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| Hideously diverse Britain: Swimming against the tide | Hideously diverse Britain: Swimming against the tide |
| (10 days later) | |
| Time for a reality check, says Maxie Hayles, ploughing through rice and curried mutton. We may all have cheered for Mo Farah and the melting-pot contingent in Team GB. But we've not yet reached Martin Luther King's promised land. Still too much racism, too much institutional racism, he says. Policy-makers talk "post-racial". Maxie's having none of it. "It's a fallacy; nonsense. There is an agenda to keep race on the back burner because race is unpleasant to deal with. But it is there." | Time for a reality check, says Maxie Hayles, ploughing through rice and curried mutton. We may all have cheered for Mo Farah and the melting-pot contingent in Team GB. But we've not yet reached Martin Luther King's promised land. Still too much racism, too much institutional racism, he says. Policy-makers talk "post-racial". Maxie's having none of it. "It's a fallacy; nonsense. There is an agenda to keep race on the back burner because race is unpleasant to deal with. But it is there." |
| There's a trace of bitterness and that's understandable. For 23 years Maxie, 67, was the face of the Birmingham Racial Attacks Monitoring Unit (Bramu). Two weeks ago, after many years on the financial precipice, the organisation, bowed to the inevitable and wound itself up. An unsatisfactory, unwanted end to an institution feted in its time by governments, the great and the good and icons in the field such as Jesse Jackson. And yet, inevitable. | There's a trace of bitterness and that's understandable. For 23 years Maxie, 67, was the face of the Birmingham Racial Attacks Monitoring Unit (Bramu). Two weeks ago, after many years on the financial precipice, the organisation, bowed to the inevitable and wound itself up. An unsatisfactory, unwanted end to an institution feted in its time by governments, the great and the good and icons in the field such as Jesse Jackson. And yet, inevitable. |
| Bramu was one of the independent monitoring groups set up in the 1980s, a decade scarred by riots, racial attacks and decades of hostility between the police, statutory authorities and minority communities. The authorities identified as perpetrators of racial discrimination were often the ones funding the groups pointing the finger. That seemed to suggest that even they knew they needed holding to account. | Bramu was one of the independent monitoring groups set up in the 1980s, a decade scarred by riots, racial attacks and decades of hostility between the police, statutory authorities and minority communities. The authorities identified as perpetrators of racial discrimination were often the ones funding the groups pointing the finger. That seemed to suggest that even they knew they needed holding to account. |
| But that was then. Over time, race relations have improved and institutions no longer feel the need to be held to specific account on the issue of racism. They certainly feel less inclined to fund those such as Maxie who might do that. | But that was then. Over time, race relations have improved and institutions no longer feel the need to be held to specific account on the issue of racism. They certainly feel less inclined to fund those such as Maxie who might do that. |
| The public money goes to bodies that – like the equalities commission – seek to address discrimination across all the strands: race, gender, disability, religion, sexuality. Bramu did host a high-profile "hate crime" conference in 2010. But without a dramatic rebrand, it was swimming against the tide. | The public money goes to bodies that – like the equalities commission – seek to address discrimination across all the strands: race, gender, disability, religion, sexuality. Bramu did host a high-profile "hate crime" conference in 2010. But without a dramatic rebrand, it was swimming against the tide. |
| "We dealt with 6,000 cases, 30,000 inquiries," Maxie says. "When the funding stopped, we had 120 live cases." He lays down his fork to show me hate crime stats, with race by far the biggest component. "Any group in this field has to prioritise race." | "We dealt with 6,000 cases, 30,000 inquiries," Maxie says. "When the funding stopped, we had 120 live cases." He lays down his fork to show me hate crime stats, with race by far the biggest component. "Any group in this field has to prioritise race." |
| But that was then, and the future, as seen by those who hold the purse strings – Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem – is indeed post-racial. Inevitable. A tide that strong sweeps everything in its way. | But that was then, and the future, as seen by those who hold the purse strings – Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem – is indeed post-racial. Inevitable. A tide that strong sweeps everything in its way. |
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