LONDON (AP) – The commission behind a report that concluded Britain does not have a systemic problem with racism defended itself against critics, some of whom argued that it downplayed the country’s historic role in slavery.
In a response on Friday, the Commission on Race and Ethnic Inequalities said that disagreement with the government-backed review had “led to a misrepresentation” and was particularly offended by accusations that it placed a positive bias in slavery.
“This misrepresentation risks undermining the report’s purpose – to understand and address the causes of inequality in the UK – and any positive work that results,” the commission said in a statement.
The conservative government launched the commission’s investigation into racial disparities in the wake of last year’s Black Lives Matter movement. The panel of experts, made up of 11 members from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, concluded that, although there is “absolute racism” in Britain, the country is not “institutionally racist” or “manipulated” against minorities.
Citing progress to close the gaps between ethnic groups in educational and economic performance, the report, which was published on Wednesday, said race was becoming “less important” as a factor in creating disparities that are also fueled by classes and family origins.
Many academics, lawmakers’ unions and anti-racism activists were skeptical of the findings in the 258-page report, some claiming that the commission ignored barriers to equality, while others said it downplayed Britain’s continuing legacy of colonial past, as well as their role in slavery.
David Olusoga, professor of public history at the University of Manchester and one of Britain’s leading scholars on slavery, became the last to join the criticism.
“Determined to privilege consoling national myths over hard historical truths, they (the panel) appear to be people who would prefer that this story be swept under the rug,” he wrote in an article for The Guardian published in Saturday.
In its statement published before Olusoga’s article, the commission said that the idea of minimizing the atrocities of slavery “is as absurd as it is offensive to each of us” and described the personal attacks on its members as “irresponsible and dangerous” .
“We have never said that racism does not exist in society or in institutions,” he said. “We say the opposite: racism is real and we must do more to fight it”.
Like other countries, Britain has faced an uncomfortable reckoning with the race since the death of George Floyd, a black American, by a white police officer in May 2020, which has sparked anti-racism protests around the world.
Large crowds at the Black Lives Matter protests across the UK last summer called on the government and institutions to tackle the legacy of the British Empire and the country’s huge profits from the slave trade.
The fall of a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol in June sparked a heated debate over how to deal with Britain’s past. Many consider these statues to exalt racism and are an affront to black Britons. Others, including the prime minister, argued that removing them was erasing a piece of history.