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From The Socialist newspaper, 18 November 2020
Race disparity gets worse - fight to improve living standards for all
Black Lives Matter protester - Photo Judy Beishon (Click to enlarge)
Bharathi Suba, Liverpool and District Socialist Party
Disparities in racial progress are getting worse, according to a recent report 'Black people, racism and human rights', by a committee of mainly Tory MPs and unelected Lords.
In the months after the Black Lives Matter movement erupted and spilled out on to our streets, the working class, particularly the BAME community, have seen a drastic drop in living standards. Low pay, irregular and zero-hour contracts, unemployment, underfunding and privatisation of the NHS, and the shutting down of local services, have all contributed to this.
The report finds that 25% of black voters are not registered to vote. Is it any surprise when the so-called 'elected representatives' vote in parliament and local councils for cuts? The report also finds that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been unable to gain trust in tackling racial inequality, and three quarters of black people in the UK do not believe their human rights are equally protected.
This comes as no surprise, especially with the recent government appointment of right-wing writer and journalist David Goodhart, as commissioner at the EHRC. Goodhart is an infamous defender of the government's notorious hostile environment policy.
This report's suggestions are likely to end up as another empty 'tick-box' exercise. Investigations into why racist divisions exist should be conducted by democratically elected representatives from communities, workplaces and trade unions.
There is a huge gap for real political representation of the whole of the working class. Building such a party, organising in the trade unions, and fighting to raise living standards for all, is the first step to winning improvements for BAME communities. But that needs to be linked to a wider fight for a socialist alternative to this capitalist system that has inequality rooted in its DNA.
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In The Socialist 18 November 2020:
What we think
Tory crisis cannot be 'reset' - workers need a new mass party
News
Tories in turmoil... 'Reset' the whole system! Fight for socialism
Croydon Council declares bankruptcy - no cuts in Croydon or any other council
System failing thousands of children in care
Race disparity gets worse - fight to improve living standards for all
Covid
Covid, vaccines, 'big pharma' - and the need for socialism
Students
Tories student 'evacuation' plan will not work
Wales exams scrapped: What's behind the headline?
Schools
Campaign for school Covid safety must continue
Workplace news
Women workers need strong trade unions to defend their jobs, pay and services
Optare: Right to strike defended
Overcrowded Little Ilford School strikes against more expansion
Strike action ballot at UEL over job cuts
Hackney council parking services brought in-house
TUSC
After Corbyn: TUSC and the fight for working-class political representation
Campaigns
Manchester student occupation - end rip-off rent, free education now
#SpyCops inquiry - Revealing police violence against Socialists
Stop Leicester hospital closure
Youth
Young Socialists organising for our future
Obituary
Letters
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