Black and Minority Ethnic People: Workplace Issues

Baroness Howells of St Davids Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Howells of St Davids (Lab)]

My Lords, I put on record my thanks to the Minister for raising this debate and for the eloquent way in which she set out her arguments. It affords me the opportunity to quote the words of Edmund Burke, who said:

“It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph”.

There remain alive in this country today a number of African-Caribbean persons who can still recall a time in this nation when the Aryan myth of white superiority was displayed on the streets of Britain and when those whose skins are black, who were invited to this country to repair the ravages of the last two World Wars, were abused, insulted and treated less favourably by the bigots of this nation. Such bigotry was alien to these who endured it, even when the home of a well-known GP, David Pitt—who later became a Member of your Lordships’ House as Lord Pitt of Hampstead—was burned down. Lord Constantine was also abused by some, even though he was admired for his cricketing prowess.

Most of those people were willing to keep their heads down but others saw that the insults could not be tolerated when English men and women took to the streets to show how passionately they felt, feeding fears that this country would be taken over by immigrants. However, the mighty words of Edmund Burke came to the fore and steps were taken to counter the sad state of affairs that we were living through. I arrived in Britain in 1951 as a student and I saw immigration. Good men and women such as Lord Brockway took charge and lobbied against those voices, including even that of an MP, Enoch Powell, who talked of “rivers of blood”. Black people did something: they stood up and confronted the intolerance of this nation.

Progress has been made. Under Harold Wilson came the first Race Relations Act in 1965. Further Acts were introduced in 1968, 1976 and 2000. These Acts of Parliament had a major impact on overt racism. The Commission for Racial Equality was there to advise people on how best to take advantage of the legislation when they were confronted by such racism. It was surprising for many of us working in the field to find later that we had to deal with covert racism in a country which considered itself Christian and civilised.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission was set up, bringing together women, the disabled, people of different races, and gays and lesbians. The Commission for Racial Equality was wiped out completely and all the other institutions which were of help to those seeking justice quickly disappeared. It was felt that there was no need for such organisations. In some ways it is true that racial bigotry had been unlearned by some but, where it persists in the workplace, black employees talk among friends about their scars. According to an article in the Independent, engagement and progression by black people in the workforce have deteriorated over the last decade, despite evidence showing that black young people born in this country outperform white students.

The noble Baroness mentioned the awards that have been made. Omar Khan, director of the Runnymede Trust, says that it is time we stopped telling young people from different ethnic backgrounds that all they need to do is get better qualifications and integrate more and all will be fine Sadly, that is not true. The evidence shows that this generation does not have a problem with attitude or with bad grades, but it does have to deal with discrimination on grounds of race. I ask the Minister: what else explains the poor deals that these people get in the workplace?

I will refrain from relating stories that I hear daily and list a few things that happen in the workplace: bullying, which appears to be all about egos; lack of promotion, even though people from ethnic backgrounds are expected to train others who then overtake them because of the colour of their skin; and victimisation, where people are told, “You only got the job because you are black”.

I end by asking the Minister to consider very carefully what she hears today and to play her part, working with the black community to end the bigotry of the Aryan myth of white superiority, known as racism, in the world. All men are equal in the sight of the Creator and deserve better.