CLASS DIVISIONS, which affect poor whites just as much as ethnic minorities, rather than inequality based on race are the major social issue affecting the United Kingdom today, the British government has declared, in a significant move just months ahead of a general election in which the far-right British National Party is hoping to make gains.
The “scourge of racism” had been significantly reduced since Labour came to power in 1997, communities secretary John Denham said, but prejudice and inequality driven by old class divisions, and affecting all groups on the bottom rungs of society still had to be rooted out.
“It is no longer enough to make simple judgements or assumptions which equate race with disadvantage. That would overlook, for example, the striking achievements of Indian and Chinese students, but it would also overlook the fact that white working class boys are struggling to keep up,” Mr Denham declared.
Last year, the communities secretary offered a £12 million fund to help address grievances felt by poor whites in working class areas, along with an order revising local authorities’ rules about council housing, designed to make it easier for the children of people who have lived for years in an area to get housing nearby.
The Labour Party is concerned about the threat posed by the BNP, which already has two European Parliament seats and several dozen council seats, in the election to come, and particularly by the expected challenge of leader, Nick Griffin, in Barking in east London.
In a report published yesterday, the Department of Communities said working class children of different races had more in common with each other than with middle class children of the same ethnic group: “Socio-economic status and poverty affect people’s chances in life regardless of race or ethnic background.”
Paying tribute to the progress made by the “growing black and Asian middle class”, Mr Denham said: “Many members of minority groups have a degree, a good job and own their own home. We must avoid a one-dimensional debate that assumes all minority ethnic people are disadvantaged.”
While there was no evidence that poor whites were held back because of their race, Mr Denham conceded that they suffered “social disadvantage” because of their class, which could be a bigger hurdle to overcome than the prejudice faced by some ethnic minorities from British-born whites.
Responding to the report, Tackling Race Inequality: A statement on race, Lord Ouseley, a former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, said Britain had become more unequal since Labour came to power.
Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “John Denham is wrong. We have not yet reached the stage where being black or Asian means you are not disadvantaged.”