The UK’s top ranked police officer, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service caused a stir in some circles when as part of the promotion for ‘The Met,’ the new BBC documentary series on Scotland Yard, Hogan-Howe confessed to his force being institutionally racist: “If other people think we are institutionally racist, then we are. It’s no good me saying we’re not and saying you must believe me. [That would be] a nonsense, if they believe that… I don’t think people often understand what the term means. It’s a label, but in some sense there is a truth there for some people and we’ve got to accept that… I think society is institutionally racist. You see lack of representation in many fields – of which the police are one – from judges to doctors, to journalists, to editors, to governments.” While he conceded that the force simply has to take longstanding accusations of racism within Scotland Yard “on the chin,” he failed outline any strategy to address them, in spite of his vow in April 2012 to become an “implacable enemy” of racists within Scotland Yard, promising to “drive them out of the Met”.As accurate as the Met chief’s admission may be, to some commentators it smacks of an insidious deflection of the ‘yes we’re racist, but so is everybody else’ variety. Adding to the sense of cynicism is that in March last year after the release of the Ellison report into alleged police wrongdoing in the Stephen Lawrence case as well as the disproportionate stop and search statistics, Janet Hills, Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association who urged to him to accept that the force was still institutionally racist and he should “take ownership” of the situation. Ironically, given that the documentary was filmed between October 2013 and September 2014 it appears that Hogan-Howe had no qualms about rhetorically conceding the fact but only made them public to coincide with the marketing of the aforementioned TV series. This reading of the situation could lead one to conclude that racism is actually being used as a marketing tool for the met – a promotional sound bite within the context of Afrikans harassed and killed with impunity by the police.
An interesting quirk of the Afrikan community that when some activists highlight (well documented) historical wrongs committed against Afrikan people it is not uncommon for them to be admonished by some within the community to “stop blaming white people” Nevertheless, in addition to the lived reality of Afrikan people, the fact of an institutionally racist UK, should come as no surprise to anyone given various studies indicating that white people are increasingly self reporting themselves as “racially prejudiced”. Data from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey 2014 revealed that 30% of white people admitted to being either “very prejudiced” or “a little prejudiced,” representing a continued increase since the start of the millennium. The BSA data indicates that with older men in manual jobs most ready to admit to racial prejudice. However, Dr Grace Lordan, from the London School of Economics, said her own research based on BSA data going back to 1983 found that the group that recorded the biggest rise was white, professional men between the ages of 35 and 64, highly educated and earning a lot of money. Their attitudes may directly affect others as many will have managerial responsibilities, i.e. the people that run the county’s institutions. As further evidence of the specificity of these attitudes the same BSA data highlights increasing acceptance of “same-sex relationships.”
The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, led by Prof. Verene Shepherd went on record on 2012 to slam the UK government failing to act in spite of “rampant inequalities.” Ultimately, the abundance data merely serves to tell most Afrikans what they already know but not necessarily what to do about it.
So we ask the question:
Met Police chief says the UK is “institutionally racist,” is he right?
- Were you surprised by Hogan-Howe’s admission?
- Is he “blaming white people”?
- The commissioner using racism as a recruitment tool?
- Can institutions be racist without racist people in them?
- Do you think the statistics on racial prejudice are accurate?
- What is the most effective way for Afrikans to address institutional racism?
Our special guests are:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK. A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmationsand Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence
Matilda MacAttram: Matilda MacAttram is founder and director of Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK), a human rights campaigns group established in 2006 to raise awareness and address the stigma associated with mental illness within African Caribbean communities. She is a member of the stakeholder group of the Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) on Deaths in Custody, which is part of the Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody and also a member of an advisory panel for the Government’s Ministerial Advisory Board on Mental Health and Equalities. She was also on the working group of the Centre for Social Justice’s Mental Health Review and she currently sits on the advisory board of Mental Health and Justice Research Project, which is examining how law enforcement agencies treat victims of crime who have used mental health services. In addition, Sis. Matilda sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care and is a Fellow United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.
AFRIKA SPEAKS with ALKEBU-LAN on GALAXY RADIO!
Hear weekly discussions and lively debate on all issues affecting the Afrikan community, at home and abroad. We talk it straight and make it plain!
Hosted by Sis Kai Ouagadou-MbandakaandBro. Omowale Kwaw
CLICK HERE to view latest AFRIKA SPEAKSShow Spec. Leave a comment and contribute to the discussion.
Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan
Galaxy Radio | 102.5fm | www.galaxyafiwe.com (To listen live)
MONDAY 8pm-10pm
4-6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time
12-2 pm Pacific Standard Time
1-3 pm Mountain Standard Time
2-4 pm Central Standard Time
3-4 pm Eastern Standard Time