Recommend this article...

Following the earthquake in Haiti and the tragic loss of lives, brap have teamed up with Oxfam to promote their Haiti appeal. Your contribution will provide clean water, shelter, sanitation and support to help people recover – so your donation will go immediately to those who need it most. Click on this link to make a gift to save lives.

Recommend this article...

Commenting on remarks made by John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, that disadvantage is now more linked to poverty, class, and identity, Joy Warmington, CEO of brap, said:

"We understand why this statement is coming out at this time. It’s important to counter views put forward by far right groups that racism is only about helping minority ethnic people and that class also plays an important role in affecting people’s life chances. Yes, we’d agree with that. People working in the education system for example have known this for decades. Poorer children are often at much higher risk of losing out in terms of grades at GCSE for example. And when these patterns are analysed with a focus on race too, certain ethnic groups (including poor white British pupils) are even more likely to lose out.

“But the solution doesn’t lie in focusing on class instead of race now. Racism and race inequality has not gone away. In Birmingham, for example, children under the age of one are twice as likely to die than in the country as a whole. The figures say that this particularly affects certain minority ethnic groups more than others.

Recommend this article...