Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #sewellreport
Most recents (13)
Starmer: "Whatever your race or belief, your dreams can come true."
The problem with Starmer isn't just that he's away with the fairies on social mobility.
It's that he buys-in wholesale to the Tory ideology around race and social mobility. THREAD 🧵
The problem with Starmer isn't just that he's away with the fairies on social mobility.
It's that he buys-in wholesale to the Tory ideology around race and social mobility. THREAD 🧵
The rightwing answer to hard evidence on racism is that 'dreams can come true' by playing the game - and those that don't succeed only have themselves to blame. This is highly insulting to the lived experience of the vast majority of black and Asian people. 2/
Starmer's dreams are as counter-factual as the #SewellReport which sought to deny institutional racism, let alone structural/systemic racism. Yet there's no shortage of credible reports telling us social mobility isn't a thing and additional layers of racism suffered by PoC. 3/
🧵What is happening to equalities in the UK?
After a former employee of the @EHRC accused the body of ‘colluding in the denial of institutional racism’, this THREAD recalls a series of warnings that the government appears set on disappearing the matter of structural racism.
After a former employee of the @EHRC accused the body of ‘colluding in the denial of institutional racism’, this THREAD recalls a series of warnings that the government appears set on disappearing the matter of structural racism.
Following the #SewellReport, IRR Director Liz Fekete warned that some of its reccomendations were designed to create a new set of norms about how race and racism are conceptualised and which could make research into structural racism 'virtually impossible' irr.org.uk/article/sewell…
In @BylineTimes, Fekete & @LiamShrivastava highlighted how the government's Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill would limit academic freedom and protect bigotry and hate speech in the name of ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘viewpoint diversity’. bylinetimes.com/2021/08/19/the…
BABYLON
Wondrously flexible Jamaican term for systemic power and Western cultures seen as degenerate or oppressive, especially the POLICE.
#WarInnaBabylon @ICALondon
Wondrously flexible Jamaican term for systemic power and Western cultures seen as degenerate or oppressive, especially the POLICE.
#WarInnaBabylon @ICALondon
‘In the Jamaicans, you have a people who are constitutionally disorderly—it’s simply in their make-up.’ @metpoliceuk
‘For this greater spirit of rebellion among the Jamaican slaves compared with those of the other British slave societies several causes may be given.’ @opatters1
‘For this greater spirit of rebellion among the Jamaican slaves compared with those of the other British slave societies several causes may be given.’ @opatters1
‘sergeants & constables do leave stations with the express purpose of going “NIGGER HUNTING”, that is to say, they do not get orders from superiors to act in this way, but among themselves THEY DECIDE TO BRING IN A COLOURED PERSON AT ALL COSTS’ Joseph A. Hunte 1966 @policeconduct
I posted this thread long before the publication of the #SewellReport. Having read it, it’s clear that disproportionate focus on ‘+ve stories’ at the expense of playing down the widespread impact of structural racism was a key objective of the Commission.
The more ‘political’ statements in the report, are clearly crafted to suit a particular ideology and are a weak attempt to steer discourse away from the realities of racism. Yet so much of this is shoddy - (I wonder who proof read it before publication?)
I’m seeing unqualified statements (making sweeping generalisations), confused statements (understanding of racism, structures, systems, experiences), dodgy analysis. E.g. in a section titled ‘Perceptions & Realities’, the report says:
May I request authors of #SewellReport who have claimed #NHS as a success story in race issues to read this thread
Recent survey of Primary in Humberside region shows very disturbing findings discrimination in NHS of 2021 /1
@rcgp @KailashChandOBE @CNagpaul @riddell_marcus
Recent survey of Primary in Humberside region shows very disturbing findings discrimination in NHS of 2021 /1
@rcgp @KailashChandOBE @CNagpaul @riddell_marcus
Is it acceptable that in #NHS of 2021 ability to train in ones chosen career is affected by ones ethnicity, culture and #racism #discrimination ? /2
@rcpsglasgow @RCPLondon @rcpsych @RCOphthPres @terry_moran1 @AntonEmmanuel2 @Prerana_Issar @MichaelMarmot @NHS_RobW @NHS_RHO
@rcpsglasgow @RCPLondon @rcpsych @RCOphthPres @terry_moran1 @AntonEmmanuel2 @Prerana_Issar @MichaelMarmot @NHS_RobW @NHS_RHO
How can we allow🤔 in 2021 a trainee to be told by a senior trainer
'we do not accept people who are not from around here' /3
@NHS_HealthEdEng @anilkjain61 @PeaPeaspot @adamson0901 @shekhawatgp @NLaGNHS_Doctors @northlincsccg @surashsurash @Halima_Begum @Manuel_Cavazza
'we do not accept people who are not from around here' /3
@NHS_HealthEdEng @anilkjain61 @PeaPeaspot @adamson0901 @shekhawatgp @NLaGNHS_Doctors @northlincsccg @surashsurash @Halima_Begum @Manuel_Cavazza
I’ve experienced racism my whole life, but was in denial about how it impacted me professionally, until I was subjected to the most shameless blatant action. + didn’t fully understand structural racism, until I led a major review uncovering it. I wonder about the #commissioners?
I’m not denying the existing of enablers, ideologues, those seeking acceptance, & my general dismay at the #SewellReport, but think perhaps the spectrum of thinking extends to commissioners who are denial, struggling with their own understanding.
I always understood the manifestation of racism in systems, structures, impact of history (I was talking about all this at school when I was a teen), but in my mind I may have equated my own experiences to the actions of individuals, & the other stuff not happening to me as much.
In 2010, landing cards of Windrush arrivals were destroyed. Then people who’d come as kids, like this little boy, now seniors, threatened w deportation, loss of NHS treatments, benefits. Many lost everything & suffering continues. But #SewellReport says no institutional racism.
On how report barely mentions Windrush, put brilliantly by @ppvernon - ‘if they had focused on the scandal, they would have had to admit that there was a systematic, structural failure in the way that the Home Office targeted the Windrush generation’ theguardian.com/world/2021/apr…
In 2018, twelve Commonwealth Caribbean countries asked for a meeting to discuss the Windrush scandal with the government before the Commonwealth Heads of Gov meeting held in UK, were denied. So much for the hands of unity in the Commonwealth..
The #SewellReport really is a verbose, sloppy and intellectually dishonest piece of work. In the bits I know about (drugs and crime), there is a pattern of misleading readers by mischaracterising the sources it cites. Here are some examples. 1/n
To back a claim that cannabis is a 'gateway' drug, it cites a 2002 ACMD report. Here's what a later (2008) ACMD report says on the issue
To support the idea that stop and search works, they rely on a study in the BJC . While this study found a small association with lower recorded drug crime, it conclude, 'claims that this is an effective way to control and deter offending seem misplaced'. academic.oup.com/bjc/article/58…
A basic lesson in logic, for those that need it (1):
‘My experience of racism in the 70s and 80s is different to today’
DOES NOT imply
1. Other people’s experience is different
2. Other people’s experience is better
Different does not mean better. #SewellReport. #rishisunak
‘My experience of racism in the 70s and 80s is different to today’
DOES NOT imply
1. Other people’s experience is different
2. Other people’s experience is better
Different does not mean better. #SewellReport. #rishisunak
(2) ‘My experience as an adult is different to what I experienced as a child’
DOES NOT imply
1. Children today do not have the same / worse experience
2. Racism has got ‘better’
Adults are not the same as children. They have different experiences. #SewellReport. #rishisunak
DOES NOT imply
1. Children today do not have the same / worse experience
2. Racism has got ‘better’
Adults are not the same as children. They have different experiences. #SewellReport. #rishisunak
(3)
A: ‘I/ they are BAME. I/ they have done really well.’
B: ‘Therefore there is no institutional racism’
NO! B is NOT a logical conclusion of A
Structural & systemic manifestations of racism are not the same as random examples of ‘success’.
Analyse the data.
#SewellReport
A: ‘I/ they are BAME. I/ they have done really well.’
B: ‘Therefore there is no institutional racism’
NO! B is NOT a logical conclusion of A
Structural & systemic manifestations of racism are not the same as random examples of ‘success’.
Analyse the data.
#SewellReport
🧵🧵🧵
POC have been left reeling from the gaslighting and historical revisionism in #SewellReport.
Our lived experiences of institutional racism is being denied, and our reality questioned.
White people, it's time to use your power and privilege to push back
⬇️⬇️⬇️
POC have been left reeling from the gaslighting and historical revisionism in #SewellReport.
Our lived experiences of institutional racism is being denied, and our reality questioned.
White people, it's time to use your power and privilege to push back
⬇️⬇️⬇️
Silence is not an option, we need everyone to push back against the narrative of racism denial - and do the work of building a truly anti-racist Britain.
Here are three things you can do in coming days, weeks, and months.
Here are three things you can do in coming days, weeks, and months.
1️⃣ Acknowledge that institutional racism exists in our society, our institutions, your organisation, and in the charity sector.
True anti-racism work starts with acknowledging how these structures operate in your org and addressing past harm.
True anti-racism work starts with acknowledging how these structures operate in your org and addressing past harm.
I know everyone’s dunking on the bit in the #SewellReport where they suggest that instead of teaching the downside of colonialism we make a fun list of Indian-origin English words, but I think it might start more conversations than you think
Loot, for example
The Hobson-Jobson dictionary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian slang is available online. It contains a wealth of context and I’d fully support its use as a textbook
Some thoughts on the #SewellReport reflecting broadly but using health an example
Throughout the report, the role of racism is 'explained away'. For example, Covid-19 disparities are merely about where you live with, what job you do and how poor you are
Throughout the report, the role of racism is 'explained away'. For example, Covid-19 disparities are merely about where you live with, what job you do and how poor you are
Ignoring the elephant in the room that shapes each of those factors: racism
That's despite study after study demonstrating how structural and institutional racism determines where you live, what job you do and how poor you are
That's despite study after study demonstrating how structural and institutional racism determines where you live, what job you do and how poor you are
But how many times can you respond "look at all the evidence"?
On one hand, it leads to a distracting debate
On the other, it's a pointless battle if a single positive outcome for a particular ethnic group is apparent proof that bigger-than-the-individual racism cannot exist
On one hand, it leads to a distracting debate
On the other, it's a pointless battle if a single positive outcome for a particular ethnic group is apparent proof that bigger-than-the-individual racism cannot exist
The #SewellReport and its conclusions hit particularly hard today. I can imagine that a lot of British people from minoritised communities are feeling particularly gaslit by having our lived experience dismissed in such a public and patronising way. I have some thoughts:
The report has actually presented quite a bit of evidence of systemic disadvantage, despite significant cherry-picking of data. However, they have dismissed a lot of things as being due to SES, as if accepting that POC are more likely to be poor isn't, itself, systemic racism.
There is also an assumption that a finding that shows any minority group having positive outcomes (or even an improvement in poor outcomes) indicates that racism doesn't exist. I don't think that that assumption would have passed peer review.
