National Press Highlights - Summer 2020

We regularly find articles in local and national press that will be of interest to you see links below, we will regularly update here any new articles that are of importance, so keep an eye out.

National News

• Three Resign From National Emergencies Trust Equity Working Group 

Three BAME sector figures have resigned from an equity working group organised by the National  Emergencies Trust, expressing concerns that their presence was simply to “validate decisions that  had already been made”. Yvonne Field, chief executive and founder of the Ubele Initiative,  philanthropy adviser Derek Bardowell and Sado Jirde, chief executive of the charity Black South  West Network, have stepped down from the group, which was set up by the NET to discuss the  need for equitable funding of charities during the coronavirus pandemic. For more information  please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y7oeg4la 

• Why Is Coronavirus Hitting Britain’s Ethnic Minorities So Hard? 

Doctors and patients from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are falling severely ill  and dying with Covid-19 in above average numbers. As the death toll rises, it is becoming clear that  this is not a coincidence. The Health Service Journal recently identified 119 deaths of NHS staff,  and from the 106 of these people that could be verified as active health workers, 63% were from  Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. While 20 per cent of nursing and support  staff in the NHS are BAME, this group accounts for 64 per cent of Covid-19 deaths. Among NHS  medical staff, 95 per cent of those who died came from 44 per cent of the workforce that has an  ethnic minority background. For more information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/yck8odh2 

• Government Must Set Out How Plans For Wider School Reopening Will Meet  Obligations Under The Equality Act 2010 

NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union has raised urgent concerns with the Prime Minister over the re opening of schools and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 infections and deaths on Black and  Minority Ethnic children, young people and adults. NASUWT's General Secretary Dr. Patrick Roach  has called on the Government to set out how its five tests and commitments to the country will be  addressed in terms of equality impact in general, and, specifically, in relation to the impact on Black  and Minority Ethnic populations. For more information please click here:  

https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/school-reopening-equality-act-2010.html

• Want To Make The UK Less Racist? 20 Positive Ways To Bring About Lasting  Change 

There are no quick fixes for the racism that is so ingrained in British society. But, from education  and work to voting and organising, there are steps we can all take for a more equal world. After  seeing the traumatic footage of Floyd’s final moments, many people are asking what they can do to  bring about change. This article presents 20 steps you can take. For more information please click  here: https://tinyurl.com/yayyggb9 

• Black British Authors Top UK Book Charts In Wake Of BLM Protests 

Bernardine Evaristo and Reni Eddo-Lodge have become the first black British women to top the  UK’s fiction and nonfiction paperback charts, in a week where black authors lined up to slam British  publishing as a “hostile environment”, and as bookshop chain Waterstones is being urged by staff to  donate to the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of soaring sales of black authors. For more  information please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y7dcnxx9 

• Covid-19: Understanding The Impact On BAME Communities 

A government report has recently been released which is a descriptive summary of stakeholder  insights into the factors that may be influencing the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities and  strategies for addressing inequalities. The report summarises requests for action, which have been  used to inform a number of recommendations. It also includes a rapid literature review. These  insights will form the basis of the next steps being taken forward by the Equalities Minister. For more  information and to read the report in full please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y9hv335s 

• Police In England And Wales Far More Likely To Fine BAME People In Lockdown 

Police enforcing the coronavirus lockdown in England and Wales were almost up to seven times  more likely to issue fines to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people than white people, figures  show. Data from police forces shows 17 were more likely to issue a penalty notice to BAME  people than to white people. Two forces, Northumbria and Merseyside, were not. One senior chief constable said bias and lack of trust from certain communities may have  played a role, as well as demographics. For more information please click here:  https://tinyurl.com/ydbu45o9 

• Teach Britain's Colonial Past As Part Of The UK's Compulsory Curriculum 

Currently, it is not compulsory for primary or secondary school students to be educated on Britain's role in colonisation or the transatlantic slave trade. A petition to the government has been started to make education on topics such as these, compulsory, with the ultimate aim of a far more inclusive curriculum. For more information, and to sign the petition please click here: https://tinyurl.com/y9fp8yy5

The Race Equality Centre