The success of the Indian communities in both the US and UK is awkward for those who seek to attribute all disparities in outcomes to racism (whether overt, unconscious or systemic). It raises the inconvenient possibility that immigrant communities and ethnic minorities have agency and may have as large a role in determining their fates as the attitudes of the pre-existing population. Their own attitudes and aptitudes may even be as significant as the racism – however defined – whose continued (if reduced) existence is undeniable.
Put simply, the increasingly accepted view that all differences in group outcomes are attributable to “systemic racism” is not only BS but demonstrably so. It is more complicated.
The historical legacy of Jim Crow and slavery – as well as the continued side effects of discriminatory property lending and the deployment of undertrained and over militarised police forces – may mean that these issues are more deeply entrenched in the psychology and politics of both white and black communities in the US than elsewhere and consequently are harder to analyse.
The situation in the UK, however, is a little clearer. If one looks at the official data on the four largest communities of people of colour in the UK, one can observe different trajectories in terms of education and income. (Educational success is crucial in determining life chances.) Their political success stories reflect the same pattern.
1/ Indians. 3.1% of population. 57% gain degree vs. 31% in white community. 20% higher hourly earnings on average vs. white population . Rishi Sunak (Prime Minister), Suella Braverman (Home Secretary).
2/ West Africans. 2.5%. 58% gain degree. No good data on income.Kwasi Kwarteng (former Chancellor), Kemi Badenoch (Trade Minister and current favourite for next Tory leader).
3/ South Asian Muslims. 3.8%. 42% gain degree. 11% lower earnings. Humza Yousaf (First Minister of Scotland), Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London).
4/ Black – Caribbean. 1.0%. 34% ofBC women but only 23% of BC men get degrees. 7% lower hourly earnings . David Lammy (Shadow Foreign Secretary), Baroness Scotland (former Attorney General).
Broadly speaking, the pattern is stark. There is no single BAME experience. The Indian community is flourishing by any yardstick. West Africans, who have mostly arrived in recent years, appear to be on the same flight path educationally if not yet in terms of income (though it is hard to get good data). South Asian Muslims have struggled somewhat – partly because they settled in industrial areas that went into decline –and the outcome is not yet clear but their educational performance has improved in recent years. Black Caribbeans – on these numbers as well as anecdotally – have faced significant difficulties. It is the longest standing and most prominent but also the smallest of the four groups.
If one goes back to the 1970s all four groups were equal victims of intense racism. I still remember vividly getting badly beaten up as a teenager just for walking down the street with an Indian friend. It is challenging to attribute the four different outcomes today to the levels of racism encountered then.
Instead, if one looks at educational outcomes – perhaps the most important determinant. – then the most obvious differentiating factors are
a) Attitudes to education – basically how middle class?
b) Prior experience of racism by previous generation – how cynical about schools?
c) Family structure – is there a father present?
On this basis, the Indians score best and the Caribbean community are most disadvantaged. (Though one needs to be cautious about generalisations since those from Trinidad are more like the Indians on these factors and have been disproportionately successful compared say to Jamaicans).
If, moreover, one takes an intersectional approach and drills down into the data then one discovers that it not the whole African-Caribbean community which is underperforming. The girls do fine. Even the boys do well up to the age of 12. And of the boys over 12, it is the boys brought up by poor single mothers in areas with strong gangs who are most likely to fall by the wayside. David Lammy, who was brought up by a single mother but has prospered, has spoken eloquently about the need to encourage greater involvement of fathers. One obvious policy response, amongst several, is to recruit more black male teachers to act as role models in the absence of fathers.
One can apply a similar style analysis to other aspects of the problem e.g. employment chances, sentencing by judges, etc etc. In each case there are practical measures designed to improve life chances for individuals and progress for entire communities which seem more likely to produce positive results than the current progressive approach.
None of this is to deny that racism exists today. Not only the above databut plenty of other stats support anecdotal evidence that e.g. the number of letters needed to secure a job interview varies by ethnicity etc etc. What it does suggest is that the racism has declined to the point it is no longer an insurmountable obstacle to progress for any group, that it is amenable to focussed practical policies and that the supposedly marginalised have much more agency than is often suggested.
Absent deliberate attempts to exacerbate interracial tensions, I think I would be an optimist.The success of the Indian community shows what is possible. Even the challenges facing the Black-Caribbean community are amenable to practical responses. Lastly, in the UK how one speaks is as important as how one looks. If in some American cities there are distinct dialects spoken by different communities, Londonhas seen the emergence of MLE (Multicultural London English) as used by the youth of all races. As a measure of identity, it is progress, innit?
These tentative – and relatively optimistic – conclusions are clearly inconvenient if one is a radical progressive strategist seeking to mobilise a coalition of marginalised groups on the basis of a one dimensional theory . A more complicated analysis provide counter narratives – and suggests different policies – to their widely propagated story which focuses exclusively on “systemic racism” to explain outcomes and draws heavily on supposedly representative “lived experiences” (as interpreted through a progressive ideological lens). There is value in both individual experiences and statistics. Both should be used to understand problems.
If, on the other hand, one has an amiable liberal preference for all citizens getting a fair chance in life – or merely a prudent recognition that it is dangerous in a multi ethnic society for any ethnic minority to have legitimate reasons to feel oppressed – then they should be welcome.
How relevant is this analysis to the US? Possibly more than might be assumed. Evidently – quite apart from the history – educational outcomes and income differentials are more divergent in the US than UK. The median black household income in the US is 35% below average as compared to the 20% in the UK. On the other hand, in their time, the Irish, Italian, Jewish, East Asian and Mexican communities were as disadvantaged and excluded as the African-American community is today but yet each in turnwas able to get access to the American Dream (with Latin Americans as the latest entrants).
Is there something which means that the African-Americans will forever remain an anomaly? or will they eventually benefit from similar dynamics? While it was clearly necessary for the Civil Rights campaign to focus on politics to achieve legal equality, I can’t help wondering if the continued emphasis on politics, law and regulation as the main engines of black progress is misplaced. The other groups of former second class citizens all rose through primarily educational and economic means.
Meanwhile the monomaniacal focus on “systemic racism” and the thought-crimes of whites seems misguided. If Upper East Side matrons wish to “do the work” and wallow in their own guilt at workshops organised by Robin DiAngelo, fine. But corporate DEI struggle sessions seem less likely to help than more practical measures to e..g. improve education for disadvantaged groups. It is noticeable that rich liberals seem keener to “stand with” with BLMthan reform school district financing so that the poor – of any race – can get a decent education.
In fact some research suggests DEI training in particular is positively counter-productive. It is not impossible that this is considered acceptable by its designers. One should never forget that Critical Theory based approaches are not intended to solve practical problems but to divide society, amplify the discontents of the “marginalised” and mobilise them for identity politics or even, ultimately, for an “emancipatory moment”.
Perhaps Al Gore should be asked to produce a sequel called “An Inconvenient Truth II” addressing these issues.
P.S. This was originally intended to be a much shorter comment. Got carried away. Apologies.
