Why me? calls for leadership to advance anti-racism, inclusion and equality
This is a blog by our CEO Sara Dowling.
Why me? has joined Equally Ours and more than 160 civil society leaders in calling on the Prime Minister and his cabinet to provide consistent leadership to advance anti-racism, inclusion and equality. The rise in far right violence and the devastating antisemitic attack at Heaton Park Synagogue are terrible reminders that it’s never been more important for us all to stand united when any of our communities are targeted.
We recommend concrete actions the government can take, working in partnership with civil society, to stand up for everyone’s human rights. Specifically we have called on the government to:
1. Set the narrative by providing a compelling vision of the diverse and pluralist country we want to be, rooted in compassion and respect for our shared humanity and equal rights.
2. Be consistent and unflinching in rejecting all forms of racism, and proactive in standing up for the universality of human rights – for all people, including asylum seekers and other migrants, to be free from harm and treated fairly.
3. Strengthen your missions-driven approach by ensuring that any strategy to tackle disadvantage addresses the structural inequalities within communities, including by harnessing investment in growth and the green economy at scale to tackle discrimination, poverty and persistent disadvantage.
4. Commit to citizenship education – that reaches hearts not just minds – to increase political literacy and understanding of the rule of law and universal human rights as the everyday rights we all rely on. This should be embedded in the school curriculum, potentially through the forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review, as well as through a programme of public education. It is particularly needed now in advance of the planned extension of the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds.
5. Build resilience to hate and extremism within the communities who are being drawn in and exploited by the far right. Policy interventions should include:
a. reviving the national hate crime strategy that played an important part under previous Labour governments to prevent and tackle hate crime
b. the expansion of participatory democracy and other approaches that provide spaces for people to be heard, that facilitate dialogue and connection between people across boundaries and backgrounds
c. enabling equality organisations, Local Resilience Forums, and wider civil society to play their important roles here. This should include Black and minoritised women’s organisations as key stakeholders given the weaponisation by the far right of violence against women and girls.
You can read the letter in full here and the article in the Guardian here.
