RACE, ETHNICITY AND EQUALITY

Race, Ethnicity and Equality,

Race, Ethnicity and Equality

Race and Racism

Racism is an ideology, a belief that all members of each racial group possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups. Racism has existed throughout human history. It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another or the belief that another person is less than human because of skin colour, language, customs, or place of birth (Hyde, 2005, p. 592).

In the last several decades, the race problem in Britain has withdrawn from the forefront of the public imagination, only to mask ever-widening social, political, and economic inequalities caused by the persistence of British racism. Despite the myth of British liberalism's triumph over racism, which aspires toward a “racially colour-blind society” by denying varying racial and ethnic identities, racism remains an enduring and consequential mechanism of America's socio-legal organization (Hobgood, 2000, p. 229).

The creation of the law proved that Government believed that minority groups should be treated as equals. The impact of the Act was that it formally gave ethnic minorities a place in society and as equals. I believe that the introduction of the race Relations Act gave ethnic minorities the belief that these initial changes made through the Act, could be pushed even further, and as we know, this eventually happened through the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 and further amendments until now.

Race Relations Act

The Race Relations Act enhanced race relations in Britain immensely, in the long term, however the 1976 Act did not fully ensure that every aspect of racial discrimination was abolished, which was the reason the government amended the Act in 2000, therefore it can be said that the real influence on race relations was the Race Relations Amended Act formed in 2000, as this was the law that dealt with every factor to eliminate racial discrimination in every field of society.

Ultimately, the Race Relation Act was pivotal in improving the relations between different ethnic groups, as it was the first formal law introduced by Parliament to reform the issue of racial discrimination. This gave the ethnic minorities the belief that things could be altered and improved further to ensure an equal country, free of racism, which is, to an extent, what today's world is becoming. Relations between ethnic groups have been non-existent throughout the centuries, with racism being something that ethnic minorities had to deal with personally, without the support and sympathy of the Government.

Obviously the Race Relations Act 1976 was not the only factor in building race relations and equality; however it is in my opinion, the most important, as it built a solid foundation for Britain to develop race relations on legal grounds.

Ethnicity refers to “all those traditions, customs, activities, beliefs, and practices that pertain to a particular group of people who see themselves and are seen by others as having distinct cultural features, a separate history, and a specific socio-cultural identity” ...