In yet another story highlighting the issue of racism in modern Britain – which of course some commentators in some areas of the media don’t think is an issue at all, the Surrey Comet has published a story about a nine year old child.

A nine-year-old was suspended for half a day for physical attacks, racist jokes and verbal abuse, according to the Surrey Comet.

The local Kingston paper conducted an investigation into racist abuse in the area’s schools and found 14 children were suspended from school in the last year in the borough alone.

A spokesperson from Kingston Council said: “We, together with school governors, have a duty to create and implement strategies to prevent and address racism.

“All staff should see dealing with racist incidents as an important part of their professional duties. There should be an appreciation of the serious implications that racial harassment can have for the wellbeing of the school and the community.

“Openness about incidents is encouraged. All schools promote racial tolerance through their inclusive ethos and the pastoral curriculum.”

In 2011, teachers logged more than 10,000 incidents nationally involving primary school students making racist insults or derogatory comments about homosexuals during the previous year.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: We want to tackle all forms of bullying, particularly bullying motivated by prejudice and we have strengthened teachers’ powers to enable them to take tough action.

“Different schools face different issues, so they must develop their own robust strategies, and clearly communicate them to parents and pupils.

In our equality training we often hear people say that racism is something that doesn’t affect children. This is absolutely wrong. Children pick up from their parents the most terrible stereotypes and prejudices and share those in nursery and playground. Teachers and schools need more support to challenging such behaviour in a manner which doesn’t alienate the child but fosters tolerance, openness and respect.

Share with us your views by leaving a comment.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: Surrey Comet and Huffington Post

Over the last few months in this blog we have raised concerns at the increasing open racism within the world of football. We have highlighted the incidents involving Terry and Suarez, the responses of the FA and individual managers such as Daglish and Alex Ferguson.

Today the issue takes on an even greater prominence as the world of football arrives at Downing Street where the Prime Minister David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, the sports minister, meet senior soccer officials and representatives from anti-discrimination groups.

The idea of the roundtable, according to Downing Street, is to identify what more can be done to make soccer more inclusive with the Government pledging its commitment to working with the football community as a whole to address and tackle the issues.

“In recognising that great progress has been made .. there is more to be done across a range of issues,” Downing Street said in a statement before the meeting.

On Wednesday the Government will also announce £3 million of funding towards the FA’s new National Coaching Centre at St George’s Park.

The Downing Street statement continued: “The Centre will help to identify and train the next generation of coaches, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that more coaches from black and minority ethnic backgrounds can take advantage of the facilities and progress to the professional game.”

There have been a number of recent initiatives to tackle discrimination, particularly homophobia in football. However many of them seem to be failing and not achieving the sort of reductions we are all looking for. Maybe a start would be training directors and players in basic equality.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: Yahoo Sport

After a week which has seen much debate in this blog and elsewhere about the role of the Christian faith in modern Britain, the Education secretary, Michael Gove, has sparked a new controversy by saying that the Equality Act does not apply to the curriculum.

In our work in education at Equal and Diverse we have long argued that a school or college cannot embed and mainstream anti-discrimination work unless that is embedded within and across the curriculum.

The Guardian reports that the TUC has accused Gove of failing in his legal duties by insisting that equality laws, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, do not extend to the school curriculum.

The TUC complains that the current situation sends mixed signals to the playground, because schools are legally obliged to condemn discrimination on sexual-orientation grounds but free to use religious materials that equality campaigners claim is homophobic.

Brendan Barber, the TUC’s general secretary, wrote to Gove in December expressing alarm that a booklet containing “homophobic material” had been distributed by a US preacher after talks to pupils at Roman Catholic schools across the Lancashire region in 2010.

The booklet, “Pure Manhood: How to become the man God wants you to be”, discusses a boy dealing with “homosexual attractions” which it suggested may “stem from an unhealthy relationship with his father, an inability to relate to other guys, or even sexual abuse”.

The booklet, which claims that “scientifically speaking, safe sex is a joke”, explains that “the homosexual act is disordered, much like contraceptive sex between heterosexuals. Both acts are directed against God’s natural purpose for sex – babies and bonding.”

But Gove insists: “The education provisions of the Equality Act 2010 which prohibit discrimination against individuals based on their protected characteristics (including their sexual orientation) do not extend to the content of the curriculum. Any materials used in sex and relationship education lessons, therefore, will not be subject to the discrimination provisions of the act.”

Gove’s response has triggered anger from the TUC. “Having written to the education secretary to express our worry about the distribution of homophobic literature in faith schools, his lack of concern is very alarming,” Barber said.

A DfE spokesman insisted: “Any school engaging in the promotion of homophobic material would be acting unlawfully.” But the row highlights a grey area over the teaching of sex education. A review intended to provide new guidelines on what was appropriate for schools to teach was kicked into the long grass when the last election was called.

We believe that the law is clear although there may need to be a test case to ensure that faith schools with the support of Gove cannot be allowed to perpetrate further discrimination.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: The Guardian

A week after a court ruled that it was discriminatory for Christian prayers to be said during the formal proceedings of a council and a court ruled in favour of two gay men who had been the victims of discrimination at the hands of two Christian guest house owners, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has given a thoughtful response to the position of Christian faith in Britain.

In the week that has passed Baroness Warsi has spoken in the Vatican about how secularism has become an aggressive force in British society and the former Archbishop of Canterbury has argued that Christians need to become more vocal to defend their faith.

Faith and politics is always a heady mix, and we have commented in this blog both about the flirtation with God on the part of the Prime Minister David Cameron and the apparent decline in Christian belief in our country.

Trevor Phillips speaking to the Telegraph has said that rreligious rules should end “at the door of the temple” and give way to the “public law” laid down by Parliament..

He argued that Roman Catholic adoption agencies and other faith groups providing public services must choose between their religion and obeying the law when their beliefs conflict with the will of the state.

Mr Phillips singled out the adoption agencies that fought a long legal battle to avoid being forced to accept homosexual couples under equality laws.

Last year, following a High Court case, the Charity Commission ruled against an exemption for Catholic Care, an adoption agency operating in Leeds.

Speaking at a debate in London on diverse societies, Mr Phillips backed the new laws, which led to the closure of all Catholic adoption agencies in England. “You can’t say because we decide we’re different then we need a different set of laws,” he said, in comments reported by The Tablet, the Catholic newspaper.

“To me there’s nothing different in principle with a Catholic adoption agency, or indeed Methodist adoption agency, saying the rules in our community are different and therefore the law shouldn’t apply to us. Why not then say sharia can be applied to different parts of the country? It doesn’t work.”

He added that religious groups should be free to follow their own rules within their own settings but not outside. “Once you start to provide public services that have to be run under public rules, for example child protection, then it has to go with public law,” he said.

“Institutions have to make a decision whether they want to do that or they don’t want to do that.”

Mr Phillips’s remarks were condemned as “inflammatory” and “ridiculous” by legal specialists and religious leaders.

Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, called on the authorities to respect the nation’s heritage as a democracy in which the Church of England is the established religion. He described the comparison with sharia as “ridiculous” and called on MPs to find ways of “accommodation” when new laws clash with religious beliefs.

“I have argued in the past that there can be only one law to which all should be accountable. But we are not starting with a blank sheet of paper as far as religion is concerned.

“We are a democracy in which Christianity is established in the Church of England and a nation profoundly influenced by this faith in its Catholic and Anglican heritage. We need lawmakers to respect this heritage and seek accommodation wherever a strongly held faith seems to clash with new legislation.”

During the debate, he praised both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches for their work in inner cities, particularly through faith schools, but accused some religious groups of growing intolerance.

“There is something rather odd that is happening amongst what I call the righteous brigade, that is people of good will and so on,” Mr Phillips said.

“And that is that if you don’t agree 100 per cent with them and excoriate people who have a different point of view actually somehow you are joining a bad bunch of people.”

Keith Porteous Wood, director of the National Secular Society, said Mr Phillips was “absolutely right”.

“If society has decided that it wants to ensure by law that every citizen of this country has equal rights, then there cannot be endless exemptions for religious bodies or anyone else,” he said.

“There is no such thing as partial equality, and every time an exemption is made, someone else’s rights are compromised.”

Share with us your views on the role of religion and society and leave a comment.

Source: The Telegraph

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalandiverse.co.uk

Emma West, the women in the infamous My Tram Experience video clip appeared in court today, Friday. On the YouTube clip which went viral she appears to racially abuse passengers on a Croydon tram. She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of racially-aggravated public order offences, one with intent to cause fear. She will stand trial on 11 June.

West has attracted support from groups like the English Defence League (EDL) and the British National Party (BNP), some of whose members back the views she expresses in the video (sample quote, “None of you are f**king English. Get back to your own country. Sort your own countries, don’t come and do mine.”)

Mother-of-two Emma West was charged with two racially aggravated public order offences after a video was posted to YouTube which appears to show her in an obscene rant at black, Asian and Polish passengers. She holds a toddler on her knee throughout.

The clip, called My Tram Experience was filmed on a tram travelling between Croydon and Wimbledon and has been watched by more than 11 million people since it was uploaded on November 27 2011. In it, West is seen to shout: “You’re black; you ain’t British. Go back to where you came from.”

The 34-year-old, of Grenville Road, New Addington, is also alleged to have caused fear and provocation of violence to a passenger, who claims West hit her on the shoulder with “a closed fist”.

There were concerns the court case would become the focus for disturbance as supporters of the BNP and EDF – who called the hearing a ‘freedom of speech case’ – decide to make their presence felt.

Since the My Tram Experience video surfaced, several others, all apparently showing racist women ranting on London’s tubes, buses and trams have made headlines and we here at Equal and Diverse have asked what this shows of racism and its openness in the United Kingdom,. Are our anecdotal feelings of a significant increase in open racism confirmed by these clips? Are these fears confirmed by this week’s sharp increase in hate crimes involving race?

Please feel free to leave us your comments.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: TNT Magazine.

Related reads:

Yet another racist rant on a Central Line train.

Like returning migratory birds the annual story involving Ryanair being criticised for its inappropriate advertisements has arrived on our shores. This time two UK newspaper adverts for the budget airline have been banned after complaints from readers that they were sexist and objectified women.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which received 17 complaints, said they were likely to cause offence.

The adverts showed women posing in bra and pants with the headline “Red Hot Fares & Crew! One way from £9.99″.

Ryanair said since crew members volunteered to take part, it could not be seen to objectify women. So if anyone volunteers for anything there is apparently no constraint!

The airline said the adverts promoted its cabin crew charity calendar and used images taken directly from it.

Ryanair said “because similar images of women and men often featured in the same media, the ads could not be deemed offensive or unsuitable for public display”.

However, the ASA found the women’s appearance, stance and gaze – together with the headline – would be seen as linking female cabin crew with sexually suggestive behaviour and breached the advertising practice code.

“We considered that the ads were likely to cause widespread offence, when displayed in a national newspaper,” it said.

The advertising watchdog said the adverts must not appear again.

One wonders how many advertisements Ryanair will continue to use and then withdraw before more punitive arrangements are put in place. What is the purpose of the ASA if it is simply to close the door after the plane has left the runway?

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: BBC News

Related reads:

L’Oreal and its illegal advert.

Nivea and the racist row.

Already this year we have witnessed calls from medical professionals to introduce price controls on alcohol and to lower our alcohol consumption.

Now the Prime Minister is to highlight the massive fiscal and personal costs of Britain’s addiction to alcohol.

Prime Minister David Cameron is set to call for bars, supermarkets and the drinks industry in England to do more to help ensure responsible drinking.

On a visit to a hospital in north-east England, he will promise to tackle the “scandal” of drunkenness and alcohol abuse that costs the NHS £2.7bn a year.

He is set to suggest the use of US-inspired “drunk tanks”, cells to house people overnight while they sober up.

The government will publish its alcohol strategy for England later this year.

Ministers are expected to recommend higher “minimum” prices for drink as part of the proposals.

Scotland has already introduced an Alcohol Bill, which could become law before the summer, although ministers have yet to set a minimum price per unit.

He will cite the latest figures showing alcohol misuse costs the NHS £2.7billion a year, including £1billion on accident and emergency services.

This is part of a wider cost to society, which has been put at between £17billion and £22billion a year when road accidents, health problems, crime and lost productivity are taken into account.

Last year, there were 200,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions, up 40 per cent on eight years ago. The number of patients admitted with acute intoxication has more than doubled since 2003.

The prime minister will say: ‘We’ve seen a frightening growth in the number of people – many under-age – who think it’s acceptable for people to get drunk in public in ways that wreck lives, spread fear and increase crime.

Source: BBC News and the Metro.

What do you think? Will alcohol price control make a difference? Please leave us your views.

Dr Donald Macaskill.

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Other reads:

Doctors call for alcohol price control.

The terrible costs of alcohol abuse.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/890344-david-cameron-alcohol-abuse-is-the-scandal-of-our-society#ixzz1mQshAWW5

Equal and Diverse has for some time now been highlighting the growing racism which seems evident within society in general but in particular in the world of social media.

So perhaps it wasn’t such a surprise to see that racist attacks accounted for nearly four fifths of the hate crimes that reached court in 2010/11 according to figures released by the Crown Prosecution Service.

In the days and weeks after Terry and Suárez and growing issues of racism in football the new figures suggest that racism is a growing problem in austerity Britain.

The figures were broken down to represent different types of prejudice for the first time, showing that 12,711 racist attacks reached court last year – representing 83 per cent of hate crime prosecutions.

The number of hate crime prosecutions increased to 15,284 cases, of which 12,651 resulted in a conviction – an increase of 11 per cent on a year earlier. A total of 86 per cent of those convicted pleaded guilty.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said: ‘Outcomes in cases of hate crime are continuing to improve. We should be proud of the work we have done to secure this significant increase but I am determined that we build on this success.’

A further 565 cases motivated by religious hatred were prosecuted, while others included homophobic/transphobic and disability hate crimes.

Campaigners believe most hate crime still goes unreported. The Institute of Race Relations said the figures ‘are not a surprise’ and success in following up hate crimes has been ‘patchy’.

Is this your experience – are hate crimes becoming more frequent. Is low level racism increasingly acceptable in our society? Leave us your comments.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Related links.

Growing racism between the nations.

Racism and football.

Racism in the boardroom.

Source: The Metro http://www.metro.co.uk/news/890333-racist-britain-fears-fuelled-as-hate-crime-prosecutions-rise#ixzz1mQqYjcCd

A routine test could triple the rate of detection of cognitive impairment and dementia, according to researchers who argue that screening should be mandatory for older people.

Research from Australia and the United States suggests the role of tests could be significant in aiding and supporting those with early onset dementia. Is this a case of age discrimination?

The controversial proposal would dramatically boost early diagnoses of dementia, “a common and costly problem”, the researchers say. But one Australian expert has described it as “a blatant example of age discrimination”.

A US team assessed the impact of screening – coupled with further evaluation – on diagnoses in people aged 70 and older who had no indication of memory loss.

Participants were given a brief test, in which they had to perform tasks such as drawing a clock and recalling certain words.

Of the 8,063 people who accepted screening, 2,081 failed and 580 agreed to further evaluation. In total, 902 – or 11% – of people were diagnosed with cognitive impairment, compared with 4% in clinics without the program, the researchers said.

Among those who failed the screening and accepted further evaluation, 432 were diagnosed with dementia. Additionally, 118 patients who passed the initial screen but still requested further evaluation, and 82 of these were diagnosed with dementia.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

What do you think about this? Please share your views.

Dr Donald Macaskill

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Source: The Conversation

Related reads:

Recognising the early signs of dementia.

In the midst of considerable ecclesiastical wrangling over issues as diverse as women bishops and civil partnerships, the Church of England has added its voice to a growing campaign to address the stigma and stereotyping of mental health conditions.

Synod members – bishops, clergy and laity from around the country – attended a fringe meeting on mental health at Church House. The move comes after the Church of England developed a pack to help churches run services and activity around the subject of mental health and is continuing to build support for their work, and as the Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed concern about the stigma still attached to mental health problems.

At the pledge signing ceremony, over 40 representatives from churches across the country were also asked to pledge their support to Time to Change and show their commitment to promoting a better understanding of mental health problems, while offering support and welfare advice to their staff and congregations.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said: “One in four adults and one in ten children will experience a mental health problem yet, as a society, we still seem to struggle to understand this experience and therefore judge people unfairly. Mental health issues touch the lives of every family, and every congregation in England, the UK and across the globe. It is time we assigned stigma and discrimination to the history books, and started to talk more openly about the issue as a way of breaking down stigma and misunderstanding, and building more empathy and support for recovery. As a society we must take more responsibility for the negative attitudes that people with a mental illness face on a daily basis.”

Sue Baker, director of Time to Change, said: “For many, church provides a sense of community and comfort which means it is a good place to start conversations about mental health. The Archbishop’s leadership in signing the pledge will help send the message across congregations that we all have a role to play in tackling the stigma and discrimination that is experienced by people with mental health problems so regularly, even in 2012.”

In our work at Equal and Diverse we are painfully aware of the role of stigma in mental health training and wish the campaign every success.

Dr Donald Macaskill

Source: Time to Change

www.equalanddiverse.co.uk

Related reads.

Time to end stigma on mental health.