A powerpoint exploring whether there are any special political concerns shared by ethnic minorities and differing from those of the White British majority.

1. A distinct ethnic agenda?

2. The key questions
• Are there any special political concerns shared
by minorities and differing from those of the
White British majority?
• Are these ethnic political concerns integrated
into or excluded from the mainstream political
agenda?

3. Performance and position issues
Political scientists often make a distinction between
‘performance’ issues and ‘position’ issues
• Performance issues are ones where there is
agreement on the goals, eg recovering from the
recession, but disagreement about how to/who is
best to achieve it
• Position issues are ones where there is
disagreement about what the goals should be, eg
privatization vs nationalization

4. Agreement on performance issues
• Generally agreed that minorities attach similar
priorities to performance issues as do the majority, eg
concerns about dealing with the financial situation
• But controversy whether minorities have distinct
‘ethnic’ concerns in addition
• And controversy whether minorities actually agree on
‘ethnic’ concerns
• If there are distinct ethnic concerns, and if these are
NOT reflected in the mainstream political agenda, then
important issue of political exclusion arises

5. The mainstream agenda
As far as you’re concerned, what is the single most
important issue facing the country ?
White British Ethnic minorities
• State of economy 39 31
• Financial crisis 23 17
• Immigration 11 5
• Unemployment 6 20
• War in Afghanistan 4 1
• Law and order 2 4

6. Diversity between minorities
Support asylum Oppose Afghan war
Indian 34 46
White British 39 64
Pakistani 41 68
Bangladeshi 43 59
Black Caribbean 59 56
Black African 74 51

7. Two sorts of ethnic claims
• Claims for equal opportunities (redress of
discrimination and exclusion) – potentially
unite all minorities
• Claims for protection of cultural practices –
potentially different claims by different
minorities

8. Government should make every effort to improve opportunities for BMEs
vs
No need for government to take action to improve opportunities for BMEs
% wanting improved opportunities
White British 19
Indian 65
Pakistani 71
Bangladeshi 70
Black Caribbean 74
Black African 75
A shared minority concern. Pattern replicated with other
questions on possible policies, eg affirmative action

9. Should schools allow those for whom it is important to
wear traditional dress at school?
% agreeing
Indian 40
Pakistani 73
Bangladeshi 68
Black Caribbean 39
Black African 38
Even Sikhs were not especially supportive of this proposition,
possibly because they have already won this battle

10. Are these issues addressed by the
mainstream parties?
“By promoting equality and tackling
discrimination, our policies, like recognising civil
partnerships as well as marriage in the tax system
and helping disabled people live independently,
will give everybody the chance to play their part.
This way, we can make Britain fairer and safer; a
country where opportunity is more equal” (p 35).
But no explicit mention of race or ethnicity, or any specific
proposals, anywhere in this manifesto.

11. Well at least this one did mention race
“New legislation and the Equality and Human Rights
Commission will ensure that people are not held
back at work because of their gender, age, disability,
race and religious or sexual orientation. The new
Equality Act will be enforced, promoting fairness
across our society. The public duty to promote
equality of opportunity is being extended. We will
encourage employers to make greater use of pay
reviews and equality checks to eliminate unfair pay
gaps, including inequalities in pay between men and
women” (2:4).
But no new proposals

12. And this one had a clear new policy
[We] want to build a society where everyone has the opportunity to
get on in life. Most businesses do a great job of supporting their
employees, but there is more to do to tackle discrimination on the
grounds of gender, sexuality, age, race, religion or disability. We
want to give employees fair opportunities to make the best use of
their talents, and greater control over their working lives and
conditions. Women are still paid less than men. It can be hard to
juggle work and family life. People from Black, Asian and Minority
Ethnic communities are still more likely to suffer discrimination.
And there are far too many barriers to work for people with
disabilities.
• We will change this by:
Requiring name-blind job application forms to reduce sex and race
discrimination in employment, initially for every company with over
100 employees (p 30)

13. And where would you place the Conservative/Labour/Liberal
Democrat parties on this scale [on improving opportunities for
Black people and Asians]
% placing the party ‘left’ of centre on equal opportunities for BMEs
Labour LDs Conservatives
Ethnic minorities 60 40 35
White British 46 32 19
Both the majority and the minorities see Labour as much more inclined to
improve minority opportunities than either of the other parties.
But white British are more sceptical about all three parties’ intentions.

14. Conclusion
There is a shared ethnic minority concern with securing equal
opportunities and overcoming prejudice and discrimination
But there is great diversity on other issues such as the war in
Afghanistan, asylum seekers, and cultural concerns
All the parties’ manifestos promised to reduce discrimination,
but only the LDs mentioned any specific new proposals
But minorities themselves did not see the LDs as particularly
supportive and gave much more credence to Labour (probably
reflecting Labour’s record rather than its current promises)