A controversial report on racial disparities in Britain is trying to “normalize white supremacy” and the government should reject its findings, UN human rights experts have warned.
The report of the Committee on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published in late March, concluded that although racism and racial injustice still existed, geography, family influence, socio-economic background, culture and religion had a greater impact on life chances. The report said it found no evidence of institutional racism in the areas examined, such as police and health.
In a statement, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African descent said: “In 2021, it is amazing to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist troops and stereotypes into reality, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies in conclusive findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent ”.
Experts criticized the report’s focus on family structure to explain racial disparities, describing it as “a deafening attempt to reject the lived realities of people of African descent and other ethnic minorities in Britain”. He said the report did not provide any convincing evidence for claims that there was no institutional racism in the UK and instead cited dubious evidence.
“This attempt to normalize white supremacy, despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism, is an unfortunate avoidance of the opportunity to acknowledge past atrocities and everyone’s contributions to move forward,” the statement added.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the UN body had distorted the commission’s findings.
The findings were also widely condemned by parliamentarians, trade unions and equality activists as “dividers” and a missed opportunity for systemic change. Since its publication, at least 20 organizations and individuals who have been listed as stakeholders in the report have distanced themselves from its findings.
Experts argued that the report omitted the analysis of institutional racism by international human rights experts, including the UN Working Group of Experts on the 2012 Review of People of African descent after its country visit to the UK, the 2016 concluding remarks the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination and the UN Special Rapporteur on the report on contemporary forms of racism following his 2018 visit to the United Kingdom.
The UN body called on the government to reject the report and urged it to ensure “correct reflection of historical facts”, adding: “Distortion and falsification [these] historical facts can further authorize racism, the promotion of negative racial stereotypes and racial discrimination ”.
The review behind the report was created by Downing Street to investigate racial disparities in Britain in response to last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
In a preface to the report, the chairman of the commission, Dr Tony Sewell, said that some communities were haunted by historical racism and that there was “reluctance to acknowledge that the UK has become even more open”. He said the review found some evidence of bias, but it was often the perception that the wider society could not be trusted.
The UN experts behind the statement are the president, Dominique Day, Ahmed Reid, Michal Balcerzak, Sabelo Gumedze and Ricardo Sunga III. The statement was endorsed by E Tendayi Achiume, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism.
Experts also criticized the report’s “mythical representation of slavery” as an attempt to sanitize the history of the slave trade. In a statement issued on April 2, the commission rejected the “intentional distortion” of its views on slavery and said the report “only says that in the face of the inhumanity of slavery, African people have preserved their humanity and culture.”
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “Our opinion is that this [UN] the report distorts the findings. We remain proud of the UK’s long history as human rights champions and encourage everyone to read the full report in full. This report in no way accepts racist behavior and, in fact, emphasizes that racism and inequality are still problems for our country. ”
A spokesman for the commission said: “We are disappointed that the working group of experts on people of African descent has grossly distorted the report’s findings and appears to be a response to negative media coverage rather than the content of its contents.
“The misleading statements they made risk encouraging division on the subject of race, rather than constructive discussion of issues.
“We urge the British government to implement the 24 practical recommendations we have made. They will improve the lives of millions and help achieve a more equitable society for all races and ethnicities in the UK. ”