Recently on BBC's Antiques Roadshow, this gentleman, getting some silver sugar containers and tools valued, told the viewing public about how Wilberforce’s campaign to abolish slavery “immediately” in 1791 was delayed by Henry Dundas’s decision to do it “gradually”, so setting back abolition for 15 years.

“We’ve calculated that about 630,000 Africans were transported into slavery on the basis of one word: gradual. While slaves were working and dying, people in Britain were consuming the sugar – in those bowls and with those tongs. And to me, those silver bowls tell us the sort of things we do in order to make money and to have a lifestyle that we think we deserve.”

The valuer’s response: “Hugely poignant. I have to say I’ve never really stopped to consider that link with the slave trade and it is deeply moving. I don’t think I can look at silver sugar basins in the same way again.”

​Well done sir!

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report continues to gather controversy. New research this week from the Resolution Foundation, and new work from the London School of Economics contradict the report's optimistic picture of a closing gap in employment and pay between the various ethnic groups in the UK, leading the Independent's Ben Chu to ask: "Is the jobs market racist?" 

Unemployment rates have been consistently more than double for black/African/Caribbean people in the last 20 years. The most recent figures which reflect the Covid pandemic show a spike to 14% for black people versus 4.5% for white people. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data also suggests that the unemployment rate of black people aged 16-24 has almost doubled from 24% in 2019 to 42% at the end of last year. For white people aged 16-24 the rate has increased from 10% to only 12.5%. Chu comments: "There’s really no room for doubt that black people suffered from higher unemployment rates than white people in the years before the crisis and that they were also hit much harder during the pandemic, especially the young."

Similar disparities over pay are shown in the LSE research, which states: “It is clear there is no evidence for pay gaps being smaller for ethnic minorities now than they were 25 years ago, contrary to the impression given by the Sewell Report”. Chu concludes: "...when it comes to its analysis of the UK labour market, the unsubstantiated claims and apparent data cherry-picking of the CRED report have fatally undermined the credibility of its conclusions".

​Read Chu's full article here. Download the Resolution Foundation report "Uneven Steps". Download the LSE report.

The Report released by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities on March 31 has generated a huge response, a lot of it critical, and some of it, regrettably, personal. We in MJR note the wide breadth of sources of this criticism and the justifiable grounds from which they speak. However, we share the calls in this statement from the National Church Leaders Forum – A Black Christian Voice (NCLF) for "real engagement with elements of the report that could be impactful", and for "all participants in public discourse to adopt a respectful and constructive approach in the exchange of views".

The statement also says: "While significant progress has been made in our multicultural society, much more needs to be done before the U.K. can justly regard ourselves as a beacon of racial justice in the world." It goes on to welcome several of the report's recommendations, encourage further work in areas that align with those of previous reports, and strongly urge that "this and future reports undergo a process of peer review (to avoid further division)".

Read the full NCLF statement here. Read the Commission's full Report here.

The Jesuit Conference of U.S. and Canada, an order of the Catholic Church, has announced the goal of raising $100 million to benefit the descendants of enslaved people historically owned and sold by Jesuits. The money will go toward a new 'Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation' created by the church in partnership with the GU272 Descendants Association, a group of descendants of enslaved people who were sold by Jesuits in 1838.

Fr. Tim Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference said: "Jesuits have always known our history of slaveholding, but it was not until 2016 that we met the descendants of Jesuit slaveholding and that completely changed our understanding of this historic sin. I think for a church which preaches forgiveness and reconciliation, this is an incredible opportunity to model what true reconciliation is." The ultimate vision of the foundation is to raise $1 billion. The Jesuit network is committed to raising the first $100 million.

Read more here.

'Dismantling Whiteness' is an online day conference where various speakers will explore the theme of Deconstructing Whiteness as a response to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Hosted by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture and the first of its kind, the conference is seen as beginning the vital work of examining the implications of White Studies for Theology.

The conference is on Saturday April 17, 10am to 4pm. It free, but spaces are limited and must be pre-booked. Book online here. 

"Whiteness is a claim to power, it’s a claim to rightness, it’s a racialised claim and there is no such thing as being white and being a Christian, you have to resist that identity." (A.D.A. France-Williams, 2020)

"White English Christianity must commit to a radical and ruthless critique of its Whiteness". (A. Reddie, 2020)

Following the interview of Harry and Meghan by Oprah Winfrey and the storm of reaction to claims of racism at the highest levels of British society and indeed as a motivator of much press coverage of the couple, particularly Meghan, the chair of MJR, Rev Alton Bell, has issued a statement calling on the Monarchy to take this opportunity to bring about real and lasting racial reconciliation. Read the full statement here.

A Press Release "Has British racism been exposed yet again by the Sussex interview? Alton Bell believes: “This is an opportunity for reconciliation.” has also been issued today.

At an extraordinary meeting on March 2 Bristol City Council voted in favour of a motion for "Atonement and Reparations for Bristol’s role in the Transatlantic Traffic in Enslaved Africans", becoming the first city outside London to do so. The cross-party motion passed by 47 votes to 12 and was the result of a grassroots campaign dating back many years.

Cllr Cleo Lake said in the meeting: “Reparations, as I hope was made clear in this motion, does include but goes beyond monetary compensation. The contribution of African civilisation, culture and people versus how we have been treated is one of the world’s great paradoxes". She added later: "I want to be very clear this is not about rewriting history, but rather about casting a bright light on it. Instead of clinging to comforting myths about Britain’s heritage, let’s face up to the reality of our history – let’s talk about it – and let’s learn from that to create a better future for all of us.”

Mayor Marvin Rees acknowledged the complexities in conversations around race, class and social immobility and spoke of the need for discussions around reparatory justice to be attached to real policy. He added: “I’m not just a mayor, I still experience the world as a black man and, even within this organisation, I experience the consequences of having black skin. Race does not disappear just because we want to wish it away.”

Read more here. Watch a recording of the meeting here.

'Facts Don't Lie: One Working Class: Race, Class and Inequalities', a new report from the Runnymede Trust, claims government failure to fully enact the 2010 Equality Act has exacerbated inequalities in England in the pandemic. Section 1 of the Act requires authorities to carry out their functions having “due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage”. This puts a legal obligation on education authorities in England to ensure working class children on free school meals were fed properly while schools were shut and had access to laptops for remote learning.

Instead, according to the report, the government is "choosing to pursue a politics steeped in division" (quoting the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Minorities, Samuel Kasumu,). "From the heart of Whitehall, Kasumu’s words leave no doubt that a government facing unprecedented challenges in unifying a nation has instead chosen a moment of national crisis to divide us, not least by seeking to drive a wedge between constituent groups within the working class, framed around the notion of white marginalisation." 

Report co-author Dr Halima Begum, accuses the government minister for women and inequalities Liz Truss of making a "false equivalence" in claiming white working class children were being neglected because of a focus on protected characteristics such as race. This simply because a substantial number of the working class are BME people. Speaking of a "calculated government strategy", Dr Begum claims "such rhetoric only pits one vulnerable community against another, while doing little to assist anyone to escape the shackles of their privation and poverty.”

Read more here. Read the 'Facts Don't Lie' report here. Read about "The Weaponisation of the Working Class" by report co-author Nick Treolar here.

A report from the police watchdog HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICFRS)  has said that the police “still cannot explain” why officers use force and stop and search powers disproportionately against black, Asian and other people from ethnic minority groups. 

In the year to March 2020, ethnic minorities were more than four times as likely to be stopped and searched as white people in England and Wales – with the figure almost nine times higher for black people specifically. Black people were also over five and a half times more likely to have force used on them than white people, and the use of Tasers has been rising. The watchdog claims to have been concerned with this issue for years, and the death of George Floyd and resulting Black Lives Matter protests in the UK had highlighted it further.

The report calls for an evidence based national debate on the much-debated effectiveness of the use of stop and search on people suspected of possessing drugs and that while racial disparities do not necessarily mean police are racist or misusing their powers, forces should be able to explain the figures. “Over 35 years on from the introduction of stop and search legislation, no force fully understands the impact of the use of these powers. Disproportionality persists and no force can satisfactorily explain why.”

HM Inspector of Constabulary, Wendy Williams said the unfair use of police powers made people less willing to give cooperation.“Police forces must analyse their data and either explain, with evidence, the reasons for disproportionality, or take clear action to address it. The police must be able to show the public that their use of these powers is fair, lawful and appropriate, or they risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.”

The report made eight recommendations, including the recording of all stop and search encounters on body-worn cameras, improved data collection practices, regular reviews of the power and greater external scrutiny.

​Read more here. Read the report here.

Beyond the Hostile Environment is a new report by think-tank IPPR. It is the full report after the interim, Access denied. Over the past decade, the government has rolled out a series of measures with the specific aim of creating a ‘hostile environment’ for people who are currently residing in the UK without immigration status. These measures prevent people without the correct status from accessing employment, housing, public funds, free healthcare, and financial services, and are designed to encourage them to leave the UK of their own accord. In this final report, IPPR assesses six different policy options for addressing the adverse impacts of the hostile environment on individuals and communities and for reforming the current system of immigration enforcement.

Read more and download the report here.