Smileband General news

The race relation act was passed 50 years ago, outlawing the racist discrimination that was the daily experience of migrants from the empire. No longer would signs of no black, no Irish, no dogs to be allowed and it was made illegal to refuse service or job opportunities on the basis of skin colour. The act was an important step in reducing the prejudice that ethnic minorities faced, which are unimaginable for many of us now. I remember, growing up, that there were chalk marks outside my primary school directing people to National Front meetings, and in secondary school there were sporadic “raids” by skinheads from the next door estate who would run round trying to intimidate the “darkies” (this came to a stop when they received a beating from the less than impressed students). But this was the closest I ever came to encountering far-right racism, and was a long way from the experiences of an earlier generation, who had to navigate attacks as part of their daily life. Racist attacks are still common in the UK today, and increasing but there has nonetheless been a clear shift in the culture. The 1965 act itself was important in addressing the overt prejudice towards minority communities (unlike later amendments, which were essentially empty gestures. It outlawed the prejudice of individuals, whether in the street or the boardroom. But policy in the years since the act has confused tackling prejudice with tackling racism, and done nothing to address the latter. Britain’s entire approach has been to deal with the racist “bad apples” who are seen to be the problem, while ignoring the systemic, structural problem of racism.