The Govenment report on Race and Ethnic Disparities is being called into question on a daily (or more) basis.

Chestnut. Please do not compare that to slavery.
Have you ever read about slaves lives?
They weren't just used as free labour. They were tortured and abused and murdered. I read just one story of what was done to a pregnant slave and I was knocked sick.
Do not compare it.

I thought we were discussing The report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities on this thread.

One thing I would like to draw to your attention to is the fact that ... it emerged that the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities had only disseminated the report ahead of time to a “tight list” of journalists – who seem to be disproportionately white. It appears the handling of the report demonstrates the very issue it seeks to dismiss.

Number five on the list of the Early Warning Signs of Fascism is

5. Controlled mass media

It doesn't get any better, does it?

inews.co.uk/opinion/race-report-select-journalists-first-commission-opportunism-937689

washingtonmonthly.com/2017/01/31/the-12-early-warning-signs-of-fascism/

I agree Loislovesstewie and it stinks to high Heaven. Deplorable.

Loislovesstewie

I suspect that I had a very strong accent that marked me out; the fact that I had far fewer possessions;clothes etc, no expensive stereo and (shock, horror) got a full grant as we had no money! Neither did my dad deposit me at the door of my student accommodation by means of a fancy new car. It was an old crate and was the first he had ever owned.
And I do believe the Labour Party doesn't care about the working class. And I believe that class still exists.

When was this?

I didn't have an expensive stereo and received a full grant. I didn't even arrive by car, but train, tube and walked the final stretch with a rucksack and suitcase.

I don't ever remember being treated by anyone as "poor" and I certainly don't remember differentiating others. I found out that there were some seriously rich students at my university and some who had been at the big public schools, but we were all the same when it came to doing the work and having our essays marked.

Looking back, however, I don't remember many non-white students.

This OP is supposed to be about the government's report into racism, not social class in general.

Actually it was 1974. I went to a university with many overseas students, lots from the Middle East, India, Pakistan and South America. Clearly my experience was different, but I can assure you that the middle class ones stuck together and us working class kids did too. I really can't believe that you can't tell a person's social class by how they speak, or the clothes and possessions they have, or comments about what mummy and daddy did for a living. Even, in those days, whether there was a phone at home, now it would be how much those possessions cost, but it's still there. It was what you did in the summer holidays; for me, it was working in the cardboard box factory or looking after the children of better off parents, for the rich students, it was going on holiday to an exotic location. I had to earn money, so my dad could keep me in the long holiday.
After graduation those with money got better jobs because daddy knew someone; for me, it was grabbing anything going as, believe it or not there was no chance of my dad subbing me.
Your experience may be different, but it doesn't make mine any less valid. It happened, and I was aware that I was worse off financially.

I started university in 1973 and I can honestly say that I do not remember any class consciousness.

This thread is about racism.

I think many on here are trying to minimise racism by saying “ it’s just as bad for white people”. Yes factory work and child labour was exploitative and cruel, but the people weren’t in that position merely because of skin colour, they weren’t considered sub human, hung for refusing to work or raped, tortured or kept in chains. We can all draw examples of slavery from the ancient empires, but it can’t be denied that it was European traders who industrialised the use of slavery in their colonies in order to enrich themselves. If they could have made as much by employing poor white people they would have done that - it was more profitable to deny the humanity of black people and enslave them .

It wasn't just the traders who made money, but the shareholders in the UK and some other countries. The study by UCL of those who received compensation showed that there were many very "ordinary" people who had slave shares in their portfolio of assets.

In any case, I think a focus on slavery is a distraction from the very real racism people experience today and which was downplayed by the report.

I do wish people would read the actual report or, at least, the summary of recommendations. The media, as expected, are just cherry picking some bits of it.

The media, as expected, are just cherry picking some bits of it.

Because, as I put further up, the media who recieved it initially were also cherry picked.

Well I've now read quite a lot of it and can see why it will anger some people. As a white woman, it is impossible to speak on behalf of those who are not white but perhaps this report is an opportunity for minority ethnic communities to have an open debate. When woman discuss women's issues, it's obvious that they are not fully in agreement and having heard some comments on the radio and in the media generally, it seems that this is also true of ME communities as well. Tony Sewell is not unique in his views and I will stick my neck out here, there are times when immediately citing institutional racism as the cause of something worries me. The covid death rate amongst NHS doctors and nurses is one issue that springs to mind. Further there's a difference between institutional racism and the racism that most people of colour experience on a regular basis. It is important to keep them separate, I think. The vile Jeans in this country don't make policy etc, thank goodness but her overt racism is a problem that won't go away by ignoring it. Look at how Trump mobilised the poor white working class in the US.

Expecting those of any community to hold the same views is a form of racism/sexism etc, I know you weren't doing that foxie but I am seeing that kind of view point more and more lately.

Talking about Trump, the U.K. commission seems to have been modelled on the 1776 Commission established by Trump, and later disbanded by Biden because he said it was both divisive and historically inaccurate.

Let’s hope the U.K. report goes the same way.

I have to agree with some of what foxie48 said Today 09:39. There are obviously some truths in this report. We do need to look at poverty overall, and areas of deprivation. So why oh why has the government gone all out to upset people. They knew what they were doing; it's perfectly clear from the way it was released that this was politics first and people second - standard stuff from a man who wants to rule not govern. Will this help resolve some of the deeply ingrained issues? Of course not. But I do expect a report, just before the election would be a likely time, saying they have solved all the problems. It will probably even mention "historical challenges" or "legacy policies" as if the Conservatives had never had a hand in getting us to this point but then Johnson never was a real Conservative, was he?

I agree with much of what you've written too foxie. My issue is (and I know it's shared by others with more experience of racism than I) is that the report doesn't even touch on some of the main issues. The overall impression is that there's denial about racism and an attempt to turn the blame back on to the people who suffer from it.

I agree that there needs to be an analysis of poverty for everybody, but the fact is that some groups tend to suffer poverty more than others and racism is a factor in that.