Racism in Northern Irish Society Essay

“Racism is oppression based on colour.” (Bishop,1994) therefore social workers must be aware of the extent and impact that racism has on the wide range of ethnic minorities that they work with.

Human rights act 1998 – specifies and enforces the rights of individuals and if these

. The human rights of people need to be balanced against the rights of others.

“Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and invited states to sign and ratify it”

The charter binds Public Authorities to act in a way that is compatible with human rights. However, crucial to interpreting the effectiveness of this obligation affecting legislation, is the definition of what a Public Authority is. Since the charter is constructed to affect legislation, it is tempting to misinterpret “Public Authority” to mean actors with Legislative or Jurisdictive power. However, the provided definition specifically excludes:

Unfortunately, individuals are dehumanized by police officers by way of discrimination. One example of unfair treatment from law officers is the racial discrimination in England and Wales uncovered by a shocking survey, “Police forces were threatened today with legal action as the Government’s equality watchdog said Black and Asian Britons were still being unfairly

There are numerous concerns based on the quantity and content of stop and searches which are often influenced by institutionalised racism (Home Office, 1997). Studies suggested that the police maintain a belief that black people are prone to be involved in violent crimes (Reiner, 1989). Therefore leading to black individuals routinely falling victim to police stereotypes and overgeneralisations (Bowling and Phillips, 2007). Police interviews have suggested that police perceive certain ethnicities to be involved with certain crimes, one interview suggested that if police are alerted of a robbery, 90% of the time they will assume it is involving a black individual (Quinton et al, 2000). Despite that there is evidence suggesting that racial disadvantages will cause an increase in young blacks to be involved with crime, suggesting that these suspicions are justified (Waddington et al, 2007). Furthermore, there is little research suggesting that police enforce their prejudices when working on the streets, thus suggesting that racial views are a result of police canteen sub-culture (Waddington, 1999).

On April the 22nd 1993, Stephen Lawrence was murdered in an unprovoked racially motivated attack in South London. During inquiries, the police were criticized for how they handled the case, and in 1999 The Macpherson Report was published (HOC-HAC, 2009). This found that the police showed a lack of professionalism through incompetence in properly investigating the case, fuelled by institutional racism (HOC-HAC, 2009). The report concludes by stating that institutional racism is present in all police forces and should be eradicated to achieve fairness in policing, and thus, justice for all. With the hope of achieving this vision, 70 recommendations were made. In 2009, ten years after the emergence of the Macpherson Report, another report was published with the intention of reviewing the progress made in achieving the recommendations previously outlined. Although the report acknowledges progress has been made within the police force in combatting racial prejudices and institutional racism there are still major areas of concern, with targets set out in the Macpherson Report not being achieved. In 2007/08 its reported that 28% of people from BAME communities felt they would be treated unfairly by the police and the CJS, due to their race (HOC-HAC, 2009). Furthermore, 20 out of the 43 police forces in England and Wales have failed to reach their target of

However, on a positive note, it led to the Introduction of Race Relations Act 2000 and a recruitment drive for police officers from an ethnic background in a bid to show that the institution of the Metroplitan Police are not racist which has been successful in some respect. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/22/stephen-lawrence-murder-changed-legal-landscape A recent poll by the British Future showed that ‘’ nearly 60% of the British public believed the police response to such cases is now quicker, fairer and less racist. The police say that much has changed over the past decade and there is now a firm desire throughout policing, especially within its leadership, to tackle racism more robustly’’http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/metropolitan-police-still-institutionally-racist-20-years-after-stephen-lawrence-murder-black-police-leaders-say-8581873.html

Police Relations with Minority Ethnic Communities The Macpherson report was published in 1999 amidst problems of racial inequality and a lack of faith in the police amongst minority ethnic communities. There is an ongoing debate on whether Macpherson’s report was a help or a hindrance with regards to minority ethnic relations and the police; it is this dispute that the essay shall examine. To begin with the paper will look at the problems, which existed prior to Sir William Macpherson’s publication and which led to the publication of his report. It will then proceed to examine the failures of the Scarman report, in order to look at both the prior problems and failures regarding the 1981 Scarman

The murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, in a racist attack in 1993, resulted in a detailed inquiry published in 1999 outlining the existence of institutional racism and as many as 70 recommended changes in policies regarding how police should communicate with ethnic minority

Firstly Policing, Philips and Bowling (2007) have noted that in the 1970’s there have been many accusations of oppressive policing if minority ethnic communities. These have included mass stop and search operations, police violence and failure to respond to racist violence.

In Racist America author Joe Feagin confronts the passive attitude, held by many in the Anglo culture in America, towards racism. This is the third edition of the title specifically revised for undergraduate and graduate use in studies. It deals in depth with the historical, political and economic foundations of racism and white supremacy. It adds a rich breath of knowledge on the subject matter, and an expert knowledge in addressing the issues we will be discussing throughout the writing.

The Criminal Justice System, a system the British government set up to deal with the treatment of law-breakers, has three main goals to achieve social order, these are, (1) enforcing criminal law, (2) maintaining law and order in the society, and (3) helping victims. This may seem to be a well thought of system, but like any other organisation, there are flaws, and one of the major flaws is discrimination, and the bias that stems from discrimination.

Racism has been an ongoing social justice issue for decades, and we seem to always fail to make it stop. According to Dummett (as cited in Fernando, 1984), racism is the behaviour and attitude that emerges from our beliefs that certain people are different from us. These differences are mainly based on race, where people come from, physical characteristics, such as colour and hair type or behavioural characteristics, and that people categorized must be treated differently based on their needs, capabilities and rights. Usually there is one dominant and superior group and a few inferior groups (Dummett, as cited in Fernando, 1984). Coates and Morrison (2011) suggests that what we distinguish as real and true may not always be real and that things may not always be as it seems. Coates and Morrison (2011) also states that we live in a racial matrix, where we have this illusion of reality and that differences associated with racial status and hierarchies are perceived as the norm in society and this perception of reality is not easy to get rid of. There are four types of racism; subtle racism, colorism, internalized racism and reverse racism (Nittle, 2016). Racism can be explicit, but it can also be very subtle and covert, which is a huge problem, as most people do not even notice it and they do not realize that it happens on a day-to-day basis (Coates and Morrison, 2011). Racism is not only one problem or concern, as it is brings along a variety of other problems and is compiled