that the develop a joint agenda, enabling collective action based on
women’s sector and feminism generally reflects the interests mutual respect.
of the widest and most diverse audience of women? Although
I have focused on black women in this article, my question
also relates to the involvement of disabled women and LGBT Ranjit Kaur is a freelance consultant and fundraiser. She is
women. A good start might be for some kind of conference the former director of Rights of Women, an advice centre
or event where black women can expand on their concerns. and research organisation committed to informing and
This will only work if everybody else listens, takes on board empowering women regarding their legal rights.

Short stories for longer lives
Gemma Novis and Sarah Sternberg report on a scheme to increase
minority ethnic women’s chances of survival from breast cancer
Women meet for a breast screening.”
chat about health
over a cup of tea
Following the success of the workshops,
there will be an event held at Lewisham
Civic Suite on Friday 1 October 2010 for
the women involved to share their stories
with a wider group of women in the
community.
The project is also having an impact

on the wider work of the NHS. A series
of focus groups held with local women
revealed feelings that current publicity
materials for screening did not relate
Photo: Amy Gwatkin on behalf of NHS Lewisham
to black women. Participants claimed

that the types of images and wording
often used were at odds with the lived
experience of black women. Several
women from these initial focus groups are
now involved with producing images that
they feel black women will connect with,
thereby encouraging them to see breast
screening as significant to them.
A new project using oral storytelling between 45 and 70 in a number of training

to encourage black and minority sessions. Promoting breast checking and Fact box
ethnic (BME) women to attend breast awareness of physical changes plays
cancer screening appointments has a large part in the focus of the project.
A 2008 study including 35,000
been launched in south east London. Storytelling has emerged as a means of
women found that 17% of
The initiative, a local response to the comfortably communicating experiences,
Pakistani women and 15% of black
Department of Health’s Pacesetters with discussions focused around the
Programme aimed at reducing health potential barriers that prevent some BME African women were diagnosed
inequalities, is based in Lewisham. women from attending breast screening with breast cancer that had spread.
appointments. Facilitated by project This compared with 7% of white
The aim of the project is to address workers, the sessions also benefited women, who were nonetheless the
inequalities in diagnosis and treatment of from the insight of leading storyteller, group most likely to be diagnosed
breast cancer among BME women. This Jan Blake, who has been performing with the disease overall. (Cancer
follows a report by the National Cancer internationally for more than 20 years. Research UK)
Equality Initiative, which revealed that The storytelling sessions also provide
women from black and minority ethnic an opportunity for participants to share Many UK cancer registries did
groups are more likely to visit a doctor for their concerns about healthcare with not start collecting data on
the first time with more advanced breast medical professionals. The supportive patients’ ethnicity until very recently.
cancers and have poorer survival rates environment that is created allows women Some studies that have been done
than white women. Patient surveys also to share their stories in a safe space, free on ethnic differences have used
show that BME groups in general report from any discrimination or prejudice. so-called ‘dirty data’.This involved
a worse experience of cancer treatment the ridiculous practice of making
and care than non-minority groups. One participant in the project said: “I assumptions about people’s
have been able to address my own fears ethnic origins on the basis of their
The three-month programme, called and anxieties around breast screening,
postcode or surname. (BBC News)
Women Opening the Pathway to a something I previously didn’t want to even
Healthy Life, has engaged black African think about. I now feel more confident
and black Caribbean women aged to be able to talk to other women about

Excluded from the debate
Audrey Osler looks at young
girls’ absence, both from school
and from the wider debate about
pupil exclusions
The issue of school exclusions is one that highlights the ongoing,
deep-seated and savage inequalities that remain in our school
system and in British society. A society like ours, in which
debates on race inequality are often muted or marginalised,
might be predicted to have a school system that reflects rather
than challenges racism in society.
Parents sometimes assume that high exclusion rates
reflect a school that is strong on discipline, whereas there
is growing evidence that exclusion is used as an alternative
Photo: Shaindlin
form of selection, and that an individual’s chance of being
excluded depends less on race, gender or class, but more on
the particular school that he or she attends. There is therefore
much to be learned from those schools and local authorities
that have zero or low exclusion rates. community, in their nation and across the globe. This implies an
Debates about school exclusion have tended to focus on education system which educates against racism and for social
official exclusions (those that are recorded), both permanent justice. It also implies an education system that is accessible
and fixed-term. Yet there is evidence to suggest that unofficial to all on the basis of equality. The disproportionate exclusion of
exclusion continues to be a very serious problem that official any group of young people by race or ethnicity (and the failure
statistics tend to hide. Recorded exclusions appear to be the to provide alternative education for those who are excluded) is
tip of an exclusion iceberg, reflecting wider issues of student in contravention of children’s human rights. Since we have failed
control, institutional racism and also interpersonal racism and as a society, and as an education community, over a number
bullying, faced by those young people perceived by their of decades, to operate a system of school discipline that uses
peers to be different. These include those of mixed heritage exclusion as a form of punishment, in a way that secures
and lesbian and gay students. We know from official statistics children’s right to equality and to education, there is a strong
that students of mixed heritage are particularly vulnerable to argument for abandoning the practice altogether.
exclusion. Yet when students are asked to self-identify, my The racist stereotype remains of the young black man who is
research has shown how mixed heritage is itself often under- perceived as a threat to the wider community, whereas young
recorded. black women are often portrayed as educational successes.
Perhaps no one understands the patterns of student It is important that we highlight black educational success
behaviour and student discipline better than those who are among both girls and boys, since it challenges stereotyping
subject to it. Research that focuses on student perceptions and may also reveal ways in which individuals may effectively
of discipline challenges some commonly held assumptions. counter racism in their education and in their working lives.
Many students who are considered troublesome or who take Nevertheless, young black women of Caribbean descent
up a disproportionate amount of teacher time and energy (like their male peers) remain under-represented in the most
are being excluded or are choosing to self-exclude. Ofsted prestigious universities and like all women, go on to suffer a
has noted how the typical profile of a black student who is gender penalty in the employment market.
excluded is different from that of his or her white counterparts. In discussions of school exclusion, as in other areas
Black students are more likely than white to be excluded for of social policy, girls and young women of colour remain
‘challenging behaviour’. invisible. If the discussion is about gender or class inequality,
Girls are much less likely than boys to be officially excluded it is generally assumed to be a discussion about white people.
from school and therefore have often been overlooked by school But in discussions about race, young black women are also
authorities, research-funders and those who offer alternative overlooked, since they are considered to be less of a problem
education. Yet girls report high levels of self-exclusion, bullying than their male peers.
and violence (including racist violence) in schools. These Where, then, do young black women fit into the picture?
experiences, which often go undetected by adults, lead to self- Sadly, young black women, like young black men, are still on
exclusion in many cases. the receiving end of racist stereotyping in the debate about
Children and young people in Britain are entitled, under the school exclusions. They are most likely to come in for criticism
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to education that when researchers look for family-based explanations for the
is accessible to all. Under the convention children’s education disproportionate exclusion of young black males. Then black
must prepare them to live in a multicultural society and in an mothers are the ones who are required to shoulder the lion’s
interdependent world, in the spirit of solidarity with others in their share of the blame.

Dangers of localism
As the UK’s coalition government pushes ahead with its Big Society
agenda, power may well be devolved to a more local level, encouraging
political participation. Shamus Khan and Casey Stockstill of
Columbia University look at how this type of ‘localism’ has played out
in the US. By using real world examples that have parallels in the UK,
they warn against the pitfalls of this approach
As our nations have grown, economies its impacts on political life on a broader addressed? What issues are excluded?
changed, and communities transformed, scale. While we share in the hopeful And most importantly, how does localism
so too has concern about the narrow promise of localism we also worry about a affect advantaged and disadvantaged
characteristic of political power. Few of darker side. Drawing on lessons from the communities respectively?
us are involved in making the decisions United States, it is reasonable to suggest
that affect us, corporate actors are taking that if localism is not combined with The insight we seek to provide here
over and we are losing control of our national standards for, and commitments is a straightforward one: if political
collective governance. to, equality, it is likely to aggravate social participation increasingly moves to the
problems. The cost of vibrant local local level, and if local communities
Recently a potential saviour has political life could be increasing racial are not representative of the national
emerged, particularly in the US: localism. and economic inequality. population, then politics can become
The basic premise of localism puts local increasingly particularistic and interest-
issues in the hands of local people, with One of the sources of these worries based. Within racially, economically,
smaller governing bodies weilding power is that communities tend to be more and religiously segregated communities,
over their local areas. In practice, this homogeneous than the nation as a such local politics is likely to lead to
means decisions being taken at local whole. Though patterns of residential ignorance around issues that do not
government level, rather than being segregation are far more pronounced influence local communities. It is also
likely to lead to a ‘political community’
– those who have the power to govern
The cost of vibrant local political locally – that is unrepresentative of the
nation at large, particularly in terms of
life could be increasing racial and race and social class. This would lead
to a further disempowerment of the most
disadvantaged citizens. The cost of local
economic inequality democracy might be national equality,
unity, and identity.
handed top-down from the nationally in the US than the UK, Britain still
elected state. experiences considerable segregation by
Schools as an example
community. While the ethnic experience
Let us explore an example to show that
Whether it is how we run our children’s in Britain is varied, ethnic minorities are
these worries are not simply theoretical.
schools, where we buy our food, or concentrated in a few central cities, and
The case we take up is one that has
how we decide about the location of the most disadvantaged (Pakistanis and
been the most triumphant instance of
bus routes, localism is seen to have the Bangladeshis) tend to experience the
localism in the United States, and one
promise of reforming our communities highest levels of residential segregation.
that will resonate with British readers:
by re-engaging our citizens in political
schooling. The Charter School movement
life. The reason for this hope is simple
enough: people have interests in their
Segregated communities is representative of the localist impulse.
These schools receive public money,
own local communities. Working on
The spatial distribution of minority ethnic but do not have to follow the same
this smaller scale, people have greater
people and the high levels of economic curriculum as other state-run schools,
capacity to bring about change, thereby
segregation in Britain affect how we in exchange for producing certain
make their lives better and their political
might view localism. Let’s simply accept, results. This initiative frames itself as
commitments stronger.
uncritically, that localism increases offering ‘school choice’ and so creating
political participation. We must ask, competition within, and improvement of,
The darker side of localism through such a local orientation, who do we national education. Today more than 1.5
think of as part of our political community? million American children are enrolled in
Yet before we commit ourselves to the How does that community define the some 5,000 charter schools, many set
promise of localism, we must consider range of political problems that must be up by teachers or parents unwilling to be

feature
restricted by national teaching policy. because of problems of access. neighbours, localism perpetuates the
Participation in local politics requires assumption that disadvantaged citizens
Those that run charter schools can design time, knowledge and interest in politics have had ample opportunity to make
school programmes to meet the needs of
their children and students. The result has
been an erosion of broad-based political
movements for national equality through
The most disadvantaged ethnic
support of more individualistic drives
towards ‘competition’ and ‘choice’. As minority communities tend to
scholars have shown, such competition
has led to a ‘dumbing down’ of education
and teaching that emphasises testing
experience the highest levels of
over knowledge. Such choice has
worked to drain the political power of less residential segregation
advantaged communities by creating
incentives for the best students and their
families to exit failing schools. Charter and an established sense of power. In changes for themselves. Significant
schools represent giving up on national all communities, even well-integrated improvements for the economically
standards for education in favour of the ones, research has shown that the disadvantaged are unlikely because
interests of a smaller group. most disadvantaged people in the of the relative powerlessness of local
neighborhood are the least likely to governments in the UK and the lesser
While some local families and hedge participate in local politics. likelihood of participation from the most
fund managers have been quick to jump disadvantaged. Yet, under the structure
upon charter schools as their saviour and The stratification of political participation of widespread localism, active citizens
embrace the principles of choice and is mostly the result of differences in civic can claim that inequalities only persist
competition, the results of these schools skills. Skills like confident public speaking, because the most disadvantaged are
could not be described as anything but letter writing, and communication within apathetic or make poor decisions.
a failure. The only major study of charter a group are honed through schooling, at Localism not only exacerbates
schools found that while 17 per cent of church, and in the workplace. It is not by inequality in participation, but also
charter schools gain higher student test virtue of economic disadvantage alone prevents the larger political community
scores than their local public schools, that these citizens have significantly from addressing the issues of the
46 per cent had equivalent scores, and fewer opportunities to build civic skills, disadvantaged. Instead of increasingly
37 per cent were significantly worse. but also because of the strong correlation engaged and responsible citizens,
Charter schools have also drained state- between low economic status, unskilled localism can produce self-interested and
run schools of economic resources. jobs that do not nurture civic skills and homogenous local political communities.
Further, the charter school scheme has low educational attainment. The extra
led to a decline in communities’ social layer of difficulty that the lack of these
skills places on disadvantaged citizens is How to increase participation
resources, as more engaged citizens are
seduced by the opportunity to influence a roadblock to all political participation,
but to local politics especially. And so, If we do not focus on localism, then, where
the schooling of their own children should we place our efforts as we work
towards a more engaged and vibrant
The greater the degree of income

political life? Put simply, research shows
that political engagement and economic
equality go hand in hand. The higher the
inequality, the less likely people are degree of income inequality, the less
likely people are to participate in civic life.
to participate in civic life

We should stop obsessing over localism
and start working on inequality. The UK
has the lowest levels of intergenerational
mobility in the industrialised world, and
the growth of localism is incompatible its levels of inequality are near those
rather than paying into the pot. And of the US (which is to say, they are
most importantly, it has led communities with the increased political participation
of the disadvantaged. At the local level embarrassing). As inequality declines,
to give up on national commitments political participation increases. And the
to equality and to give in to their own it will still be the advantaged who rule,
and we have seen a clear example of this worries we express about differences
individual interests in advancement. between the political capacities, power,
within American charter schools.
and interests of the advantaged become
Forgotten groups less pronounced.
Assumptions of apathy
We can also see here that the expected Reviving our political communities does
empowering effects of localism in Despite the fact that the most not require a new saviour; it requires
politics are unlikely to extend to the disadvantaged people are not as able one of the simplest yet hardest to realise
most disadvantaged citizens, primarily to engage in local politics as their principles: equality.

Making the Big Society
work for race equality
Runnymede’s public affairs officer Vicki Butler explores how we can
work within the framework of the coalition’s Big Society to ensure that
race equality remains integral to the agenda
The big society and localism have been placed than central government departments race equality. This is a recommendation from
central to the coalition government’s agenda to tailor public services to the needs of service- Runnymede’s paper Local Decision Making
since the 2010 general election. But while users. Areas with large black and minority and Participation (2007).
this drive for decentralised services and ethnic populations, for example, whose In addition, it is important that the
greater public participation could provide local leaders have a better understanding of new Public Sector Duty introduced in the
opportunities to improve race equality, it the needs of their specific communities and, Equality Act is used to ensure accountability.
is important to ensure that these initiatives under the premise of the Big Society, be able Used properly, as ippr argue in Equality,
do not lead to a reduced focus on black and to do something about it. Entitlement and Localism, the Public Sector
minority ethnic (BME) people, particularly In addition, it could be argued that there is Duty should make sure that localism does
given the disadvantages these groups potential to unite local communities as they not lead to a reduced focus of tackling
continue to experience. work together to provide services under the inequalities experienced by particular
Big Society. In particular, one of the aims of groups. It is also important that when local
the government’s National Citizen Service or central government are commissioning
What is the Big Society? (a summer volunteer programme for young services to non-governmental organisations
people currently being piloted) is to create a (NGOs) and charities that they ensure
The idea of the Big Society is related to the
more cohesive society by mixing participants requirements under the Public Sector Duty
localism agenda (see the article on page 12)
of different backgrounds and ethnicities on are met. Worryingly, it appears that the duty
in that it too focuses on decentralising power
volunteer projects. In addition, the scheme will not apply to voluntary organisations that
from the central to the local. However, unlike
could also act as a way to equip BME young provide services as part of the Big Society
localism, one of its key aims is reducing the
people with the skills they need to successfully but aren’t commissioned to do so by local or
role of the state and government, instead
participate in the Big Society. central government.
shifting power directly to people. Its stated
However there are some key concerns Finally, another way to enforce
aim is: “to create a climate that empowers
surrounding localism and the big society, accountability at a local level could come
local people and communities, building a
particularly in relation to accountability, from an increased role for Race Equality
big society that will take power away from
equality of outcome and participation. Councils (RECs) in holding local authorities
politicians and give it to people.” The plans
and service providers to account. RECs may
include setting up a Big Society bank and
well have a better understanding than central
introducing a national citizenship service. In Accountability government of the local situation and of the
addition, four flagship community projects
There is a danger that, in the drive to localise specific needs of the different ethnic groups in
have been launched in Liverpool, Cumbria,
power and cut bureaucracy, local authorities the area. Currently the size and effectiveness
Windsor and Sutton.
and other service providers will not be of RECs across the country is varied; indeed
Given the close relationship between these
sufficiently held to account on decisions they some areas have no RECs at all. A lot of
two concepts, their implications for race
make. This is a particular concern following work would need to be done to increase their
equality are often similar.
the scrapping of the Audit Commission, whose capacity and presence if RECs were to play
remit it was to track the ‘economy, efficiency a part in holding public services to account.
Potential benefits and effectiveness’ of bodies providing public
services. In particular, if equality regulations
Decentralised power under both localism and are watered down as part of a drive to reduce Postcode lotteries
the Big Society may lead to public services bureaucracy this could have a negative impact
more effectively tailored to the communities on black and minority ethnic groups. Increasing localised services could potentially
they serve. As ippr state in their report One solution to this could be for the encourage innovative ways to protect and
Equality, Entitlement and Localism (2010), it government to determine areas over which promote equality and cohesion. For instance,
makes sense to assume that those working in local communities (and local councils) Blackburn and Tower Hamlets local authorities
particular localities, whether local authorities should not have the authority to decide, such have introduced innovative methods to bring
or voluntary organisations, will be better as minimum standards of human rights and about greater equality in their workforce,

feature
A young girl helps out Runnymede’s research into school governors

at her local allotments and race equality found this to be the case
with regard to schools, for example.
Evidence also suggests the black and
minority ethnic people are less likely to
exercise ‘choice and voice’ than others,
meaning that their voices are less likely to be
heard in local decision- making. Many BME
parents find it difficult to exercise choice in
relation to selecting a school for their child,
for example, as found in Runnymede’s report
School Choice and Ethnic Segregation.
Downgrading their options prior to selecting
schools and finding it difficult to navigate
the school choice system were elements
holding parents from some ethnic minority
communities back. Again, see the article on
page 12 focusing specifically on localism with
an example of how it has worked in schools in
the US for more on this.
Involving ethnic minorities

Photo: St Peter’s Community News
The question is also what role the coalition

government will have in creating the Big
Society and whether it will support and
introduce initiatives in areas with bigger
BME populations. Similarly will they a)
encourage initiatives working specifically
with BME people and b) provide guidelines
partly in recognition that their staff should lead to unfair outcomes. Certain areas are less and requirements as to how Big Society
reflect local diversity. This example is noted familiar with diversity and are therefore less schemes must take into account the needs of
by Zubaida Haque in her paper for the 2020 capable of responding to difference in way all communities?
Public Services Trust entitled The Changing that is fair to all local citizens. The initiatives announced so far are, with
Landscape of Equalities, Cohesion, Human the exception of Liverpool, in areas with very
Rights and Public Services (2010). Similarly, small ethnic minority populations. However,
the Big Society could open opportunities for
Participation it is crucial that a representative proportion
local charities and social enterprises working of the BME communities in an area become
Geographical variations of race equality may involved in these local initiatives in order to
in race equality.
be further exacerbated in areas with little ensure that voices of the BME community
However, while some areas may use the black and ethnic minority representation – however small – are heard. There is a
opportunity of less bureaucracy and greater and participation. Indeed, if BME people do particular danger in less diverse areas for race
responsibility to introduce innovative ways not have a voice locally, particularly in less equality to completely drop off the agenda.
to promote equality, others may not. Unless diverse areas, there is a danger that under
there are effective accountability structures localism local decision-makers will introduce
or guidelines relating to equality, some areas services which have a negative impact on Getting the best out of it
may introduce particular services with little minority ethnic groups.
consideration on what impact it will have Black and minority ethnic people are More needs to be done to involve minority
on different minority ethnic communities, also less likely to be represented on local ethnic people in local decision-making. The
particularly in areas where the BME councils, though some BME groups are doing government needs to ensure that Big Society
community is smaller. significantly better than others in terms of initiatives look at ways to involve people
Already there are different outcomes for political representation. For example there from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
certain ethnic groups in relation to where are far more political representatives from Similarly, while the Big Society could
they live. Black pupils are more likely to the Indian community than the Chinese introduce more innovation in public services
be excluded in outer London than in inner community. These disparities in representation it is important that decentralisation does not
London, for example. This result, first pointed mean that people from certain ethnic minority exacerbate the postcode lottery of service
out in Runnymede’s paper Local Decision groups are less likely to have a voice locally, provision already existing in the UK.
Making and Participation is surprising which could lead to decisions being made Finally, it is crucial that accountability
given that outer London have similar rates of that negatively impact on these communities. measures are not lost in the drive to make
exclusion to inner London for all non-black This is a particular worry because research public services more efficient. Safeguards will
groups. This variation suggests that devolving suggests that the participation of BME people be needed more than ever in order to ensure
local decision-making to local government in institutions can result in a more effective that decision-makers and service providers
or voluntary organisations could sometimes response to the needs of BME service users. are held to account.

Released into detention
Julie Gibbs and Adeline Trude highlight the costly and unjust practice
of detaining foreign ex-offenders who have just been ‘set free’ from jail
Photo: Still Burning
This article examines the plight of foreign nationals in prison standing at 11,100 in nationals commit.
national prisoners who have reached the June 2010.
end of their custodial sentences. Instead ‘Automatic’ Deportation
of being released into the community Although foreign nationals in prison come A national scandal broke in the UK media
as British nationals would be, foreign from around 166 countries, more than when it was revealed in 2006 that around
national prisoners from countries outside half of them are from just seven countries 1,000 foreign nationals had been released
the European Economic Area (EEA) given (Jamaica, Nigeria, Republic of Ireland, from UK prisons without being considered
sentences of 12 months or more face Poland, Pakistan, Somalia and Vietnam). for deportation. The resulting uproar led to
what is known as ‘automatic’ deportation. In 2009, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) the resignation of the then home secretary
They are ‘released’ into immigration removed 5,535 foreign national ex- Charles Clarke, and a subsequent change
removal centres while their deportation is prisoners back to their country of origin. in law. The UK Borders Act 2007 removed
arranged. It is not unusual for them to Guidelines and targets now exist for the discretion of the home secretary over
spend longer in immigration detention prioritising the removal of ‘higher harm’ whether to deport foreign nationals given a
than they did in prison in what amounts foreign nationals, in other words those sentence of 12 months or more. In practice
to de facto indefinite detention. that are judged to pose a greater threat this means that at the end of their custodial
to wider society. sentences, instead of being released
back into the community, possibly under
The facts Media hysteria and recent political licence or Probation Service supervision,
The number of foreign nationals (defined debates have created the impression that this group of foreign national ex-offenders
as a person who does not hold a UK foreign nationals are committing more are placed in immigration removal centres.
passport) in UK prisons has risen in the serious offences than British nationals. They must wait in these secure premises
past ten years, from 9 per cent of the Statistics show that this is not the case, while their deportation is arranged, often
total prison population in 2000 to 14 per with drugs-related crimes being the with little prospect of early removal. A
cent in 2010, with the number of foreign largest category of offences that foreign signed deportation order automatically

feature
revokes Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). staff, legal advisers and fellow inmates. Treasury £219,700, and that is before the
Non-EEA nationals suffer the most serious This can leave them isolated and lonely costs of removal flights and legal advice
consequences of automatic deportation, on top of not understanding their rights, are taken into account. Some detainees
as there are a number of exclusions options, what is likely to happen to them, have been in immigration detention for
that apply to EEA nationals that make
deportation action difficult for all but the
most serious offenders. It is a myth that foreign nationals
Foreign national ex-offenders in detention
are a diverse group of individuals. In commit more violent crimes than
many cases foreign nationals subject to
deportation action will have lived in the
UK since childhood and will have little
other offenders
knowledge of, or few contacts in, their and how to get legal and other help. The more than three years at a cost of around
country of birth. This means that people rehabilitation facilities and preparation £140,000 each.
who have come to the UK as children for release that are provided for British
with their families to claim asylum or nationals in prison are generally not
who have settled in the UK with some
Unjust system
made available to foreign nationals. As
To date little research has been carried out
form of ‘Leave to Remain’ are at risk of a result, assessments of risk on release
on the long-term effects of the automatic
being returned to countries they don’t for foreign national ex-offenders applying
deportation policy or the risks that foreign
know. Other detainees may have been for immigration bail and accommodation
nationals pose as compared to British
apprehended on entering the UK and support are made on out-of-date
nationals. Given that foreign nationals
have gone straight to prison then to information, and can prejudice chances
commit broadly the same crimes as the
detention after being convicted of a of release on bail. Foreign nationals
general population it is hard to understand
document-related offence, such as report that they have few visitors in prison
how they could be more of a threat to
fraud. Clearly, while deportation will be or detention and find it hard to telephone
society just because they happen to be
distressing for anyone, those who have families abroad due to the cost and limits
foreign nationals. Those living in the UK
been in the UK since childhood and have on calls. Isolation and frustration can
without documentation of course are likely
families here and few connections in their lead to self-harm, depression, and other
to be subject to immigration removal.
country of origin are likely to have greater mental illness. These situations can make
However, for those who have lived in the
difficulties on return. it difficult for prisoners and detainees to
UK for a longer period of time and do
feel sufficiently motivated to progress or
have the right to stay it is difficult to see
The UK and Denmark are the only challenge their immigration situation and
how this policy is defensible.
countries in the European Union to have exercise their rights, which in turn may
opted out of the Returns Directive, which prolong their detention.
Despite the costs, the current and previous
allows for administrative detention only up governments have shown a commitment
to 18 months. UK courts can however rule Detainees cannot be removed or
to the continued growth of immigration
that detention is unlawful in some cases. deported without some form of travel
removal centres. On the 2 August 2010,
Individuals held in immigration detention document, such as a passport. Foreign
immigration minister Damian Green
have not been found guilty by a trial or national ex-offenders face particular
opened a new wing of the Harmondsworth
jury; they are there for the administrative problems in obtaining travel documents,
Immigration Removal Centre, making that
convenience of the UK Border Agency, especially those who have loose ties with
centre the largest of its type in Europe.
which believes they have no right to be in their country of origin as a result of years
With a capacity of 615 detainees, the
the UK. Increasing numbers of detainees spent in the UK. Foreign embassies
centre has been built to category B prison
are held for long periods according to in the UK vary in their willingness to
standards (ie the second most secure
reports from some non-governmental recognise, document, and facilitate the
type of facility for detention in the UK).
organisations (NGOs). Currently around return of their nationals who have criminal
Green stated that the centre is for the
10 per cent of the detention population convictions. This means that many
‘most challenging’ detainees including
has been held for over 12 months, several foreign national ex-offenders get stuck
foreign national ex-prisoners.
of whom have been held for two or three in immigration removal centres while
years. Almost all long-term detainees awaiting documentation.
Criminals are sent to prison to serve their
are ex-offenders, who the Home Office time and to deliver justice to their victims.
finds hard to remove for often document- The economic costs Once their sentence has been served,
related reasons. Given that it costs around £130 a night British moral and legal codes resolve that
to keep a detainee in an immigration they should be free to return to their lives,
The effects removal centre, the costs of this policy regardless of their nationality. Punishing
Research has shown that the effects of indefinite detention are hitting the foreign nationals further by placing them
of indefinite detention on a person’s UK taxpayer hard. Information released in potentially indefinite detention, hidden
physical and mental health can be under the Freedom of Information Act from public view, with limited access to
devastating. Foreign nationals who have shows that in just one immigration legal advice, and then removing them
spent little time in the UK prior to their removal centre between 15 and 19 March from the country - all at huge personal
sentencing may not have the language 2010 there were 338 foreign national and economic cost - can hardly be
skills required to communicate with ex-prisoners. This would have cost the considered efficient or humane.

Future older generations will
be more ethnically diverse
Phil Mawhinney summarises
Runnymede’s latest financial
inclusion research programme,
which focuses on older people
Runnymede is exploring the financial challenges that older
black and minority ethnic people face in a new programme of
financial inclusion research. The purpose of the programme,
entitled Older Black and Minority Ethnic People and Financial
Inclusion, is to keep the interests of race equality among our older
population on the policy agenda. Our launch event, including a
lively drinks reception in the House of Lords, gave many older
people the opportunity to a space, at the heart of government,
which they had never had the occasion to be in before. The
event, which was kindly supported by Baroness Whitaker
and Baroness Greengross, was also a great opportunity to
assure older people from varied ethnic backgrounds that their
concerns are on our agenda. Omar Khan, who is leading this
work, discussed our progress in this topical policy area.
An increasingly diverse older population

In order to understand the financial needs of older black and
minority ethnic (BME) people, we must first know how the ethnic
make-up of the UK’s population of older people is changing.
Given that the older population, which is currently made up of
very few BME people, is set to increase significantly over the
next forty years, we commissioned the Centre for Policy on
Ageing to estimate that future population. The resultant report, These findings are a valuable contribution to the high-profile
The Future Ageing of the Ethnic Minority Population of England debates on ageing, which often focus on the economic
and Wales by Nat Lievesley, is available to download from our sustainability of an ageing population but rarely address the
website. (bit.ly/futureageing) increasing diversity of older people. For example, while most
BME people live in urban areas, many older people retire to
By 2051 the UK will be a much more diverse society. People rural or seaside areas where there are relatively few ethnic
belonging to an ethnic minority group, who in 2001 made up 9 minority people. Will the increasing numbers of older ethnic
per cent of the population of England and Wales, are projected minority people result in diversity in areas where they were
to make up 21 per cent in 2026 and eventually 30 per cent in previously less likely to live? Policymakers need to plan today
2051. This increasing diversity, coupled with an ageing society, for this change in the demographic landscape of non-urban
means that the population of older people will also become areas.
much more diverse. Indeed, the number of BME people aged
65 and over will increase from 231,000 in 2001 to 0.8 million in
The costs of ‘returning home’
2026 and eventually to 2.7 million by 2051. Of course, by 2051
the state pension age for both men and women will be 68, if not
Most black and minority ethnic people older than 65 were born
70. So it is significant that by then there will be 1.9 million BME
abroad, and many of them have lived in the UK for 30 or 40
people aged 70 or over, compared to just 269,000 in 2016. The
years. Some will consider returning to the country where they
point to be taken from these statistics is that in future there will
were born for their retirement. Of course, this decision will be
be, for the first time, a sizeable group of older BME people –
influenced by a host of factors, including whether they have
including particularly large numbers of Indian, black African,
close family living in the UK or abroad. But there are also serious
Pakistani and Chinese people – whose financial needs need to
financial costs and implications to moving abroad, which we
be anticipated today by policymakers, public service planners
detail in The Costs of ‘Returning Home, the second report of the
and financial institutions.

feature
research programme. (see: bit.ly/costsreturninghome) is therefore an important consideration when thinking about
where to retire.
Retired people receive a state pension, based on contributions
they have made throughout their working lives. These pensions The UK healthcare system is one of the most affordable and
are generally increased or ‘uprated’ in line with prices or comprehensive in the world. Average life expectancy, at
earnings, and to take into account the rising cost of living over 79, is high compared to many countries, for example India
time. In general, prices double in under 20 years. This means and Pakistan (66) or Kenya (59). Older people considering
that people who live 20 years past retirement age (say, to 85) returning home may be put off by worse quality healthcare,
will see their weekly state pension double in value. but also by the additional costs of accessing high-quality
health care, a need that becomes more prevalent as people
People who have worked in the UK for many years continue to grow older.
receive a state pension even after they move abroad. However,
one of the most significant and often hidden costs of retiring As with other costs, the price of health is relevant to all
abroad is moving to a country where pensions are not uprated. retirees, regardless of ethnicity. However, in our research we
Unlike most countries, the UK does not uprate pensions for are focusing on the less-studied needs of black and minority
everyone living abroad and receiving a pension. Of the 1.1 ethnic people in returning to their countries of birth, many
million British pensioners living abroad, roughly half have had of whom are particularly likely to face additional financial
their pensions frozen at the moment they leave the UK. So, for considerations.
example, a person who retired to Canada in 1990 would still be
receiving £46.90 per week, more than £50 less than the current As government and financial institutions begin to adapt to
rate of £97.65. an older society, our work will ensure that they understand
and meet the needs of BME older people. We will hold two
People’s pensions are uprated in all EU countries, as well as ‘deliberative assemblies’: managed discussion groups in
various other countries including the Philippines, Barbados, which 50 older people from different communities will come
Jamaica and USA. In contrast, people returning to India, together and discuss their own experiences and concerns.
Pakistan and Bangladesh will not have their pension uprated. In this way, we will ensure that our research reflects real lives
The largest groups of foreign-born minority ethnic people in the and gives voice to a particularly hidden minority.
UK are from these countries. Pensions will also not be uprated
in China, Sri Lanka and all African countries. Many black and
minority ethnic people considering returning to these countries
Get in touch
will not be aware of this serious financial cost.
If you are an older person or work with older people and
would like to get involved in this research, please contact Phil
This is an unfair situation; people who have worked and paid
Mawhinney at [email protected]
national insurance contributions in the UK should have a right to
a valuable pension regardless of where they live in retirement.
We therefore urge the government to uprate all state pensions
to respond to this inconsistency and lack of equality, and to give
older people the retirement finance they have earned.
Fact box
Counting the costs
By 2051 black and minority ethnic (BME) people
Those considering retiring abroad face other financial are predicted to make up 30% of the total
considerations. Some countries have arrangements with the population of England and Wales, this is compared to
UK allowing people moving there to continue to receive some 9% in 2001
state benefits, such as those relating to disability, caring and
bereavement. Outside Europe there are only a handful of People who have paid their taxes and National
countries that have arrangements with the UK, offering access Insurance in the UK but retire to certain countries
to a small number of benefits. It is financially easier for people (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and
returning to Barbados, Jamaica, Turkey and the Philippines, Nigeria) have less of a pension to look forward to that
which have arrangements in place. Countries including India, others
Pakistan, Bangladesh and China have no such arrangements,
again affecting large numbers of people considering returning. The largest groups of BME older people in future
This may make it difficult for ill people in particular to return if generations will be Indian, Pakistani, black African
their home country provides less generous benefits. and Chinese
It is estimated that there will be 2.7 million black

Many migrants come to the UK assuming that they will eventually
return to their countries of origin. They remit large amounts of and minority ethnic people over the age of 65 in
money back home to build a house for retirement and they England and Wales by the year 2051. The same statistic
may make little long-term investment in housing here in the UK. was just 231,000 when collected in 2001
However, as migrants stay for longer than planned and have
children and grandchildren, many end up staying in the UK for
retirement with little prospect of owning a home here. Housing

Individual stories of
a collective history
The Bangla Stories website focuses on one of the largest migration
episodes of the modern era. Here Claire Alexander recounts a few of
its more colourful tales and tells us more about the teaching resource
Mohammed Shamsul Huq the aftermath of the 1947 partition of what a ‘voucher visa’. He arrived at Heathrow
was British India into separate states, and travelled by taxi to Burnley, where he
When we met him in 2008, Mohammed including Bangladesh and Pakistan. worked in the cotton mills for 25 years. He
Shamsul Huq told us he believed he was Unable to find work and made homeless arrived in January and told us that there
108 years old. He lives in a refugee camp by floods, he moved again to Assam but were no street lights and because of the
next to a temple in Dinajpur in North-West was expelled by the Indian army in the winter nights and the smog he thought
Bangladesh, but he was born in Calcutta 1960s and came as a refugee to Dinajpur, there was no day here. He said: “We
in the time of the British Raj. His father, where he still lives, recounting stories to would only see day for three or four hours
like many Bengalis, worked for the British his great-grandchildren. He says that he and then it was dark.” He recalled that the
on the railways, but Shamsul told us lost contact with his extended family over local English people and the police were
that he ‘used to dream of the sea and of the years: “We lost addresses and contact ‘very kind’ to the new arrivals. He shared
travelling’. As a young man he worked as details three times. The first time in a fire a house with ten other Bengali men and
an oilman on a British merchant steamer in Calcutta, the second time in Noakhali sent most of his money back to support his
called the Arenda and travelled to in the floods and the third time when we family in Bangladesh. He brought his wife
Colombo, Rangoon, Singapore, Jeddah were chased away by the Indian army and children to Britain in 1971 to escape
and Africa. He also saw London, where from Assam. They must be dead now, but the turmoil following the Liberation War
he admired the beautifully designed I remember them fondly in my heart.” in the country. Samuz has nine children:
houses, wide roads and big warehouses. his oldest son owns a local restaurant,
The Arenda was sunk by the Japanese in three of his daughters are teachers, one
Mohammed Shamuz Miah is a secretary and one a social worker.
the second world war and Shamsul was
adrift for eight days on the sea before he His youngest children are students. He is
Or take a story from closer to home.
was rescued. happy living in Burnley because, he told
Mohammed is now in his 70s and lives
us, unlike nearby Oldham, “in Burnley
in Burnley. He arrived in the UK from the
He returned to Calcutta and opened a there are no racists”.
Sylhet province of Bangladesh in 1964 on
tea stall, but moved to East Pakistan in
Aleya Parveen
Some stories take place in the much more
recent past. Twenty-eight–year-old Aleya
Parveen, who came to the UK in 2006
as a bride, was the youngest person we
interviewed. Arriving in Birmingham, she
began her role as housewife to husband
Akram, her ‘cousin brother’ (first cousin),
who her UK-based uncle had arranged
for her to marry. In Bangladesh, Aleya
had worked as a model and a television
presenter, but when she arrived in
England she began working in a factory.
Aleya stopped working at the factory
when she fell ill. While she is not in
employment, she has taken her love of
performance with her from her work in
Bangladesh to her new home. She is now

feature
Baroness Uddin and pupils

from Mulberry School in Tower
Hamlets launch the Bangla
Stories project
Photo: Vijay Jethwa
involved with local Bangladeshi cultural the viewpoint of migrants themselves. or heritage, the project aims to encourage
organisations, where she has taken part It is estimated that there have been 20 school pupils to learn more about these
in singing groups, drama and musical million people from this region who were stories, to discover the experiences of
productions. She found it hard to adjust to displaced or migrated in this period; their parents and grandparents, and to
life here at first, but with the support of her it is one of the largest migrations of the consider how far we have come, literally
husband and family in Britain, now feels modern era. Of these, less than 2 per cent and symbolically.
that this is her home. She said: “At first, I migrated overseas, mainly to the UK or
felt very bad. I don’t know whether it was the Middle East, and while some of these
for my country or my relatives. Gradually, stories have been told (often and most
Their stories, our history
I got better. After three months, I went to powerfully as fiction), the vast majority
But there is a bigger picture too. The
Bangladesh. Then I came back. I didn’t remain silent and invisible. The project
stories of Shamsul, Samuz and Aleya
go back again. I had no father, mother or brought together the ‘big histories’ of this
are travellers’ tales that tell the story of
sister over there. I had no reason to go migration. Partition, the Liberation War,
Britain writ small; their migrant stories are
there. I felt no pressure to go. Gradually post-war global migrations were all told
inherently British, as well as insistently
I also adjusted to being here. My brother with the stories of ordinary people caught
global. Theirs is the story of the East India
came; my sister was here before me. up in these extraordinary movements. The
Company, of the rise of British Empire,
There are other relatives here. So I like tales provide an evocative lens onto the
of two world wars in which anonymous
this country. I am happy with my husband sweep of history ‘from below’. The project
Bengali sailors fought and died in the
in this country. I’m happy all round.” researchers collected more than 160 life
bellies of British merchant navy ships
histories from Bengali Muslim migrants
and of the careless abandonment of the
in India, Bangladesh and Britain. These
Our story intimate family portraits form the basis of
imperial project. Theirs is the story of the
Imperial Docks in East London, where
a unique collaboration with Runnymede,
These three very different migrant Bengali sailors jumped ship and headed
aimed at bringing these stories into the
tales arise from a three-year Arts and to Brick Lane, of the postwar labour
Humanities Research Council (AHRC)- classroom. shortage, of the invitation to work in the
funded research project, organised by cotton mills and the steel industries of
the London School of Economics (LSE) The Bangla Stories website and Oldham, Bradford and Burnley, and the
and the University of Cambridge. The educational resource pack (banglastories. sweatshops of Tower Hamlets. Theirs
focus was on the Bengali diaspora, org) is designed for children aged is the story too of deindustrialisation, of
exploring the process and experience of between 11 and 14. Its primary aim is to the struggle against racism, of the rise
migration and settlement within and from bring these hidden, unknown or forgotten of multicultural ‘Cool Brittania’ and, of
the Indian state of Bengal in the period histories to life for a generation of British course, of chicken tikka masala. Their
after 1947 (the year of partition), from young people. Whatever their background stories are also our story.

Q&A
Pragna Patel
southall black sisters
Pragna Patel is chair and a founding member of Southall
Black Sisters (SBS), a grassroots campaigning organisation
based in west London. SBS is a safe haven for women
escaping male violence and, while open to all women from
all backgrounds, the organisation specialises in helping
black and minority ethnic women. Pragna was instrumental
in SBS’s successful court bid against Ealing Council in
2008. The local authority was forced to rethink a change in
its funding policy that could have resulted in Southall Black
Sisters’ closure. Pragna has written extensively on race,
gender and religion.
What is the current climate like for black and Pragna Patel
minority ethnic women’s organisations?
The situation is pretty bleak at the moment, particularly for the We know, from years of experience, that those who have power
more long-established successful black women’s organisations. on a local level do not necessarily exercise it in the interests of
One of the success stories in the struggle for equality over the everyone. Many local leaders are interested in entrenching their
last few decades has been black and minority ethnic (BME) own position and creating empires, and basically excluding
women who have self-organised. the more vulnerable, including women. So, of course, there are
huge dangers and we really are going backwards. What I can
All of that is now under threat. However, you cannot pin this see in ten years from now, if this situation continues, will be more
all on the coalition, under New Labour there was this push litigation, and more vulnerable groups saying: “We are entirely
for community cohesion, which did not work in favour of excluded”. Organisations will end up in court when they see
specialist BME women’s services. There was a backlash that the equality legislation, whether it’s gender, race, disability,
against multiculturalism for not being progressive enough. age or sexuality, is not being implemented in the way that is
There was this idea that the reason there are so many divisions should be. I think that [equalities organisations] will be looking
and segregations in society was because multiculturalism to turn more to the law to uphold our rights
recognised difference and gave it too much credence. Then
‘cohesion’ became the new buzz-word. This meant that there My worry is now that the social policy aspect of the government
was less tolerance of autonomous, self-organised groups. So - whether it is the Big Society or the New Labour agenda - is
without questioning what segregation means, and how it is actually going to encourage more segregation.
brought about by poverty, racism and discrimination, it was
blamed on multiculturalism. Groups like Southall Black Sisters
were very much caught up in this New Labour initiative, which
Why are specialist women’s services like
attacked what policymakers called ‘single-identity groups’.
Southall Black Sisters still important?
We set up because the needs of black women and migrant
women were not being met by statutory bodies due to
Now with the coalition government, there is no indication that institutionalised racism. These same needs were not being
this agenda has been jettisoned. As for the ‘Big Society’, it is met by the organisations rooted in the communities in which
a euphemism for cuts, for rolling back the welfare state and for these minority women were living either, because they were
devolving power into local communities. But what will it mean very male-dominated. That is why groups like us emerged, and
to give power to local leaders? The very groups who have those reasons have not gone away. Racism has not gone away.
the power at local level are often the ones who have largely Gender discrimination and inequality, far from going away, has
excluded the more vulnerable within their communities. Now actually become entrenched. So the need for organisations like
they could be even further empowered. ours is perhaps even greater now than it was 30 years ago.

We now see that vulnerable groups of women, particularly Is black women’s contribution to the feminist
refugee and migrant women, face a multitude of problems. Many movement better recognised now?
of them have no state support and no community support; they I think black women have contributed enormously to feminist
are completely marginalised and invisible. Yet their needs have thinking in the UK. And I don’t think you can open any book on
to be met. If we are interested in equality, then we cannot afford feminism now that doesn’t touch on this. I think that black women’s
to ignore these women. And the reason we need autonomous organisations have brought a kind of energy and a thinking that
spaces such as ours is so that women feel safe about where is very different. Black women realised that we cannot talk about
they are, and feel that they are being listened to. racial discrimination as a neat, compartmentalised experience.
Our experience of discrimination often occurs at the cross-
What organisations like ours do is we unlock access to the section of a number of strands of inequality, including gender,
legal services, social services and child protection services race and class, among others. This led to the introduction of the
to vulnerable women. Many of these women cannot or would term ‘intersectional discrimination’, which it is now fashionable
not go to the state or statutory bodies because of a host of to talk about. This recognition that there is a larger context for
often very valid reasons. There are issues such as language discriminatory feelings can be attributed to the energy and
difficulties, particular vulnerability or lack of confidence, the sophistication that black feminism has brought to the debate.
trauma suffered as a result of experiences of violence: all of
these things combine to make it very difficult for the majority
Of course there is also a whole awareness now around cultural
of migrant women to feel safe in accessing public services.
forms of gender-based violence. When I was practising
Groups like ours play a very important role in bridging that gap
twenty years ago, it was impossible to get social services to
and connecting women to political and legal processes. For
understand that forced marriage was a form of child abuse
those reasons, we need to exist. Our existence is fundamental
or violence against vulnerable women. Now social services
to vulnerable women being able to assert their human rights.
bend over backwards to help, and there are guidelines and
laws, such as the Forced Marriage Civil Protection Act. All this
Are black and minority ethnic women is because of black feminist activity, which has enriched the
marginalised within the women’s sector? wider debate on feminism. There are many other examples and
Absolutely, I think black women are marginalised within the successes. No book on feminism in the UK should talk about
third sector generally. Whether it is organisations working on the movement without mentioning the contributions of black
race who do not want to take up women’s issues, or women’s women, particularly over the last 30 years or so.
organisations who do not understand that race and gender
often impact simultaneously. This can create a kind of intensity
of discrimination for many black and ethnic minority (BME)
How have some members of the communities
women. Interestingly, the groups who have been worst hit by
you are part of objected to your existence?
From day one, we were asked: “Why are you washing your dirty
funding cuts have been BME women’s groups. The refugee
linen in public? Don’t you know that you are demonising your
centres, the advice centres: many of them have closed or
communities?” The answer to that is we were always very alert
have been threatened with closure. Yet none of these smaller
to the fact that in raising certain issues we give ammunition to
organisations have the kind of support of patrons and contacts
racist practice and thinking. But that cannot stop us from raising
that major women’s organisations have. More mainstream
these issues, because they are realities. In not acknowledging
organisations in the wider women’s sector are able to garner
these realities, you’re sweeping repressive practices under the
more resources and funding. However BME women’s groups
carpet, and by doing that you’re colluding in actions that should
do not have this kind of power and ability and, because of who
not be tolerated.
we are, we struggle.
The creation of competition for funding within the voluntary Instead we have to find ways of struggling against both
sector means that it will be BME women’s groups that face racism and discrimination against women at the same time.
the axe. These more specialist organisations cannot provide Southall Black Sisters has always tried to work with women in
the same kind of services as cheaply as the larger women’s the wider community to raise awareness of issues of violence
groups can. So the women’s sector is in turmoil. Minority ethnic against women. We may be talking about forced marriage, or
women’s groups, rather than religious women’s groups, are honour-based violence, but all these are simply forms of violence
particularly on the front line in terms of cuts. It is incredible the against women, which is a phenomenon that occurs across all
number of organisations that have contacted Southall Black ethnic communities. These are very difficult issues, but at SBS
Sisters, asking us for advice on how to challenge these kinds we’ve always tried to speak to all women, hoping to encourage
of funding cuts. solidarity, so that we can stand together and demand change.

A VIEW FROM... Suffolk
Chief executive of the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality
Jane Basham explains why organisations like hers must exist,
particularly outside the UK’s cosmopolitan metropolises
‘Surely we don’t need a race equality
Boys engage with teachers at the
council in a place like Suffolk - there aren’t ISCRE’s Leadership Academy
many of them - you know what I mean
- is it politically correct to say coloured
people?’ This is one of a range of similar
comments I have heard from people who
should know better, in my four years of
running the Ipswich and Suffolk Council
for Racial Equality (ISCRE).
Suffolk’s estimated black and minority
Photo: Mathias Edoh Agbenokoudji, Edopro Studio

ethnic people (BME) population is 6
per cent. This rises to about 13 per
cent in Ipswich. Because of historic
agricultural links, we know that Suffolk
has a long history of Gypsy and Traveller
populations, which are invisible in
census data.
Consider a recipe for rural racism.
Take the isolation of being in a school,
a workplace, a town/village in Suffolk
where you might be the only BME person
or family; add the neighbours turning
your child away from their child’s birthday We have managed to fill the financial disproportionate in the country in 2008.
party because of her colour; shake into gap by developing law undergraduate In some places, such as Lowestoft,
the pot the fact that other than ISCRE summer placement schemes, and black people were 22 times more likely
and the Bangladeshi Support Centre engaging redundant lawyers through a to be stopped than white people. A
there are no BME groups commissioned national scheme that resulted in more newly appointed chief constable allowed
to deliver services for and within BME than a 1,000 legal volunteer hours. us in to conduct a piece of research
communities. This is a recipe too for In 2007 black exclusions from Suffolk that gave the lie to the stereotypical
embedded inequalities. schools were among the highest in myths being used to excuse this racial
Newmarket’s prestigious racing the country. While it appears to have disparity. A groundbreaking community-
industry is now largely staffed by workers dropped we still hear stories of mid- led reference group emerged, with a
from India and Pakistan. This explains the term transfers and managed moves by core group of local people meeting with
unacceptable spike in racist incidents anxious parents. The needs of those the police monthly to scrutinise forms
in schools and in the wider community. young people from 2007 remain unmet. and shape police policy and practice.
Lowestoft’s once vibrant fishing industry We have hardly any black teachers Yet the group’s future is at risk despite
is gone, replaced with high levels of here. In fact there are few black national and international recognition. Is
deprivation. Rising unemployment brews people working in any of our public this because of funding cuts, or because
resentment that results in increases in sector organisations, and none are confronting these issues is simply too
racist incidents against migrant workers, leaders. Attainment in Suffolk schools uncomfortable? The community is angry
who have been brought in to work in the is generally poor. African Caribbean that after two years of working closely
many food processing factories in the students between the ages of seven together, Suffolk police as an institution
area. Overseas students who attend the and 11 have an attainment level 16 per has been far too slow to change.
maritime course at the local college are cent lower than their white counterparts, I believe Suffolk’s public services
also targeted. and this disparity rises to 21 per cent for have remained untouched by the 2009
Demand for ISCRE’s legal services, young people at GCSE level. This is why Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, which found
which is part funded by the Equality and we have developed a pilot Leadership UK police to be institutionally racist.
Human Rights Commission is high. We Academy for boys aged eight to 11 who When I hear people talking about
dealt with 158 discrimination cases last have an African or African Caribbean institutional racism no longer being a
year – more than double that of the two heritage. helpful term, or the need for other words
previous years. People still get stabbed Suffolk police stop and search to talk about racism it worries me; Suffolk
at work here because of their colour. rates were some of the most highly is only just starting to think about it.

A VIEW FROM... Latvia
It has only been an independent state for a couple of decades, yet

Latvia faces an uncertain future if it cannot learn to accept foreign
migrants. Elisabeth Fischer reports from her time in Riga
Sitting in a café in the Old Town of Riga, The unofficial version is that the ministry cultural exchanges with African nations.
George Steele pulls in a fair few sideward was blamed for exacerbating social and The LCHR article also cited statistical
glances. There is nothing extraordinary political problems. data from the Baltic Data House that
enough about his person to catch the eye Between the years of 2006 and 2007 in 1998 that around ten per cent of the
of the average Londoner. But he is black, a liberalisation of the Latvian migration population would be willing to block
which is enough to attract attention in the policy was discussed in the Ministry for black people from entering the country.
Latvian capital. Integration. Then came the crisis and all Newer data shows that racial intolerance
“I’m not invisible here”, says Steele. plans have vanished. is in fact rising in a society that has had
“Occasionally people show me that I am Hanovs firmly believes that there is a little history of immigration from Africa or
not welcome here.” need for the ministry as well as public Asia.
The overt racism that Steele reports discussion of racist attitudes, particularly Moreover the Baltic republic came
is nothing new in Latvia. At the end because of the impending lack of out at rank 28 out of 28 in welcoming
of the 1990s racist attitudes in the labour force. “But at the same time the migrants and promoting integration, in
Latvian society appeared to increase in politicians’ ideas are that Latvians are a 2008 study by the Center for Public
frequency. threatened by external factors,” he Policy PROVIDUS. A highly bureaucratic
Yet there is an extraordinary challenge says. “We have to protect the borders process system, a lack of information
in the years ahead. Forecasts suggest of the country because we experienced and the enormous risks of immigrant
that Latvia’s population will decrease migration during the Soviet time and we alienation, both politically and socially,
by as much as half by the year 2050 don’t want to have it again.” are blamed for this result.
to 1.6 million people, according to However this “migration” to which In the run-up to the 2002 elections
EUROSTAT, the European statistics Hanovs refers was in fact a Russian the nationalistic Freedom Party ran a
office. Ongoing emigration trends, an occupation, which began after the political advertisement showing a black
increasing proportion of older people second world war and ended with man standing in front of Riga’s Freedom
and a declining birth rate will make a Latvian independence declared in 1991; Monument, wearing Latvian military pre-
growing migrant labour force necessary. this is deeply rooted in the minds of the war garments and kissing a local girl.
However, Latvia’s immigration policy Latvians, even among the generations The Latvian state television, LTV, banned
is conservative and based on the too young to have experienced this the commercial. A leaflet on the same
concept of limited immigration from era themselves. This phenomenon of subject said: “Today he is guarding
developing countries. Members of the a “cultural memory”, passed on from Latvia. Tomorrow he may become your
European Union are, of course, free to generation to generation, is not unique son-in-law.”
move around. But who from the ‘older’ to Latvia of course, and allows a dark The campaign attracted criticism from
EU states wants to migrate to the third period in a country’s past to remain all the other political parties. Members
poorest country in the union? imprinted on the consciousness of its of the Freedom Party defended the
Instead, Latvia has to look to the much- people after those who experienced it advertisement as an “exercise in drawing
despised former Soviet countries, or firsthand are dead and gone. Hanovs attention to the risks of joining the EU.”
welcome migrants from Asia and Africa. says: “We are a society that reminds me George Steele, an African-American
Yet problems due to the uncertainty of of an old lady who remembers her past and one of approximately a hundred
legal status, the lack of social protection but doesn’t really move on.” black people living in Riga, sued the
guarantees and a lack of information as Yet, if you ask a Latvian if racism Freedom Party for the racist publicity.
a consequence of not speaking Latvian exists, more often than not they will tell The court ruled in his favour and the
or Russian make life difficult for migrants you it doesn’t in Latvia. The Latvian party failed to win enough votes to get a
from different continents. This is before Centre for Human Rights (LCHR) seat in the government.
we consider racism and xenophobia. published an article in 2001 claiming that Steele, who has lived in Latvia for
“The official version is that there are even this denial is related to the Soviet 15 years, is married to a Latvian. He
some signs of racism,” says Deniss period, where racism was never officially has been condemning racist attitudes
Hanovs from the Friedrich-Ebert- accepted. The government insisted in the country for years. In an interview
Foundation (FES) in Riga. Hanovs that xenophobia was a phenomenon with politika.lv he stated that he is living
used to work for the Latvian Ministry of of the decadent West, but not of in one of the most racist societies he
Integration from the very beginning in communism. The doctrine of “friendship knows, worse than the USA. “Here in
2003 until its closure in 2008. The formal of peoples” was preached and used as Riga where I live in the centre, every day
reason for shutting the ministry down a propaganda tool. To prove the point, leaving the house, I expect humiliation
was given as absent financial resources. Moscow went out of its way to develop and contempt.”

Are you passionate about race equality?
Do you want to increase your connections and challenge racism?
Runnymede 360° is a new national network connecting aspiring and established leaders in
race equality. By joining the network you would increase your knowledge base, improve your
professional skills, and make contacts that may help you in your work, while also contributing to
challenging racism.
Being part of Runnymede 360° will enable members to:

•• have the opportunity to raise their profile
•• share their experience and learn from others
•• create partnerships across regions and sectors for future work
•• have early access to Runnymede’s work and events
•• have access to the latest policy developments related to race equality
Runnymede draws on over forty years’ experience providing research intelligence, policy
influence, and partnership building in order to promote a successful multi-ethnic Britain. The aim
of Runnymede 360° is to bring together the most passionate and innovative thinkers and actors in
race equality from all sectors, backgrounds and regions of the UK. The network meets monthly at
seminars, e-conferences and receptions. It also has an online discussion space to keep up with
the latest current events and policy developments on race equality.
The ideal candidate will:

•• have been working in private, public or voluntary sectors for a minimum period of five years
•• have an understanding of the policy and practice landscape on national and/or local levels
•• have the ability to apply their knowledge, creativity and experience to their commitment to
race equality, equal opportunities and social justice
•• be committed to the network for at least two years during which they will be expected to con-
tribute to the Runnymede Bulletin, attend Runnymede 360° on/offline events, and participate
in the Runnymede 360° social networking space
Most importantly, the Runnymede 360° member will have something to say and will want to say it.
Why not apply to join?
For more information on current members and details on how to apply go to:
www.runnymedetrust.org/360net

key
facts Race and women
about...
There are
cu
no black w rrently
o
chief cons men
1
Pakistani and Bangladeshi tables
women in the UK earn only serving in
the
56% of the average hourly police forc UK
e
wage of white men
Fawcett Society
2
Indian and Chinese girls in
the UK achieve the highest
GCSE grades, above all other
groups categorised by gender and
ethnicity
Equality and Human Rights Commission
3
More than half of black and
mixed race families are
headed by a lone parent,
usually a mother
Photo: Vijay Jethwa

Office for National Statistics Diane Abbott, MP for
Hackney North and
Stoke Newington
4
Helen Grant was the first
black woman to be selected
to defend a Conservative
party seat, and her subsequent
Diane Abbott was the first black
election made her the first black
female Tory member of parliament
woman to be elected as an MP
7 9
The Guardian Rates of suicide among
40% of London-based black
young South Asian women in
and minority ethnic women’s
the UK are double that of the
5
organisations have no full
There are currently no general population
time paid staff
women from an ethnic
minority group appointed as Centre for Evidence-based Mental Health
police chief constables. Neither Women’s Resource Centre
are there any female ethnic
8
minority judges in the UK’s House Almost half of the
10
of Lords or Court of Appeal Bangladeshi women in the Diane Abbott was the
UK have no educational first black woman MP
Fawcett Society certificates recognised in to be elected when
the country. Of all groups she took her seat in 1987. She
also became the first black or
6
characterised by gender and
A record 22 British Asian ethnicity, they are the most likely minority ethnic person to stand for
women stood for election to to have no qualifications at all leadership of the Labour party, or
parliament in 2010, of which for any major party, in 2010
six were successful
Government Equalities Office
The Guardian
BBC

vox How do two strains of discrimination (gender-
pop
based and racial) combine to affect minority
ethnic women?
Sabrina Qureshi Professor Avtar Brah Samantha Mangwana

Founder and co-ordinator Professor Emeritus of Sociology Trustee
Million Women Rise Birkbeck, University of London The Fawcett Society
“All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Discrimination experienced as a woman The Fawcett Society campaign “Seeing
are Men but Some Of Us are Brave”, to and as a member of an ethnic minority Double”, aimed at combating the ‘double
paraphrase the title of a book by Gloria group often operate simultaneously and invisibility’ of minority ethnic women, found
Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith have combined effects. part of the problem to be generalisations
published in 1982. about all women or all members of ethnic
All women share certain disadvantages minorities.
The biggest battle is the dismantling of this because of the fact of being a woman,
coordinated and systematic male violence but the precise form that a particular In policy arenas ‘gender’ tends to mean
and oppression of black, minority, refugee disadvantage takes will vary with the ‘white women’, and ‘race equality’ often
and asylum seeking women in the UK. ethnic background of each woman. refers to experiences of non-white men.
The needs of minority ethnic women,
Oppression still comes from global For example, all women are affected by different from those of both groups, all too
imperialist systems that exploit women, the gender segregation of the labour often fall through the cracks. Differences
and the darker your skin, the greater the market, but within each sector minority between individual groups of minority
oppression and violence. The UK is a women may occupy a specific position. ethnic women have virtually no chance of
diverse and culturally mixed country, yet This may influence the level of an being addressed.
violence affecting black communities is a ethnic minority woman’s wages, which
cultural norm and black women are doubly on average may be lower than other As a discrimination lawyer, I learn of
invisible. women. experiences my clients face in workplaces
where, after time, it can be impossible to
We can’t just talk about black women in the On the other hand, there are some untangle the roots of discrimination and all
UK either. The world may have borders, practices that are specific to a particular that is readily apparent is unfairness and
but women must make connections. If ethnic group, such as arranged disadvantage.
feminism has seen a resurgence, then marriages, which are quite rightly
what we need is an action to end violence prohibited by law if they become forced Early access to evidence through use of
against African women in particular. marriages. Strategies for tackling a statutory discrimination questionnaire,
inequality due to gender and ethnicity and reversal of the burden of proof at trial
You end male violence against black need to be aware of the relationship are mechanisms that could assist minority
women and you set the world free. between the two. ethnic women at this stage.

REVIEWS: BOOKS
An extraordinary legacy
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Now journalist Rebecca Skloot, after more
Lacks than a decade of research, has produced a
book that tells Henrietta’s whole story. The
by Rebecca Skloot, Macmillan 2010 Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks digs deep
Book review by Kate McGovern into the Lacks’ past and present, but also
the uncomfortable interplay between race
and medicine in American history, and the
In 1951 an African-American woman named debatable ethics of the commercialisation of
Henrietta Lacks died at Johns Hopkins human tissue.
Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, the victim Skloot also traces her own integration
of an aggressive strain of cervical cancer. But into the Lacks family. Most interesting is
Henrietta wasn’t an average patient. Before the connection between Skloot and Deborah
her death, unbeknown to her family, doctors Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter. In spite of their
had extracted cancerous cells from Henrietta’s differences in background and experience, the
body. These cells went on to became the first two women share a deeply rooted concern with
‘immortal’ human tissue, known as HeLa. doing justice to Henrietta, who rests in an until-
While the Lacks family continued to live recently unmarked grave, on the land where
in a community entrenched in poverty, crime, her family farmed tobacco for generations. window into the legacy of slavery in America:
and inadequate health care, Henrietta’s cells That common driving force is what ultimately that a black woman, treated in the ‘coloured’
became instrumental in medical advancement. carries the women through ten years of complex ward of a hospital in the segregated South,
HeLa cells were used in the development of and often devastating discoveries. would unwittingly change medicine forever.
the polio vaccine, in vitro fertilisation (IVF), That Skloot, as an educated white woman, Yet 50 years later, that same woman’s son
cancer treatments, cloning, genetic mapping comes from a life of privilege compared to the would wake up from quintuple bypass surgery
among others, spawning a massive industry in Lacks family is an issue she doesn’t shy away $125,000 in debt, with no medical insurance
the sale of biological materials. from. Skloot presents readers with a particular to cover the costs.
Families across borders

Transnational Families: Ethnicities, Transnational Families offers a
Identities and Social Capital fascinating look at how families are created
by Harry Goldbourne et al, Routledge 2009 and maintained, culture and tradition are
Book review by Jessica Mai Sims understood and performed, and how race and
ethnicity, gender and generational identities
impact on family relations. Divided into
Over the summer football supporters poured two sections, the first devoted to theoretical
into different pubs around the capital to exploration of social capital and the second
support their team in the 2010 World Cup. drawing on case studies (Caribbean and
How they each decided which ‘their’ team Italian), Transnational Families offers a
may have been determined by national or thorough analysis of how social relationships
ethnic background, the prowess of the team, serve to influence identities across borders. For
or, as in my case, the results of the office those of us interested in empirical accounts of
sweepstake (Uruguay and Brazil for those transnational migration, the second part of the
interested). book discusses the specific issues that impact
International sports have long been on transnational families and social capital
linked with ethnic and national identity and in practice. Through the interview material which helps to enrich our understanding of
belonging, the most obvious case being with Italians and Caribbeans (both in and migration, belonging and identity. Anyone
Tory MP Norman Tebbit’s ‘cricket test’. In outside the UK) the authors explore themes interested in issues of transnational migration,
Transnational Families, support of football of support, values and traditions, pressures integration and belonging, and families would
team is just one of the themes that the authors of tight-knit families and belonging, with be satisfied with this book.
consider while exploring how identities, a concluding chapter on families of mixed I was content with the USA (my country of
attachments and social relations are developed ethnic or national backgrounds. birth) drawing its match with England (where
and maintained across borders. If not football, The authors provide an interesting account I live). But if the match had been USA versus
what is an accurate representation of our of the complexity of identities depending on Vietnam (my mother’s country of origin), well
national and ethnic identities? context, migration, generation and gender then that would be a different matter entirely.

REVIEW THEATRE // COMEDY
How much is that woman in the window?

Photo: Festival Fringe Society
Festival-goers gather for

a street performance
Edinburgh Fringe Festival piece Fair Trade presented the personal the dramatic punch of more professional
stories of two young women from Albania productions, the young cast gave decent
Selected reviews by Rachel Humphris
and Sudan who were brought to the UK under performances and the play was fuelled by a
false pretences and forced into prostitution. genuine sense of injustice about the situation
The testimonials raised important issues of young people facing discrimination based
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which ran regarding the rights of women in the UK and on gender or race.
from 6 to 30 August this year, is still the how victims of trafficking must be protected. Elsewhere, issues of race were openly
world’s largest arts festival. This year it Perhaps surprisingly, Keith Farnan’s invoked by two stand-up comedians.
boasted over 2000 performances in 259 stand-up comedy show Sex Traffic: How Reginald D. Hunter’s Trophy Nigga was
venues by performers from over 60 countries. much is that woman in the window? was more dominated by his experiences of living as a
With such a deluge of art forms, genres and thought-provoking than either of these, and black comedian in the UK, and the politics
perspectives the festival provides a rich arena alone linked sex trafficking with wider issues of reclaiming and thereby disempowering
for the exploration of new ideas. of women’s oppression. Farnan asked: ‘Do the word ‘nigger’. Hunter regularly sold out
This potential was recognised by Amnesty we value women, or do we just put a value on a 700-seat space, thus occupying a unique
in the Freedom of Expression Award, now in its them?’ Farnan used sex trafficking as the most role in confronting mainstream audiences
eighth year. This year’s winner was Roadkill, a extreme version of wider structural processes, with their own discrimination and prejudice,
site-specific production in which the audience exploring a range of issues from the Rwandan encouraging people to laugh at themselves, as
followed a young Nigerian girl onto a bus parliamentary quota enforcing 50% female well as questioning their beliefs.
and across Edinburgh to an abandoned flat representation (the UK ranks 52nd in the More thought-provoking still was comic
in which she was held captive and forced to world at 22%) to high-flying career women Paul Sinha, the self-proclaimed only ‘openly
have sex for money. The play also represented with no time for family. gay, ex-GP, British Asian’. His show’s title,
cycles of abuse through the character of the The theme of women’s oppression was Extreme Anti-White Vitriol, referred to a
girl’s captor, who had also been trafficked to also addressed by Angie Le Mar’s play Do description of his act by BNP deputy leader
the UK and force to sell sex. You Know Where Your Daughter Is? The Simon Darby during a radio discussion. By
Roadkill represented just one of a crop of production presented some of the issues faced openly confronting his own preconceived ideas
performers and artists who chose to engage by girls growing up in the UK today, such and stereotypes, Sinha invited the audience to
with the issue of sex trafficking at this year’s as low self-esteem, peer pressure from other do so too. His message - that we should talk to
Fringe, mirroring the growing interest in girls and coercion from boys into having sex. one other more - was hardly groundbreaking.
this issue, highlighted by Channel 4’s recent It also addressed the relationship between But the show was well-argued, witty and
documentary series and the EU’s directive to mother and daughter, and highlighted inter- intelligent, adding depth to an otherwise
combat human trafficking. ‘Verbatim theatre’ generational patterns. Although lacking simplistic cry for liberal tolerance.

Director’s
Column
Runnymede director Rob Berkeley
does his best to engage with the
Big Society rhetoric
Let’s not forget the role of equality

T
hree months into the unchartered involvement in triggering. opposing the cuts too vocally. Fearful of the
waters of the UK’s coalition damage that this may do to their ability to
government and the pace of reform A bold move by the Fawcett Society to seek ensure that they are in a position to promote
shows no sign of letting up. At the time a judicial review of the budget on the grounds equality, even in what may appear to be
of writing, we wait with bated breath for the that it discriminates against women (they infertile territory.
outcomes of the spending review; not many argue that 72 per cent of cuts will be met from
are waiting with hopeful anticipation. Issues women’s income as opposed to 28 per cent Too many questions remain unanswered
of equality circle the government’s decision- from men’s) remains to be answered. But it about the Big Society and its relation
making with their pledge to ensure fairness has bolstered opposition to the government’s to equality. Not to mention equality’s
throughout this process of making swingeing analysis of both the need for cuts and the relationship to the more nebulous ‘fairness’
cuts appearing more and more threadbare. balance (or imbalance, depending on your espoused by the government. In this edition of
Equalities minister Theresa May and, more view) struck between cuts and increased the Runnymede Bulletin, Shamus Khan and
recently, Lib Dem leader and deputy prime taxation. It is timely, then, that in this issue Casey Stockstill have highlighted some key
minister Nick Clegg have openly admitted of the Runnymede Bulletin we have chosen worries with localism, an agenda that plays
that the disadvantaged are most likely to be to focus on black and minority ethnic women, its part in the Big Society rhetoric (see page
affected by the cuts. For black and minority who stand to suffer significantly from the 12). Satisfactory answers are yet to be found
ethnic communities this is bad news given direction of current government decisions. to questions of democratic transparency,
their overrepresentation among the ranks of accountability, minimum guarantees, and
the poor. What has been surprising in this last period capacity building so that all voices are heard,
has been the willingness of public policy and in particular those of the marginalised
The opposition to the cuts is being led by organisations, civic society, and political who rely more heavily on public services.
the Trade Union Congress (TUC), whose pundits to seriously entertain the coalition
member unions are keen to highlight that government’s invitation to discuss fairness in I have been part of the discussions of the
the financial crisis was caused by bankers, this context, to join the current ‘Big Society’ Commission on 2020 Public Services which
while the consequences are to be visited on shibboleth. Yet each discussion of Big Society published its final report in September 2010.
the least able to withstand the onslaught. among equality organisations seems to be The commission started its deliberations
Those who rely on public services, those on debated through gritted teeth. Discussion is outside of this frenzied period of reform, and
argued for a long-term settlement on public
Discussion of the Big Society services. For a year and a half, some of the best
public policy minds have come together for
is often prefaced with a weary the Public Services Trust 2020 Commission
and struggled to reach a consensus on these
outstanding questions. Yet the Big Society
acceptance that resistance is futile, opens for business imminently, ready or not.
so we seek ways to make the best I am heading to the Chicago this month to the
largest race equality conference in the world,
Facing Race (for more information use this
of this new agenda link: bit.ly/facingracechicago). My short
time in the US will give me an opportunitiy
lower salaries - for which, again, you can often prefaced with a weary acceptance that to see what the smaller government approach
interpret a disproportionately large number resistance is futile, and therefore we should that seems to have inspired much of the UK
of people from black and minority ethnic seek ways to make the best of this new agenda. coalition’s thinking actually delivers for racial
communities - are to be the hardest hit by The dilemma is clear for organisations that are equality. However reluctantly, I too am trying
an economic meltdown that they had little keen not to paint themselves into a corner by to engage.

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RUNNYMEDE AUTUMN 2010 / ISSUE 363

Runnymede is the UK’s

2 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

20 with the ‘Big Society’ rhetoric

10 breast cancer awareness

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 3

International criticism as French

Campaigners and police in bid to ban racist march

4 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

more than 20 people agreeing to save a small

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 5

6 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Photo: Vijay Jethwa

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 7

8 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Photo: Courtesy of the Women’s Resource Centre

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 9

The project is also having an impact

to black women. Participants claimed

A new project using oral storytelling between 45 and 70 in a number of training

10 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 11

12 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

The greater the degree of income

to participate in civic life

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 13

14 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

A young girl helps out Runnymede’s research into school governors

Involving ethnic minorities

The question is also what role the coalition

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 15

16 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 17

An increasingly diverse older population

18 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

It is estimated that there will be 2.7 million black

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 19

20 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Baroness Uddin and pupils

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22 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

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Photo: Mathias Edoh Agbenokoudji, Edopro Studio

24 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

It has only been an independent state for a couple of decades, yet

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 25

Do you want to increase your connections and challenge racism?

Being part of Runnymede 360° will enable members to:

The ideal candidate will:

Why not apply to join?

26 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Photo: Vijay Jethwa

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 27

Sabrina Qureshi Professor Avtar Brah Samantha Mangwana

28 | RUNNYMEDE BULLETIN | Autumn 2010 / issue 363 www.runnymedetrust.org

Families across borders

www.runnymedetrust.org Autumn 2010 / issue 363 | runnymede BULLETIN | 29

How much is that woman in the window?

Festival-goers gather for