ritain is a model to the world of a successful multi-ethnic society, a major review concluded last night. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, set up by Boris Johnson, concluded that although Britain is not yet a ‘post-racial society’, its success should be a model for white-majority countries.
The report is built on data and evidence and that the UK had progressed into a ‘successful multi-ethnic and multicultural community which was a ‘beacon to the rest of Europe and the world’.
The landmark review found children from many ethnic minorities do as well or better at school than white pupils, which was creating fairer and more diverse workplaces.
The report concluded that the success of many of Britain’s ethnic minorities in education and, to a lesser extent, the economy ‘should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries’. It said that the aspirations and hard work of many ethnic minority communities had transformed UK society over the last 50 years into one offering far greater opportunities for all.
‘Education is the single most emphatic success story of the British ethnic minority experience,’ it concluded.
‘The Commission notes that the average GCSE attainment score for Indian, Bangladeshi and Black African pupils was above the White British average.’
While there remain disparities at the top of the public and private sectors, it is an improving picture and there are increasing levels of diversity in elite professions such as law and medicine.
The report also noted the pay gap between all ethnic minorities and the white majority population had shrunk to 2.3 percent. It concluded issues of race and racism were becoming less important and, in some cases, were not a significant factor in explaining disparities. Different outcomes had as much to do with social class and family structure as race, it said.
The ten-person commission also featured Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist and co-presenter of the BBC’s The Sky at Night, and former police superintendent Keith Fraser, chairman of the Youth Justice Board.
