(BBC) A report by the Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has highlighted a continuing picture of disadvantage, under-achievement and denial of opportunity, among Britain’s Afro-Caribbean community.
But the 700-page report which covers all aspects of social life in the UK for the various races, religions and cultures, says there are indications that in several respects things are improving.
The report titled “How Fair is Britain” says the UK is increasingly at ease with diversity of all kinds, and intolerant of discrimination of any kind.
But while it does point to a few areas where the circumstances of Afro-Caribbean people show signs of improving, for the most part the document’s reflection of the lives of black Caribbean people in the UK makes dismal reading.
The report is issued by the UK’s Equality and Human Right Commission, chaired by Trevor Phillips, who is Black-British of Guyanese descent.
It highlights a number of areas in which there are continuing shortcomings in British society based on race, social class, religion and other aspects but it concludes that things are in fact getting batter.
According to the rights watchdog, there is much that should make people hopeful.
It says many of the old biases are, if not vanquished, on their way out. But, it notes there is also a great deal still to be done; and there are new challenges emerging.
The reports states in bold print that Black Caribbean people stand out as having lower levels of functional literacy, even among those for whom English a first language.
(The great majority of Afro-Caribbean people in Britain are from – or have roots – in the English-speaking Caribbean)
Only one in ten black Caribbean – and black African – men are employed in managerial jobs, half the rate for all men in the country.
However, on the plus side black Caribbean women are more likely than any other group of women to work fulltime.
Also, out of all ethnic minority women, black Caribbean women are most likely to be employed. Black Caribbean men fall around midway on the employment scale. Consequently, it notes, the overall employment rates for black Caribbean women and men are very similar.
On the other hand the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report does go on to state that “in terms of discrimination, research suggests that black Caribbean women along with Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in the UK, face particularly discriminatory barriers in the workplace.
It says they struggle to get jobs – and progress within them, despite rising achievement in school and having clear ambition to succeed.
Education
The report says black Caribbean pupils have begun to catch up with average performances in secondary school exams. This follows many years of below average performances especially among black Caribbean boys.
However, it does state that black Caribbean and Pakistani students fell below the average at 39% (Caribbean) and 43%(Pakistani) respectively.
And the study also shows that more black children are excluded from schools.
Black Caribbean men, it adds, are half as likely as black Caribbean women to have degrees.
Crime
Another still worrying fact highlighted in the 700 page report, is that black people in Britain are more likely to be homicide or murder victims than are members of other ethnic groups.
It also says that a disproportionate number of people who die following contact with the police are also black.
The commission points out that the number of black people in jail in England and Wales is seven times greater than their share of the population.
That disproportionality is also highlighted in police ‘stop and search’ operations where black people, who constitute less than three percent of the population, make up 15 per cent of the people stopped and searched.
On average, five times more black people than whites are imprisoned in England and Wales, where 25% of people in prison is from an ethnic minority background.
And the extensive report also points out that there is now greater disproportionality in the number of Black people in prisons in Britain than in the USA.
The UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission drew its findings from its own and numerous other reports and studies from a wide range of sources.
It says it hopes that its wide-ranging “How Fair is Britain” report will provide the basis for further debate and concerted action to decrease inequality, and increase fairness throughout British society.
