|
Solomos and Back (1996) have argued that racism takes different forms in differing social relations and at different points in history. Racism should not therefore, be regarded as an unchanging phenomenon. Racism is understood differently by different commentators, for example Goldberg (1993) is of the opinion that there needs to be a distinction between racial discrimination and racism.
He contends that racism is often expressed for its own sake
and those who are guilty of racism may not see it as such, it may just
be something they have heard while growing up and taken on board
without really understanding what it means. Racial discrimination on
the other hand generally refers to specific acts. However, Solomos and
Back (1996) maintain that there may be no clear dividing line between
these two things and that the nature of the relationship between racism
and discrimination may be far more complex than is first thought. The
experience of those racialised minorities who settle in Britain has to
be located in debates about colonialism, post-war migration, changing
labour markets and the different traditions and histories of various
ethnic groups (Bilton et al, 1996). This assignment will outline the
issues that have resulted in patterns of discrimination that have
emerged in Britain. It will then proceed to ask the question whether it
might be said that Britain is a racist society. Race and ethnicity is a
huge subject area and because of word constraints this paper will
concentrate on the existence of institutional racism. Institutional
racism refers to ethnically based patterns of discrimination that have
become embedded into existing social structures and institutions
(Giddens, 2001).
The European expansionism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
inevitably led them into contact with the racialised other, what Hall
(1992) has termed ‘the west and the rest.’ Beliefs about the capacities
of different people gave colonisers some sort of justification for the
inequalities that existed in colonial societies. Western science was a
key player in defining the concept of race, and how some races were
inherently inferior to others. This parallels the justification of
science that gender and class inequalities were rooted in biological
differences (Gould, 1984). This colonial definition still has
ramifications in that life chances and inequalities of wealth and
status are still connected with race. At the same time race remains a
basis of identity and of defining difference and sameness (Bilton et
al, 1996).
Patterns of Immigration
The many different ethnic groups in Britain and other industrialised
countries are the result of immigration. While there have been members
of other races in Britain for hundreds of years, the twentieth century
has seen a significant increase in the numbers of people from ethnic
minorities who enter Britain. Britain is more than ever before assuming
the mantle of a multi-racial, multi-cultural society. The present
situation dates back to the end of the Second World War when there was
a labour shortage in Britain. The response of the Government of the
time was to encourage migration from members of Commonwealth countries.
The 1948 British Nationality Act granted favorable immigration rights
to Citizens of Commonwealth countries (Giddens, 4th ed. 2001:264). The
labour shortage that existed after the Second World War meant that
there were job opportunities for those people who decided to come to
Britain and during the 1950s and 1960s Britain experienced a wave of
immigration on an unprecedented scale.
Cashmore (1989) has noted that differences between black and white
erupted into the racial violence that took place in London’s Notting
Hill in 1958. There was no legislation on race discrimination and so it
was not uncommon to find landlords advertising their property and
ending with the words no coloureds need apply. These issues highlighted
immigration and race relations as subjects of controversy. They
prompted a number of discussions within the cabinet whose response was
to debate a number of different measures to control the numbers of West
Indian, Indian and Pakistani immigrants to Britain (Braham, Rattansi
and Skellington, 1992). Eventually in 1962, amidst Enoch Powell’s
infamous rivers blood speech, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act was
introduced and commonwealth immigrants were only allowed entry if they
satisfied a number of criteria. The justification for this act was that
the huge influx of commonwealth inhabitants was contributing to an
economic crisis in Britain. However, as Cashmore (1989) observes the
Act did not cover Irish immigrants but was directed specifically at
black immigration. What concerned politicians, the media, and the vast
majority of the white population was the numbers of Commonwealth
immigrants who were entering the country.
Numbers of commentators and anti-racist campaigners have declared
British immigration policy as racist and discriminatory against
non-whites (Skellington, 1996). The 1981 British Nationality Act
tightened the conditions under which those from the former commonwealth
countries could enter Britain they could no longer register as British
citizens after five years but had to apply for naturalisation (Giddens,
2001). Legislation has tightened further in 1988 and 1996. The ethnic
minority population of Britain is now in excess of three million people
with highest concentrations in London and the West Midlands (Owen,
1992). Giddens (2001) contends that while Black and Asian groups are
discriminated against as a whole compared to white people, there are
also distinctions between groups and these are visible in employment
patterns. In the areas of immigration and employment it would seem that
non-white ethnic minorities do suffer discrimination and experience
more disadvantage than white groups.
Racism and Employment
Many of the jobs that the post-war new arrivals took on were low
status, low paid jobs often with long hours and shift work. Rex and
Tomlinson (1979) contend that a dual labour market exists in Britain.
The primary labour market consists of better paid work with on the job
training, the secondary labour market on the other hand has little job
security and few if any opportunities for training and promotion. In a
1960s survey the Policies Studies Institute found that the majority of
immigrants worked in manual jobs. Discrimination on the basis of race
was common and even those who were qualified to do better jobs ended up
working in factories or on the transport system. Many employers refused
to employ workers who were not white (Giddens, 2001). During the
economic recession in the 1980s the PSI found that apart from African
Asian and Indian men, the unemployment rates were twice as high among
ethnic minorities as they were among white workers. During the 1970s an
increasing number of men from ethnic minorities became self-employed.
More recently Britains ethnic minorities, while still suffering from
inequalities in pay and promotion vary in their occupations (Madood et
al,1997}.
Modood et al (1997) has noted that there are still a disproportionately
large number of Pakistani and Bangladeshi men in manual jobs. At the
same time Asian run businesses and shops are found in almost every
British town and city and are still growing. They are more likely to be
self-employed than whites. Tariq Modood (1991) has argued hard work,
along with the support of family and community is what has led to this
economic success.
In their study of Punjabi Sikhs who had settled in Leeds Ballard and
Ballard (1977) found that there was a strong element in first
generation immigrants to maintain the distinctiveness of Sikh culture.
Second generation retained an attachment to their parent’s culture but
acted in more Westernised ways outside the home. They also had a
greater interest in materialism and educational issues. Some Muslims
served in the British Army during the First World War and settled in
the UK. Again, the size of the community increased during the
immigration of the 1950s and 1960s. Many of them found work in the
mills and factories of the Midlands and the North of England. The most
disadvantaged in the labour market are young Caribbean men. They earn
less than other groups and are twice as likely as their white
counterparts to be unemployed. Even African male graduates who may have
the same qualifications as white male graduates are seven times more
likely than whites to be unemployed (Berthoud, 1999). However, Iganski
and Payne (1999) have argued that in recent years certain non-white
groups have achieved economic success. Their findings suggest that this
success is due to postindustrial restructuring and that such changes in
the labour market are stronger than racial discrimination and
disadvantage.
Conclusion
This paper poses the question of whether Britain is a racist society.
In doing this there was a concentration on institutional racism, that
is to say racism that has, inadvertently or not, become embedded in the
social structure. Patterns of immigration and successive government
response to these issues tend to suggest that British immigration
policies are racist. Patterns of employment have also been racist and
have led some commentators to argue that the British labour market
operates on two levels one of which is not easily accessible to ethnic
minorities. More recent research, however, tends to suggest that
although racist policies do exist in the labour market, the changes
that de-industrialisation and globalization have brought are
destabilizing institutional racism in employment.
1500 words
Bibliography
Ballard, R. and Ballard, C. 1977 “The Sikhs”in J.L. Watson ed. Between Two Cultures, Oxford, Blackwell
Berthoud, R. 1999 “Young Caribbean men and the labour market:a comparison with other ethnic groups” York, YPS
Braham, P. Rattansi, A. and Skellington, R. eds 1996. Racism and Antiracism. London, Sage.
Cashmore, E. 1989 United Kingdom? London, Unwin Hyman
Giddens, A. 2001. 4th ed. Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press
Goldberg, D.T. 1993 Racist Culture. Oxford, Blackwell.
Hall,S. Critcher, C. Jefferson,T. Clarke, J. and Roberts, B. 1979
Policing the Crisis. Mugging, the State and Law and Order. London,
Macmillan.
Harris,C.1988. “Images of Blacks in Britain1930-1960” in Allen, S. and
Macy, M. eds. Race and Social Policy. London, Economic and Social
Research Council..
Iganski, P. and Payne, G. 1999 “Socio-economic restructuring and
employment: the case of minority ethnic groups” British Journal of
Sociology 50
Modood, T. 1991 “The Indian Economic Success” Policy and Politics 19
Modood, T. et al, 1997. Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage London, Policy Studies Institute.
Owen, D. 1992. Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Settlement Patterns 1991
Census Statistical Paper No. 1, National Ethnic Minority Data Archive.
Rex, J and Tomlinson, S. 1979. Colonial Immigrants in a British City London, Routledge Keegan and Paul.
Skellington, R. and Morris, P. 1996 2nd ed. Race in Britain Today Milton Keynes, Open University Press.
Solomos, J and Back,L.1996. Racism and Society. London, Macmillan Press.
|
