Dorset Race Equality Partnership Being Black in Britain

1
Dorset Race Equality PartnershipBeing Black in
Britain

• Professor Harinder Bahra

2
Format

• To share and debate some of the challenges faced
  by the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population
• To share and reflect on some personal experiences

3
Historical Context

• Migration and settlement patterns
• Race Relation Acts and codes of practice
• Direct/Indirect discrimination
• Institutional racism
• Research
• Approaches in the 70s, 80s and 90s
• Obama (affirmative action and social engineering)

4
Current Situation

• BMEs still have different employment patterns
• More likely to be unemployed (up to 3x)
• Where employed,
• concentrated in lower levels of the organisation
• disparity in pay levels
• flatter career trajectory
• Subject to organisation cultures which are often
  oppressive (Disciplinary etc)
• More likely to suffer in a recession
• Still likely to receive poor service delivery

5
My Own Career

• School
• Left school in 1978 (18)
• Employment
• Housing

6
My Own Career

• Commenced studies at 23 (part time)
• Voluntary, private and public sectors
• Consultancy and education
• Staff and management differences
• Intellectual and cultural racism
• Portfolio Career

7
Conclusion

• Highlights the complexities of societal and
  organisation practices and how they can still
  perpetuate racism and discriminatory.
• Supports the need to have a Race Equality
  Partnership which offers the BME population and
  organisations a supportive environment to help
  them grow, be empowered and act as catalysts in
  instigating/facilitating societal and
  organisational change
• The need for long term intra-organisation
  commitment