QUESTION: ON GOVERNMENT FOCUS
Posted by Be Utd in Tell CLG on April 17, 2009 | 8 responses
Should the government focus on race equality or should they concentrate on all equality strands bringing together race, gender, disability, sexuality and class, to tackle equality as an umbrella issue?
8 Responses to “QUESTION: ON GOVERNMENT FOCUS”
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I think they should look at the issue as one.
Is this not a redundant question considering the fact that we are entering an era of ‘mainstreaming equalities’ and the strands are going to be lumped together in the new equality bill?
Of course there should be a separate focus on race equality- it has been fought for relentlessly over the last 30 years and it risks being diluted in order to make way for the newer strands- which are equally valid and should be fast-tracked in terms of being up to speed with race equality legislation and focus- but not at the cost of race equality.
I think there should be separate strands with the understanding that people can be affected by more than one strand. I agree with C Pooter in that there is this view now that people are more focused on the ‘new’ strands. I’ve been to meetings where ‘race’ has been mentioned and there is this dismissive attitude that we have spent enough time looking at that (”We’ve done enough on that and lets look at the newer strands now”). Yes, the newer strands need to be brought to the same level as the race equality legislation.
Also, as usual, why is Scotland not being covered (no cynicism intended!)?
Race inequalities should be looked at separatley as it’s a minefield. It’s not just race but it also involves cultural aspects. There needs to be some iniative to encourage more integration across race/culture to reduce the divide.
Sadly this has now confused me more as I started to read the comments I was in the “attack all inequalities in the same way and at the same time2 camp as my base organisation has I think the shortest equalities policy going. It says “All people entering this building will be treated the same, those finding this difficult will be offered training, those refusing will be asked to leave”.
However I can see some logic in the comments for treating race as a separate issue, but still find prioritising one agenda a little incomfortable.
I think it is all about having 1 department having the responsibility of all the issues in this area.
This will ensure all the issues are not diluted.
Regards
Paul
I believe we should keep the strands separate. I see why the government would be tempted to amalgamate and deal with all these issues under a single legal framework, but this would remove the vital focus on race inequalities. I am not saying the other strands are not important, however, they too should be looked at and dealt with separately. Once the single-strand legislative model becomes effective; producing unified communities, then consolidation should be considered. In the UK, equality, especially race equality, is in the very distant future; even the illusion of equality has not yet been attained.
The law is there to protect people from unlawful direct and indirect discrimination of all kinds, through casework and formal investigations.
It really doesn’t matter whether it is dealt with by one unified organisation or more operating separately, so long as the resources and expertise exist to support those who are mistreated/disadvantaged on racial, sexual, disability or whatever grounds.
I would like to see the EHRC engage in selective casework and mount strategic formal investigations.
Perhaps they could also use their funding function to show the nature of their public commitment to justice and equality.
Government also needs to remind itself and the country as a whole of the implications of the legislation for all the UK’s residents.