EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
In the US, Kamala Harris has made history, becoming the first woman and first black and South Asian American to serve as US vice-president. However, do you know that President Joe Biden’s cabinet has been popularly touted as the “most diverse ever in history” with South Asian and Muslim Americans?
In this week’s issue, those of you interested in “decolonisation” may wish to listen to a new podcast series that explores decolonising in higher education launched by the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
As usual, I will let you pick and choose which news articles and topics you wish to read (you just need to click on the title to access the full content).
Have a nice weekend!
Thushari Perera
BLACK EUROPE RESOURCES
Twitter @Blackeresources
Read the blog here if this newsletter does not upload properly.
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CONSUMER ISSUES
Image by Charles Thompson from Pixabay
Unilever to tackle advertising stereotypes in diversity drive, The Guardian, 21 January 2021
“The FTSE 100 company, which is behind household names such as Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream and Marmite, said it planned to use the might of its brands, coupled with its advertising spending power as one of the world’s biggest to make a difference.”
EY gender pay gap shrinks as ethnicity pay gap widens, CityAM, 14 January 2021
“Ernst & Young has reported a 32.4 per cent gender pay gap among its staff, as at April 2020, and a nearly 37 per cent ethnicity pay gap.“
CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
Sky sets 2025 diversity target, Televisual, 21 January 2021
“Sky has set new diversity and representation targets with 20% of employees at Sky in the UK & Ireland to be from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background by 2025, with at least a quarter of these to be Black. The aim applies to the Sky leadership team, with targets replicated for the top 300 leaders.”
Liam Gallagher and Beverley Knight join Music Feeds virtual festival to fight food poverty, Music News, 19 January 2021
“Co-op will donate £1 million to the Music Feeds event, which will go to FareShare to fight food poverty and Help Musicians and Stagehand, who look after musicians and live crew members who have lost work as a result of the global health crisis.”
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNITIES
Image by Leroy Skalstad from Pixabay
Charity campaigners fear growing hostility from government, Civil Society News, 15 January 2021
“Sheila McKechnie Foundation boss: Time to end ‘phoney cuture wars’.”
UK-Africa trade: What will Brexit change?, Deutsche Welle, 18 January 2021
“As part of its post-Brexit global vision, Britain is hosting a UK-Africa trade forum this week. But with its new trade deals failing to offer African nations much extra, the UK is falling behind as a key trading partner”
How British east and southeast Asians are fighting racism during the pandemic, The Independent, 9 January 2021
“ESEA communities have faced soaring racially-aggravated violence and discrimination during the course of the pandemic, as the virus was inextricably linked to China.”
WORK/EMPLOYMENT
Image by Richard Mcall from Pixabay
Report shows worryingly low knowledge of modern slavery in the UK, DiversityQ, 18 January 2021
“Nearly half of bankers and other finance staff don’t know about the nature and scale of modern slavery – nor how their business is involved in the abuse, suggests a new study Led by Dame Sara Thornton, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.”
Black, Asian and minority-ethnic UK workers hit worst by Covid job cuts, Irish Times, 19 January 2021
“Drop in employment in year to September 2020 was 26 times higher than for white workers”
EDUCATION
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
New podcast explores decolonising higher education – launched by The Association of Commonwealth Universities, Responsesource.com, 20 January 2021
“Host Natasha Lokhun is joined by academics, students and practitioners from across the Commonwealth to address the question – how have universities responded to calls to decolonise higher education? Expect lively discussions, in-depth analysis and new perspectives as we take on some of the key debates within higher education.”
The Racism We Experience From Our Teachers, Each Other, 21 January 2021
“When leaving the classroom, Miss Brown would kiss the head of every single one of my white classmates heads, but would look away when me and other classmates, also children of colour, walked by.”
Only 1% of UK university professors are black, BBC News, 20 January 2021
“Only 155 out of more than 23,000 university professors in the UK are black, according to official figures.”
Legal fight looms over lack of laptops for poor pupils, TES, 11 January 2021
“Children from lower-income families should not be forced into schools, says legal charity…Ofcom estimates 1.7 million students have no devices and 880,000 live in homes with only a mobile internet connection.”
HEALTH
Image by Sathish kumar Periyasamy from Pixabay
Six in ten BAME psychiatrists in the UK experienced racism at work, new research reveals, Eastern Eye, 21 January 2021
“A new research has revealed that six in ten black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) psychiatrists have faced racism at work, but only 29 per cent of these incidents were reported.”
Study aims to uncover reasons why black and ethnic minority east Londoners have been hardest hit by covid, The Evening Standard, 21 January 2021
“The new study, funded by Barts Charity, will use interviews and questionnaires to get an insight into the lives of BAME residents before and during the pandemic.”
Mental Health Act overhaul will not tackle racial disparities without societal change, experts warn, Community Care, 20 January 2021
“The long-awaited Mental Health Act (MHA) White Paper, published last week, pledged “decisive action” would be taken to cut disproportionate use of the act among certain groups. Black people are over four times more likely than white people to be detained under the act and over 10 times more likely to be subject to a community treatment order (CTO) – under which people are discharged from detention but placed under conditions on their lives and treatment.”
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
Tackling tech’s big diversity problem starts with education, Wired, 21 January 2021
“Black people made up only three per cent of the UK tech workforce, but disparities set in long before people reach employment”
SPORTS, FITNESS & OUTDOOR
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
UK Athletics Announces Suite Of Diversity Programmes, Sport Industry Group, 18 January 2021
“The governing body for Athletics in the UK has set out plans to create a new mentoring programme, as well as offering inclusion workshops and publishing its Diversity Action Plan (DAP) to build on its ‘Let’s Talk About Race’ programme, which was launched following the murder of George Floyd, and brings diverse voices together to inform and advise UKA.”
EUROPE
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
First migrant tragedy of 2021 claims 43 lives, EUObserver, 21 January 2021
“Some 43 people drowned trying to leave Libya for the EU by boat in the first lethal incident of its type this year, UN agencies have said. Their boat capsized shortly after departure on Tuesday morning. Ten people were saved by the coast-guard. The casualties included people from Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria. More than 1,200 people died on the same route last year, the UN said.”
BELGIUM
Brussels police denounce officers filmed yelling racist insults on patrol, Brussels Times, 22 January 2021
“A video of police officers yelling racist and homophobic comments while on patrol in Anderlecht has had a damaging impact on the image of the police in general, according to a new complaint filed against the officers by the Brussels Midi police zone.”
BOSNIA
What are the real reasons behind Bosnia’s migrant crisis?, Euronews, 20 January 2021
“On the face of it, the pictures before Christmas of people freezing in snow-covered makeshift tents near the Bosnia-Croatia border was, for many, just another all-too-familiar tale of woe for EU-bound migrants. But, delve a little deeper, and what emerges is a far more complex story…On a freezing January morning, Euronews meets a young mother pushing her baby along the road that leads to the EU frontier. It had just begun to snow.”
Refugees stuck in hopeless situation at EU border in Bosnia, Deutsche Welle, 10 January 2021
“After the great movement of refugees in 2015, EU countries such as Hungary effectively closed their borders, which is why, since then, more people have been trying to enter the EU via Bosnia-Herzegovina.”
FRANCE
A New Vision – Racism Tests France’s Colour-Blind Model, Finanz, 18 January 2021
“Mr Macron has now promised to launch a “citizens’ consultation” on discrimination. In February he will also set up a permanent anti-discrimination platform—online and via telephone and chat—to register and respond to complaints. The idea is to raise awareness of discrimination, and supply tools to fight it.”
GERMANY
Germany’s AfD rushes to embrace immigrants ahead of intelligence probe, Irish Times, 20 January 2020
“During this period, party officials suggested shooting migrants at the German border and revived race-based politics using dog whistle terms like “Völkisch” that were popular in the Nazi era.”
PORTUGAL
Is the far-right gaining popularity in Portugal?, Euronews, 21 January 2021
“The campaign has also been marked by a new right-wing, anti-establishment party called Chega! who is fighting for the political stage and aiming to take votes away from incumbent President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa...Right-wing political parties from other countries have shown their support to Chega! France’s Marine Le Pen even went to Lisbon to support Ventura.”
Previous issues: Black & Asian News – Black Europe Resources
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