Are quotas in place to reduce minority representation?
Government, quangos and social agencies talk up the need for diversity, but how much might they say is too much?How to react to the claim that the Football Association once expressed disquiet to former...
View ArticleWe need more diverse voices in the media – including those from deprived...
Along with women, people from minorities and those with disabilities, we also need to hear from those who have suffered social deprivationThe world is change, a wise old head once told me – adapt and...
View ArticleHow David Cameron and Nigel Farage are making children fear immigration
A Show Racism the Red Card study reveals how skewed kids’ ideas on Muslims and asylum seekers have become, thanks to the misinformation bandied aboutNow that Nigel Farage has seen off the threat from...
View ArticleThe unexpected upside of a hate crime
Dee Dee’s jazz bar in Herne Hill, London, was sprayed with racist graffiti. So far, so depressing. But it was what happened next that was really interesting …Every so often, I get a call from TV or...
View ArticleWhen cultural practices conflict with law, the law rightly wins
The horrific practice of breast-ironing united callers to a radio show last week in rejecting multiculturalism. But the problem with this, and the similarly awful female genital mutilation, is not...
View ArticleDon’t worry, mate – a person can’t be institutionally racist
There is confusion within the police over this concept of intrinsic discrimination – and the phrase coined in the 60s and reiterated in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. Ignorance is no defence, and intent...
View ArticleShould white actors be able to play Othello? Perhaps, but don’t black up
Steven Berkoff claims restricting the Shakespearean role to black actors is ‘racism in reverse’. But colourblind casting does happen – and it benefits minority actorsFor every action, there is a...
View ArticleHow dodgy door policies keep black people out of nightclubs
Discrimination by bouncers is hard to prove, but if the authorities don’t name and shame the wrongdoers, clubbers with cameraphones undoubtedly will“We had a good night,” a young acquaintance said. A...
View ArticleOne good thing about mayors is they are obliged to care about diversity
George Osborne’s infatuation with elected mayors shouldn’t blind us to the benefits they can bring for community cohesion. Not that they all do, howeverGeorge Osborne loves mayors and says we had...
View ArticleThe truth about 'racist' nightclub owners is a complex one
An article about black teens being turned away prompted a doorman to get in touch. He confirmed the use of racist policies – but there was a twistNow and then I get letters making the point – with...
View ArticleThere’s an unconscious race bias at work. I know, because I’ve taken the test
We need to acknowledge there is a problem, and the best way is to show how far-reaching it is. Which makes a new online survey an important initiativeDr Richard Stone, the tireless equality activist,...
View ArticleHumour will evolve but meanwhile we will muddle through
Did the BBC’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue get it wrong? Someone had to adjudicateWill there be laughter in diverse Britain? There will, as there has always been. But it will evolve, as it has evolved....
View ArticleWhat black and white people really think about one another
An experiment by broadcaster Dotun Adebayo set out to explore the stereotypes that people in the UK normally express only in privateThere is a degree of truth-telling going on. The film Dear White...
View ArticleWhat Notting Hill carnival reveals about gentrification and diversity | Hugh...
Edgy addresses soon become desirable ‘villages’ – and once the poor have gone, they have no way backThey say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but that rather presupposes that the insight that it gives...
View ArticleTsar Eric Pickles: tough on multiculturalism, tough on the causes of...
The Tories’ new anti-corruption tsar blames concerns about community cohesion for the electoral irregularities in Tower Hamlets. But is he missing the bigger picture?By far the best argument for Eric...
View ArticleBloodlines sullied – how do the well-to-do sleep?
Many working-class communities have adapted to racial diversity. Would that you could say the same for their alleged social bettersAfter careful study of that thing we call the white working class, the...
View ArticleIntegration made simple: look to black Britain | Hugh Muir
According to Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, British Pakistanis could learn a lot from Afro-CaribbeansWow. Double wow. Wow squared. Wow with knobs on. Witness the Labour MP Khalid Mahmood commenting on the...
View ArticleThe cost of diversity and community cohesion
Labour’s Jon Cruddas wants to re-engage with voters who feel disenfranchised by multiculturalism – but how?Amid the salt and spray of Brighton, Labour has much to think about, not least the party’s...
View ArticleIs Britain’s record on welcoming asylum seekers really so honourable?
Yes, we accepted the Vietnamese boat people and the Ugandan Asian refugees expelled by Idi Amin, but that was more to do with self-interest than humanitarian motivesEasy to overdose on orthodoxies. One...
View ArticleWhat can Gil Scott-Heron teach Rupert Murdoch about blackness?
The media mogul blundered into fraught territory this week in tweets suggesting that Obama isn’t ‘a real black President’. There’s a great record he should listen to …There is no immediate reason to...
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