Category Archives: Race

Bishop calls on Christians to reclaim England flag from ‘toxic tide of racism’

Posted on by

Arun Arora, bishop of Kirkstall, says Christians should not be ‘neutral in the face of violence and injustice’

A Church of England bishop has called on Christians to reclaim the flag and their faith from rightwing activists, saying both were being desecrated by people seeking to divide the nation.

The Right Rev Arun Arora, the bishop of Kirkstall and the C of E’s co-lead on racial justice, made his comments in a sermon days after more than 110,000 people marched through London in a rightwing protest, many carrying crosses.

Continue reading...

Systemic racism affects maternity care for black women in England, say MPs

Posted on by

Commons committee finds women’s concerns not taken seriously due to bias, stereotyping and racist assumptions

Black women in England are still facing poorer outcomes in their maternity care due to systemic racism, alongside failures in leadership and data collection, according to a group of MPs.

Across the UK, black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth compared with their white counterparts, while babies born to black mothers are at an increased risk of stillbirth.

Continue reading...

US right capitalizes on fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina

Posted on by

Far right points to lax criminal justice system and racist narratives, not mental health system failures as experts say

The random and unprovoked killing of a young woman in North Carolina several weeks ago has become a viral video, a political football, and a powerful rightwing talking point – even as the horror and anger her death has provoked obscures what experts say is a vital story about the failures of the American mental health system.

The alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, has a long history of problems with the law and mental health issues. He had been arrested 14 times and served a five-year stint for armed robbery. Brown had also come to believe that there was something alien and malevolent inside him – a “man-made material”, he told people, possibly a computer chip implanted by the government that was fighting him for control of his body.

Continue reading...

Palestinian Australian brothers allege racist abuse on Sydney train

Posted on by

Shamikh and Majed Badra said men shouted abuse at them, allegedly because Majed was wearing a keffiyeh

Two Palestinian Australian men say they were subjected to racist abuse on a Sydney train on the same day anti-immigration marches took place across Australian cities.

Film-makers Shamikh and Majed Badra told Guardian Australia they were verbally abused on a train on Sunday afternoon, allegedly because Majed was wearing a keffiyeh.

Continue reading...

Gun used in Emmett Till’s lynching is on display at museum 70 years later

Posted on by

Mississippi museum announces display on anniversary of boy’s murder, a pivotal moment in civil rights movement

The gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference on Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder.

Continue reading...

Dorset police investigate antisemitic hate crimes including swastika graffiti

Posted on by

Officers step up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after teenage boy shot with air rifle

Dorset police have launched an investigation and stepped up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after a wave of antisemitic hate crimes in the seaside town.

Over the weekend, a teenage boy was shot with an air rifle and injured, and swastika graffiti appeared on buildings, police said.

Continue reading...

South African minister investigated for historical racial slurs on social media

Posted on by

Gayton McKenzie given deadline to apologise, undergo sensitivity training and delete posts

South Africa’s sport, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, is under investigation by the country’s human rights commission for historical social media posts containing a highly offensive racial slur, reigniting a debate about racism, identity and the lingering effects of colonialism and apartheid.

McKenzie, an anti-immigrant populist from the Coloured community with a history of stirring up controversies, was given a Wednesday evening deadline by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to issue an approved apology, undergo sensitivity training, donate to an agreed charity and delete the X posts, which were still online at the time of publication.

Continue reading...

‘Don’t call this racist’: row grows over motives behind England flag campaign

Posted on by

Organisers say they are just being patriotic but some suspect far right is behind ‘dangerous’ lamp-post movement

“This is NOT racist never has been never will be,” reads the fundraising page of a group calling itself the Wythall Flaggers, which by Tuesday afternoon had raised more than £2,000, mostly in small donations of £5 and £10. “We have members of the community of all ethnicities and religions stopping by and praising what we are doing so please don’t call this racist.”

The money, according to the page’s organiser, will be used for “coating the local community in England flags as this is home and we should be patriotic and proud … We need help to cover every street in Wythall with our beautiful St George’s cross.”

Continue reading...

Swatch pulls ‘slanted eye’ ad after backlash in China

Posted on by

Calls for boycott after Swiss watchmaker becomes latest western brand accused of racist imagery

The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has apologised and removed an advert featuring a model pulling the corners of his eyes, after the image prompted accusations of racism and calls for a boycott on Chinese social media.

Internet users heavily criticised the “slanted eye” gesture made by the Asian male model as racist.

Continue reading...

Thursday briefing: ​How the colonial legacy has created a toxic beauty industry

Posted on by

In today’s newsletter: Doctors are sounding the alarm over a surge in cancers and irreversible skin damage linked to bleaching creams, as colourism continues to shape beauty ideals from Africa to Asia

Good morning. The slogan “black is beautiful” rang out from civil rights marches in the US and UK during the 1960s and echoed through liberation struggles across the global south. It became a rallying cry against racist beauty standards that had long cast Black skin, facial features and hair as undesirable.

These movements urged pride in what had been denigrated for centuries, and their message was not limited to people of African or Caribbean heritage. Calls to embrace natural beauty resonated across Asia and much of the global south, directly challenging the colonial belief that lighter skin conferred greater worth.

Ukraine | Donald Trump told European leaders on Wednesday he would be seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine at his summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday and gave reassurances that he would not make any territorial concessions without Kyiv’s full involvement.

UK news | David Lammy has referred himself to the environment watchdog after going fishing with JD Vance without the required licence during the US vice-president’s trip to the UK.

Immigration | At least 20 people have died after a boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, a United Nations agency and local media reported on Wednesday.

UK politics | Keir Starmer is to formally revive Northern Powerhouse Rail this autumn with an announcement expected before the Labour conference.

Palestine | The United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied territories has warned that moves to recognise a Palestinian state should not distract member states from stopping mass death and starvation in Gaza.

Continue reading...

‘Why is this happening?’: violent attacks terrify Ireland’s immigrant community

Posted on by

Spate of physical incidents includes attack on a six-year-old girl at a County Waterford housing estate

In the west Dublin suburb of Tallaght, a group of teenagers accosted, beat and partially stripped an Indian man, who was then filmed staggering and bleeding. Days later a gang attacked another Indian man in the nearby suburb of Clondalkin, hitting him in the face, chest, back and legs, leaving him with a fracture, gashes and multiple bruises.

Days later again, two male passengers turned on an Indian taxi driver in the north Dublin suburb of Ballymun, striking him across the face with a bottle and shouting: “Go back to your country.”

Continue reading...

Pro- and anti-migrant prroters face off at London hotel housing asylum seekers

Posted on by

Anti-racism campaigners outnumber those opposing hotel being used as Home Office accommodation

Anti-racism demonstrators turned out in large numbers on Saturday outside a London hotel where asylum seekers are being housed to counter-protest against those opposed to it being used as Home Office accommodation.

Both groups of protesters gathered near the Thistle City Barbican hotel in Islington, north London.

Continue reading...

Family of Briton murdered in Jamaica seek answers over UK officials’ ‘indifference’

Posted on by

Delroy Walker’s relatives say they were initially told ‘your brother’s not British, or not British enough’ to receive help

The family of a “generous and loving” British man who was murdered in Jamaica are demanding answers over the British government’s “indifferent” response after the tragedy.

Delroy Walker, from Birmingham, was stabbed to death weeks after retiring to the Caribbean island where he was building his dream home. The 63-year-old charity worker was murdered by a “jealous” tradesman he employed to help decorate the property in preparation for a family visit in summer 2018.

Continue reading...

Push to end antisemitism is welcome but envoy’s plan raises concerns, Australia’s race commissioner warns

Posted on by

Giridharan Sivaraman says he hopes to meet Jillian Segal to discuss her proposals and their implications for fundamental rights and freedoms

Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has warned there is limited detail in how Jillian Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism would be implemented, and said he would work with her to ensure it does not restrict fundamental rights and freedoms.

Giridharan Sivaraman has responded to the antisemitism envoy’s 20-page plan, released last Thursday, which made a range of recommendations, including withholding government funding from universities that “facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism” and monitoring media organisations “to avoid accepting false or distorted narratives”.

Continue reading...

‘Gross over-reach’: Labor group urges Albanese to reject key parts of antisemitism envoy plan

Posted on by

Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine concerned by Jillian Segal’s recommendation government adopt IHRA’s contested definition of antisemitism

A “groundswell” of Labor rank-and-file members are urging the government to reject key recommendations from the federal antisemitism envoy, according to an internal lobby group, urging a focus on anti-racism education rather than more contentious ideas such as stripping funding from universities and arts bodies.

Labor Friends of Palestine, an internal campaign group of members and politicians, said it was concerned about anti-Jewish hatred, but would be troubled about wider adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s contested definition of antisemitism, as recommended by Jillian Segal in a wide-ranging plan last week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Several people injured in second night of anti-migrant unrest in Spanish town

Posted on by

Authorities say at least one person arrested after disorder broke out in Torre Pacheco over attack on pensioner

Several people were hurt in a second night of anti-migrant unrest in the town of Torre Pacheco in south-east Spain after a pensioner was beaten up, authorities said.

Despite a major police presence, groups armed with batons roamed the streets looking for people with foreign origins, the regional newspaper La Opinión de Murcia reported.

Continue reading...

Minority ethnic and deprived children more likely to die after UK intensive care admission

Posted on by

Study shows such young people have higher risk of arriving at paediatric ICU severely ill and have worse outcomes

Minority ethnic children and children from deprived backgrounds across the UK are more likely to die following admission to intensive care than their white and more affluent counterparts, a study has found.

These children consistently had worse outcomes following their stay in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), the research by academics at Imperial College London discovered.

Continue reading...

More trials with no jury will disadvantage people of colour, campaigners warn

Posted on by

Charities say more judge-only trials in England and Wales could lead to more miscarriages of justice

Removing the right to a jury trial for more offences would disadvantage people of colour and other minorities and lead to more miscarriages of justice, reformers have warned.

Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts in England and Wales is expected to be published this week and recommend the creation of intermediate courts, sitting without a jury, to try some offences.

Continue reading...

Met officers’ strip-search of black girl at school was gross misconduct, panel finds

Posted on by

Disciplinary hearing finds two police officers’ search of Child Q, 15, was disproportionate and humiliating

Two police officers who were involved in the strip-search of a black teenager at her school have been found to have committed gross misconduct.

The search at a school in Hackney, east London, was “disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary” and made the girl, known as Child Q, feel degraded and humiliated, a panel concluded at the end of a four-week misconduct hearing.

Continue reading...

Cassius Turvey’s murder has ‘torn at the very fabric of our society’, his mother tells court

Posted on by

Heinous and ‘racially motivated’ attack on Indigenous teenager left mother and community traumatised, court hears

The murder of an Indigenous teenager who was chased into bushland and beaten with a metal pole during a heinous racist attack has shattered lives and left a community living in fear, his heartbroken mother has said.

Cassius Turvey, a Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after he was deliberately struck on the head in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...