We have grown used to politicians approaching the issue of ‘race’ in the context of immigration, crime, or the aftermath of a tragedy.
So it was enormously refreshing to hear Nick Clegg offer up a well-informed speech on the quest for true race equality, without a negative backdrop.
Delivering a Scarman Lecture on the 30th anniversary of the ground-breaking report into the 1981 Brixton riots, Clegg gave arguably the best speech on race equality by a Cabinet minister.
It was Liberal Democracy at its best, bravely shattering the conspiracy of silence on one of the biggest issues of the day – the scandal of the shockingly disproportionate outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
As I listened, the question of what took us so long was eclipsed by a swelling pride; this was what I always believed social liberalism was all about.
Stepping into the arena of race from a progressive standpoint is always going to attract a hail of brickbats from the right but the great Liberals of yesteryear always faced down the howls of reactionaries.
Clegg located the issue firmly in the context of our party’s tradition. He said:
The state-led, law-led approach can only take you part of the way. If you assume the state has all the answers, you absolve other parts of society from playing their part. You let businesses off the hook and you discourage activity in the wider community to support young, enterprising men and women from ethnic minorities too.
In focussing on economic injustice he touched on hidden factors, often invisible even to the victims, and shone a much-needed light on the subtle dynamics of racism in today’s society.
African-Caribbean unemployment is running at twice the rate of white unemployment. So few British-born people of colour sit in the top City boardrooms. So few would-be entrepreneurs are getting bank loans to start a new business.
Clegg’s speech demonstrated that Liberals can indeed shape a discourse that has hitherto been a depressing bun fight between Labour supporters and the forces of conservatism.
Too often Liberals have opted out of this debate, taking refuge in purist colour-blindness when all around is evidence of racial discrimination.
Clegg has shown we can have the confidence to propose solutions to succeed in challenging the casual racism which contributes to the hugely unfair outcomes and undermines justice in our whole society.
If we back our words up with far-reaching policies, Lib Dems can look back with pride in years to come and say: at the very time when the issue race equality was at its’ most unpopular, we took the mantle and made great inroads to making Britain a fairer place for people of colour.
What was notable about the first wave of attack, in the threads of online news stories, was how inarticulate the response was. Few critics took on Clegg’s arguments, instead resorting to abuse.
If we, as a party, can face this down and drive forward, we will be remembered for it.
It requires turning words into actions. The inquiry into bank lending, led by Andrew Stunell and Lynne Featherstone, is a start. But much more is needed.
As Clegg rightly pointed out, it is in Britain’s economic interests not to waste talent. He said:
If we tapped into the full potential of our black and ethnic minority communities, imagine the benefits and prosperity that would bring? Now is the moment to unleash black talent, for the good of us all.
Black and Asian people are estimated to earn £165 billion a year after tax, but it could be so much higher. Conversely the cost to the taxpayer of disproportionate educational under-achievement, unemployment and criminal justice is in the a huge drain on the state.
Deal with school exclusions, create a level playing field with job opportunities and entrepreneurship, and all Britain will be better off.
Generations have lost out because colour-blind policies of successive governments either caused, or failed to deal with, underlining racial inequalities.
Some political ideas may benefit BME communities in theory – our coalition policy of raising of the tax threshold is one. But how it pans out in reality is another story.
There is nothing illiberal about seeking to change outcomes; it is conservative not to. Changing outcomes for Britain’s BME communities means being radical, or to put it another way, being Liberal – in the old-fashioned sense.
We need an holistic and radical vision, applying our solutions to every aspect of life where hard figures tell us unequal racial outcomes are stark.
Two-fifths of BME households live in poverty, double the rate of white households. African and Caribbean youths are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched.
There is much that the state can do to change this.
There is also much that grassroots and political pressure can do to encourage the private sector to employ diverse talent.
Lord Scarman called for a “direct coordinated attack on racial disadvantage”. In his speech, Clegg responded: “It’s time we resurrected the Scarman sprit to tackle the lack of opportunities for our ethnic communities. The barriers built into everyday life.”
It was Dr Martin Luther King who said true peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice. Let us be for racial justice, not in just theory but in practice.
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9 Comments
Great stuff Lester. Don’t hesitate to come out with policy solutions to direct the next LibDem influence in government. What goes in the manifesto could well end up in a Coalition agreement and be enacted.
I love Nick Clegg’s vision to nurture everyone’s talents and for government to create the environment that brings the best out of every citizen. It is in fact the vision that is truly Lib Dem, as both other parties are parties of interest, and will benefit these interests to the detriment of everyone else.
Thanks Lester for posting this article!
Yes, well said. We should never lose that passion or that rational analysis – and I mean both Lester and Mark!
When, ages ago, I had some role on equalities in the London Liberals, I remember how some constituency parties could handle equality issues in general, but if you said, “So how does this apply to you, Sumware Liberals?” they’d shy away from race (and maybe, sexual orientation) and talk about disability access issues only. The twin traps are doing nothing and ignoring problems because of fear and distaste – and stereotyping in a well-intentioned liberal (but not Liberal) way.
Sorry – for Mark read Nick!!! Similar names.
An excellent article Lester. On the issue of race and inequality, it seems that Nick Clegg is the first senior member of the government to make such an important speech on the anniversary of the ground breaking Scarman Report.
Phrases like ” We (the Government) should face racism with an iron fist” will resonate with significant numbers within the Black and minority ethnic communities, for whom racism is still sadly an everyday fact of life.
This must now be followed up by radical measures to ensure we minimise the scourge of racism in our society, allowing everyone to reach their full potential.
Thank you Simon and David. Meral, I agree completely; this speech is a great springboard to get serious about being the first government to make serious inroads into tackling race inequality in Britain. For all Labour’s efforts – as important as they were – such as the Macpherson inquiry, the 2000 Race Relations (Amendment) Act and ministerial advisory committees – for many BAME people the reality remained unchanged.
Labour spent the first few years in office pulling the odd lever (only to reverse those same levers in the second half of their time) but failed to genuinely explore what was causing the problems. Nick Clegg has set out a platform on which to build policies from a uniquely Liberal standpoint, and it would be great if the party really got stuck into this debate. If we can develop our solutions to unequal outcomes that have been a stain on Britain for generations with half the gusto in which Chris Huhne has developed environmental policies, we will reap the rewards politically for generations to come.
Well done Lester for your blog highlighting the landmark speech made by our DPM. Even Operation Black Vote hailed it as a historic and bold speech:
http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/deputy-prime-minister-nick-clegg
Simon Woolley Director of OBV went on to say this:
“Nick Clegg has taken a big and bold step, but it will be meaningless if he doesn’t finish the journey with actions to back up his bold words. If he is serious, we in Britain’s Black communities will help him. We have told senior politicians for a very long time that everyone benefits when we can all fulfill our great potential.”
So for those who think we are wasting our time trying to reach out to the Afro-Caribbean vote because they are generally pro-Labour, heed those words. And let us all do our level best to help Nick put his words into action!!
Thanks Lester for highlighting publicy the significance of Nick’s Brixton speech. It’s good to have you back in action.
Those of us who have trying to get the party to fully embrace what is allowed under the law by positive action (which far too many in the party still confuse with positive discrimination) must welcome this speech.
We must ensure that the party adopts such measures as are required to counter previous discrimination, introduce fast-tracking and other sensible measures that thousands of British employers have used to be able to utilise the full talents of all its workforce.
At the moment, the backwoodsmen and women from Midsomer constituencies have only agreed a few of those measures at conference, and so that is regarded as the extent of its remit by the Diversity Group.
We also need a Campaign for Ethnic Balance, to emulate what women Lib Dems have been more successful in achieving.
Lester this is an excellent article but the Rev Arun Arora, a Guardian reader adds an interesting point as well, that we ‘The Party’ should be aware of:
“In his Scarman memorial lecture (Report, 24 November) Nick Clegg rightly challenged those in football and banking, asking why it is that for members of ethnic minority communities often “their success doesn’t match their ambitions”. I applaud him for raising this issue, but is it not a little rich coming from the leader of a party that has failed in the past five general elections to elect a non-white MP?
The last general election saw the Conservative and Labour parties between them elect 27 MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds – double the number in the previous parliament. Contrast this with the Liberal Democrats, whose failure to have any minority ethnic representation among its own 57 MPs is the kind of statistic for which other organisations would be rightly excoriated. This shameful situation is made worse by the fact that both the current equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, and the minister for race and community cohesion, Andrew Stunell, belong to a party which – alone among the main three parties – has no black or Asian MPs. Thirty years on from the Scarman report, the Lib Dem parliamentary party seems to be one of the last bastions of a monochrome enclave”
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/28/monochrome-party-liberal-democrats-race
Ultimately at the next election we will be judged on our deeds, and not our words.