Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Front cover of the 31 March 2021 report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) was a UK Government commission supported by the Race Disparity Unit of the Cabinet Office. It was established in 2020 in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd.[1] Boris Johnson gave it the brief of investigating race and ethnic disparities in the UK. Johnson argued that the UK needed to consider important questions about race relations and disparities and that a thorough examination of why so many disparities persist and what needed to be done to work out to eliminate or mitigate them.

Commission members were recruited by political adviser Munira Mirza, who has previously denied the existence of structural and institutional racism.[2][3] The members were Tony Sewell (who was appointed in July 2020 to lead the Commission), Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Aftab Chughtai, Keith Fraser, Ajay Kakkar, Naureen Khalid, Dambisa Moyo, Mercy Muroki, Martyn Oliver, Samir Shah and Kunle Olulode.[4][5] The Observer reported that the members did not write all of the report, nor was it made available in full to them prior to publication.[6]

The commission published its report in March 2021, the content of which caused considerable controversy.[7][8][9][10][11] The report concluded that the "claim the country is still institutionally racist is not borne out by the evidence", but some experts complained that the report misrepresented evidence, and that recommendations from ethnic minority business leaders who contributed were ignored.[12] Seun Matiluko has written that CRED "would become one of the most controversial government commissions of the 21st century".[11] Additionally, a section on the Caribbean slave trade was amended, following widespread criticism that it glorified the practice and downplayed its negative effects.[13][14]

  1. ^ "Charity boss Tony Sewell to head government race commission". BBC News. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Dismay as No 10 adviser is chosen to set up UK race inequality commission". the Guardian. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Race report: Was controversy part of the plan?". BBC News. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities". GOV.UK.
  5. ^ Thomas, Tobi; Mohdin, Aamna (March 31, 2021). "Racial disparities in the UK: the people who compiled the report" – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ Iqbal, Nosheen (11 April 2021). "Downing Street rewrote 'independent' report on race, experts claim". The Observer. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Windrush campaigners alarmed by omissions of No 10 race report". the Guardian. April 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Editorial: The government's race report is an exercise in gaslighting". The Independent. April 1, 2021.
  9. ^ "Race report: 'UK not deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities'". March 31, 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ Neilan, Catherine; Diver, Tony (March 31, 2021). "Race report 'reluctant to accept structural issues', says Sir Keir Starmer" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ a b Matiluko, Seun (7 January 2023). "Truth, lies and racism: The story behind the "Sewell Report"". The House. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  12. ^ Savage, Michael; Iqbal, Nosheen (4 April 2021). "Race report boss wanted schools to teach 'the truth' about modern Britain". The Observer. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  13. ^ Aamna Mohdin (2021-04-30). "UK race commission amends line on slave trade after criticism". Guardian.
  14. ^ Simon Murphy, Eleni Courea (2021-03-31). "Backlash over Sewell report slavery claim". The Times.