Realising the ideal of a fairer society

Tony Thomas writes an excellent blog, One Love, One London. He recently took issue with a piece I wrote on the OBV website encouraging readers to understand the power their vote gives them to force politicians to take racial equality more seriously.

Tony, who says he has shared platforms with OBV’s Director Simon Woolley has a vision impossible not to share...he wants Britain to become ‘a more diverse, integrated and inclusive society’.

However, he argues against what he calls ‘a racially specific approach to tackling issues in a multi-racial society.’  He says BME communities can vote on issues that are ‘important to the lives of their families and peers like the host population...’

He ends with these stirring words: ‘There is not a white Britain or a black Britain but one Britain! There is not an Asian Britain or a Chinese Britain, there is one Britain!"

It is wonderful to be an idealist, but without working to achieve those ideals, they will not be realised. Currently the BME population is under represented in public life; our prisons contain a far higher proportion of BME individuals than whites; policy is framed by people whose experiences are not those of people who are discriminated against in subtle and not so subtle ways. This situation will only alter by campaigning for change, because power is never given, it has to be won.

It should also be noted that OBV campaigns for greater representation and increased voter registration of groups who are not defined by race, for example the disabled. Indeed, only a few weeks ago, Operation Disabled Vote asked to join OBV’s movement to get greater rights for disabled members of our society.

Tony Thomas states the obvious in saying that we live in an increasingly multi-racial society. However, that doesn’t equate to a fair society. And while I applaud his desire for this country to put racial differences behind us, we cannot just hope for this day to arrive, we have to work at dismantling the barriers so we can all play our role in making Britain a great country for every group to live in.

Paul Hensby