Lord Parakh blasts endemic racism

At the Jim Rose memorial Lecture Lord Bikhu Parakh will condemn the lack of progress in regards to achieving greater race equality in the UK, particularly in the upper echelons of British institutions.

It is ten years since his report about multicultural Britain - The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, which in many ways became the bible for much of Labour party policy on race.  

Lamenting on the lack of progress that has been made since the report Lord Parakh will argue that:

"Ethnic minority representation in the higher echelons of the judiciary, civil service, heads of universities, and cabinet is quite small. Although there are, happily, 24 black and ethnic minority MPs, their number does not reflect their presence in society.

"The ethnic minority representation in NHS trusts and CEOs of hospitals is extremely small, even though ethnic minorities provide nearly a quarter of our doctors. Look at the heads of our diplomatic missions abroad. Ethnic minorities there are negligible, just less than 2%. As a result, Britain presents a predominantly white profile abroad, which we cannot afford when we seek close trade ties with India and China."

Parakh’s disappointment with the lack of progress is only  matched by his grave concern about the dismantling of community infrastructure by the Coalition Government, which, he argues could take us further backwards:

 "They-the Coalition- are in danger of dismantling the advances we have worked so hard to achieve over the last decade by their determination to implement cuts that will disproportionately impact disadvantaged, black and ethnic minority communities."

You can attend the lecture Jim Rose Memorial Lecture, which is being held in partnership with the LSE Department of Sociology and is part of their public lecture series.

Date: Today, Tuesday 23 November 2010
Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. There is no need to RSVP, but for any queries email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043.