The anti-racism industry ‘creates a dependency’ upon a race
discourse that sows division, finds a new Civitas report.
‘The tragic consequence is that racial divisions are becoming
ever more firmly entrenched, says the report.
‘The message from the media and best-selling books, as well as
from an array of diversity workshops held in schools,
universities and the workplace, is that not being racist is no
longer sufficient: we must all be actively anti-racist. What’s
more, we must demonstrate our anti-racism in ways approved by a
cohort of race experts.’
The report looks into the rise of ‘Critical Race Theory’, newly
migrated from academia and which provides the theoretical
underpinnings for today’s anti-racism industry. Entire new
phrases have entered our vocabulary: terms like systemic racism,
unconscious bias, white privilege and cultural appropriation.
It proposes that Critical Race Theory ‘…provides a burgeoning
group of diversity trainers, race experts and assorted
professional anti-racists with the ideas that substantiate their
practice within schools, universities and the workplace.’
‘Anti-racism training has become a big business with the most
popular speakers and authors generating considerable revenue.’
At the heart of Williams’ investigation is a key set of
questions: ‘But what if this ubiquitous anti-racism does little
to improve outcomes for members of the BAME community? Worse,
what if contemporary anti-racism breathes new life back into
racial thinking and emphasises differences between people that
were only recently being overcome?’
In considering changing ideas around race, racism and anti-racism
and examining today’s anti-racism industry, this report draws
upon a wide range of academic and popular literature – including
interviews with participants in workplace diversity training
programmes and online content from training providers.
The argument throughout the report finds that:
‘… as anti-racism has rejected the civil rights era aspiration
for colour blindness, people are once more being taught to see
each other as racialised beings. White people are assumed to be
the beneficiaries of white privilege and black people the victims
of systemic racism. Such gross racial generalisations are to the
detriment of everyone in society. They call into question
individual agency and attach limits on personal ambition while
shoring up a grievance culture. The sole beneficiaries of this
approach are elite race experts who find themselves in a powerful
position to intervene in all aspects of our public and private
lives.’
The report concludes by drawing a series of recommendations:
- Education and training are two distinct things: ‘No school
pupil or university student should be taught [Critical Race
Theory] as fact, have to undergo mandatory unconscious bias
training, or be compelled to attend any other form of anti-racism
training.’
- ‘No employee should face losing their job for refusing to
undertake workplace anti-racism training or for raising
legitimate concerns with the content of such training
programmes.’
- ‘An inquiry should be held into the soliciting, investigating
and recording of non-crime hate incidents. The gathering of
statistics relating to such incidents has become open to
exploitation by activists.’
- ‘Reassert the importance of equality before the law.
Workplace training sessions could play a useful role in informing
employees about legal duties not to discriminate.’
- ‘Positive discrimination should be exceptional and only take
place under specific and limited circumstances. In such instances
where positive discrimination is deemed necessary, a candidate’s
social class background should be considered alongside race and
sex.’
- ‘Schools, universities and workplaces should be encouraged to
place greater value upon viewpoint diversity, rather than just
biological diversity, and what people have in common, rather than
simply what divides us.'
