Introduction
The UK is one of the most ethnically diversified countries, with residents from different parts of the world and various cultural backgrounds. However, the significant diversity in the UK has led to racism. Racism is believed to correlate with increased unemployment rates, police brutality, and racially motivated murders. This research will utilize two articles as the primary literature: “Black History Month: 6 inspirational figures” by Emma Sutton (2020) and “A demeaning environment: stories of racism in UK universities” by Weale et al. (2019). While the UK government continues to formulate policies that mitigate racism, the social issue remains rampant in the country.
Research Questions
The study will analyze the available data on ethnicity and racism to establish the relationship between racism and social factors such as unemployment, access to adequate housing, and education quality among the Blacks in the UK. Therefore, the study will answer the following research questions:
- What is the population growth rate of African immigrants in the UK?
- What are the impacts of racism among the African students in the UK educational institutions, Black families, and African employees in the UK?
- What are the steps taken by the UK government to mitigate racism?
Research Justification
Racism is a social vice that encumbers economic development and harmony among community members. Moreover, the issue has led to increased enmity among various ethnic groups, causing limited access to social amenities (Chinn, 2021). It is significant to understand the extent of racial discrimination and its psychological impact on the UK community. The study will help determine the causes of racism and their consequent solutions. Moreover, analyzing the existing data on the UK Black population will help the government and other stakeholders formulate effective policies to mitigate racism. Therefore, this study has political, social, and economic significance among the Black community in the UK.
Epistemological Approach
Interpreting knowledge and truth is crucial for data collection and interpretation. Epistemology involves the theory of knowledge and deals with how it is gathered and from which sources. Unlike intuitive knowledge, information about racism is empirical since it can be objectively proven and described (Horvath & Koch, 2021). The epistemological approach involves various philosophies: positivism, interpretivism, and social constructivism. Unlike positivism, interpretivism involves the researcher as part of the study. The positivists move through hypotheses and deductions while objectively looking at the data. Meanwhile, social constructivism propends that there is no single reality and that human beings create their own based on their perceptions.
This study adopts a social constructivism approach due to various reasons. First, the data on racism is a factual account of events and victims’ personal experiences. Consequently, racial discrimination has shaped the world view of the victims. Second, the impact of racism can be best explained by individuals who have first-hand experience of the vice. The knowledge of racism is real and cannot be based on other situations. Therefore, this study will adopt a realist approach to the data on racism. Therefore, I will analyze the available information on racism to discover its causes and give recommendations on how to mitigate the situation in the UK.
Narrative Analysis
Qualitative research is significant in an educational context since it enables an individual to understand experiences and phenomena more deeply. Narrative analysis is the most suitable qualitative approach for this research. Racism is well described through the personal experiences of the victims. Therefore, I shall adopt a narrative analysis to interpret personal narratives, topical stories, and entire life stories of the participants from the primary literature.
Justification of the Narrative Analysis
Narrative analysis has various advantages that make it the most significant qualitative research approach for this study. First, the analysis directly examines communication using texts, making it easier for me to identify common words and themes from various articles. Third, the method allows a statistical analysis of the coded forms of texts that the participants narrate. Furthermore, narrative analysis is significant in determining the psychological and emotional state of an individual or a group since it utilizes the words said by the participants. Therefore, the narrative analysis will help in determining common research themes through an examination of the stories as told by the participants in various researches.
Analytical Steps
This study will adopt four steps in analyzing the data from the primary literature. First, I will code the narrative blocks found in the primary literature. For instance, stories about how victims are discriminated against in schools will be coded as “racism in the educational sector.” Second, I will group the narratives and read by live events to note their similarities and differences. Third, I will tell the core narrative by fully exploring the narrative blocks. Finally, I will relate the narrative blocks with the secondary literature to support the main insights and conclusions significantly.
Understanding Racism Terminology
Racism is a multifaceted social issue that involves various concepts. The social issue involves the belief that human groups possess diverse behavioral traits corresponding to their inherited attributes and can be divided based on the domination of a particular race over another (Shen & Feldman, 2022). DeGraft-Johnson expressed a similar sentiment with a specific example: “If you were a young Black person you couldn’t be a policeman, an ambulanceman or fireman. You couldn’t go into pubs, hotels, swimming pools, and now you couldn’t drive on the buses.” (Sutton, 2020).
Additionally, racism can be described as prejudice, antagonism, or discrimination directed against an individual based on race and ethnicity (Levey & Cheng, 2022). Consequently, racism is deeply rooted in the social systems that treat individuals unequally. The employment and educational sectors are some of the social systems that may exhibit ethnic discrimination. Moreover, racism involves other social aspects such as nativism, xenophobia, segregation, and supremacism.
Racism In the UK
While the UK is one of the most developed countries in the world, it faces racism that leads to unequal opportunities for its residents. DeGraft-Johnson described the situation: “I felt racism was hardwired into a lot of White British people from a young age and became their norm. They do not see it as something wrong or bad. It was just something one had to accept, or so I thought.” (Sutton, 2020). This statement makes it clear that a person of a different race feels signs of racism in British society. And he’s far from the only one highlighting signs of racism: “I felt like an alien, an outcast. It was pretty consistent from the moment I started reception to when I left in year 3 – they just wouldn’t leave me alone.” Naomi Bakare says (Parveen & Thomas 2021).
Prejudice against people of different races is also confirmed by statistics. According to BBC News, “In 2019, there were 38 stops and searches for every 1000 Black people compared with 4 for every 1000 White people in England and Wales” (2020).
Racism Impact on Students’ Lives
Educational institutions are powerful platforms for cultural exchange and diverse social interactions. However, many Black British and African children face systemic racial discrimination at schools in the UK. Naomi Bakare says, “I was terrified by this point, and I felt like nothing I did would make them like me.” (Parveen & Thomas 2021). The study may back up her words: Almost all Black British children have experienced racism at school. (Marchant 2020).
It is a matter of great concern that, in many cases, teachers do not make sufficient efforts to address the problem of racism in education. Bakare says, “I was just never going to be allowed to fit in. I often told the teachers what was happening, hoping they would intervene, but they never did and just let it continue. Nothing was being done.” The indifference of teachers is a big problem because with just the help of teachers in such situations, education and explanation can help defeat racism in schools. The non-White students do not fully exploit their educational potential due to cumulative stress and apprehension (Tanner, 2019). Racial discrimination significantly contributes to stress and poor academic performance among non-white students in UK educational institutions.
Racism Impact on Families
While racial discrimination is detrimental among non-white students, it limits access to social amenities and resources among Black families. Bakare says, “I was actually going to be homeschooled because my mum didn’t want me to have the same bad experiences she had at school. When my mum was at school, other kids would spit at her in the corridor.” Her words say that entire generations and families experience racism. According to the data by the government of the UK, Black households make up 7.1% of the new social house lettings and 3.4% of the overall England population (GOV.UK, 2018). Ethnicity is one of the greatest factors determining access to the house of choice among UK residents. Nafilyan et al. say, “More Black people are denied new house lettings than White people in the UK” (2021).
Consequently, many non-White UK residents occupy houses with poor sanitation and access to social amenities. Nafilyan et al. further state, “Non-White residents are more likely to experience diseases associated with inadequate housing” (2021). Many Black families are emotionally and physically tormented due to racial discrimination when accessing housing in the UK.
Racism Impact on Black Employees
Although many Black people migrate to the UK in search of lucrative job opportunities, the racial discrimination among corporations encumbers their freedoms when working. “I’ve had three workplaces where I’ve had to bring grievances that were race related. I ended up on anti-depressants and suicidal – It makes you forget who you are, your strengths, and your abilities. I’m a skilled, intelligent woman who’s worked for 35 years, and I ended up barely able to send an email. I’m having to leave my job and take a wage reduction for a short-term post instead of my permanent one – it’s either that or my life.” said one survey respondent (Ashe, Borkowska & Nazroo 2019). Many employers in the UK discriminate against their employees based on their ethnic background. For instance, the UK’s employment rate for the Black and minority ethnic groups is 62.8% compared to that of the Whites, which is 75.6% (Malkani, 2021). Therefore, a Black employee getting a lucrative job is almost impossible and highly celebrated. For instance, Dame Linda Dobbs, the first Black High Court judge, said, “I felt – and I hope it doesn’t sound pompous – I felt a sense of duty to take on the job. And knowing that I would be the first Black High Court judge, I thought that would open up the floodgates” (Sutton, 2020). The consequences of racial discrimination in the employment sector are an increased unemployment rate among non-White UK residents and depression due to poor salaries with harsh working conditions.
Racism Tendency in the UK
The level of manifestation of racism in the UK is gradually decreasing. Olusoga narrates: “When I was a child, growing up on a council estate in the northeast of England, I imbibed enough of the background racial tensions of the late 1970s and 1980s to feel profoundly unwelcome in Britain. My right, not just to regard myself as a British citizen but even to be in Britain, seemed contested. To thousands of younger black and mixed-race Britons who, thankfully, cannot remember those decades, the racism of the 1970s and 1980s and the insecurities it bred in the minds of black people are difficult to imagine or relate to. The 1990s and the 2000s were, in many ways, better days.” (2017).
His words give reason to assume that the situation in British society has improved over the past four decades. This may be related to the increase in the black population in the UK.
The UK is one of the most attractive countries for foreigners seeking job opportunities and quality education. The country has top and the most successful corporations that pay well. Filimonau et al. state, “England is home to internationally recognized educational institutions” (2021). Every year Black people immigrate to the UK in search of well-paying jobs and educational opportunities. The high immigration rate is a contributory factor to the increased Black people population in the UK. According to the country’s latest census, the population of Black African residents doubled between 2001 and 2011 (Office for National Statistics, 2018). Britain is becoming a more and more multicultural and multinational state, which slightly improves the situation with racism.
Main Insights
Racial discrimination is as common in the UK as it is in other developed countries. The UK has an increasing population growth rate of Black people of African origin. The increased Black population seeks lucrative job opportunities and quality education in the UK. However, racial discrimination is rampant within the UK education and employment sectors. The impact of racism on the Black British and African communities are poor academic performance, limited access to adequate housing, poor working conditions, and psychological disorders such as stress and depression. The UK government and private sectors have taken steps such as new policies’ formulation and public awareness to curb racism. Therefore, racism in the UK encumbers social and economic empowerment among Blacks in the UK.
Approach Value and Limitations
Racism is a social issue that affects everyone directly or indirectly. This research has adopted social constructivism that promotes knowledge acquisition through experiences and interactions with the world. The impact of racism is evident and forms a large part of world news and social media communication. Consequently, various stakeholders can act on the issue through public awareness and telling their personal experiences of racial discrimination. However, this research is limited since the data used in making conclusions are not real-time. For instance, the research depended on the UK’s 2011 census data to make conclusions since the 2022 data is not available. While the research data is limited to time, it is apparent that racism is rampant in the UK and must be tamed for equal social and economic growth.
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