The level of racism in the UK has been increasing in recent years. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced in its latest report that more than 31,700 Blacks have disappeared in the UK in 2019 and 2020. According to the report, while Blacks make up 3% of the British population, 17% percent of those missing in the country are Black.
The Rate of Black Persons Disappearing Is Always Growing
According to the NCA, the rate of missing persons is constantly increasing. While this figure was 11.3% in 2016, it is now up to 14% of the total number of missing persons in the UK. At the same time, other British experts have stated that the actual number of missing persons and the level of racial discrimination against Blacks in this country is much higher than the official figures, and Black people, despite their much smaller population, go missing more often than Whites and Europeans.
Police Discrimination in Dealing with Families of Missing Black Persons
The report quotes families of missing Black persons as saying that the relatives and guardians face social discrimination and remain unaware of the fate of their loved ones. Founder of ‘Missing Black People’, Dominic Norton, believes that the number of missing Blacks in the country is the tip of the iceberg, and the actual number is much higher. Racial discrimination when reporting the disappearance of Blacks is also impeding the task of British Black families who are complaining about police neglect and delays.
Families of missing Blacks say they are facing social discrimination when reporting missing persons to the police and are still unaware of the fate of their loved ones. They have asked the government in an electronic register to conduct a comprehensive national investigation into why so many Blacks are missing and how the police are handling these reports. About 21,000 people have signed the register so far. According to the National Crime Agency, in 2019 and 2020, 170,819 Whites from northern Europe and 6,283 Whites from southern Europe went missing in the UK.
In London, 18,676 Blacks and 23,890 Whites from northern and southern Europe have gone missing over the past two years. Thus, Blacks in London have made up 36% of the total number of missing persons in the city for the last two years. Earlier, British police said hundreds of African boys had disappeared from schools in London after discovering the body of a boy in the River Thames. According to a London police investigation, 300 Black children have never returned to school in three months.
Threefold Arrests of Blacks Compared to Whites in England and Wales
Racial discrimination is rampant in the UK, from police brutality to violence. As such, there is ample evidence of systematic racial discrimination, and significant cultural changes must take place. Deep political and social inequalities remain widespread in British society, and worse, British Blacks are at the forefront of costly occupations and Covid-19 death rates.
At every level of the justice system, Blacks in England and Wales are the target of police brutality and are three times more as Whites. The same is true of the Covid-19 crisis; Blacks were arrested and fined more than others for violating quarantine laws by the metropolitan police. As of mid-May 2020, 26% of fixed crime warnings and 31% of arrests for quarantine violations involved Black Londoners, who make up only 12% of the capital’s population.
Increasing Police Violence Against Blacks
When Blacks are arrested, they may be increasingly subjected to police violence. They are four times more likely to be physically restrained by the police, more than six times less likely to be targeted with less lethal weapons, and seven times more likely to be shot. In 2018 and 2019, four times more batons and pepper sprays were used against Blacks or they were the subject of unarmed skills, including fake strikes, combat techniques, and common ground. Charges of misconduct during the interrogation of Blacks persons have always been made in various levels of the British police system.
In 2010 and 2011, one in 10 Blacks were questioned by the police. The improper use of stops and inspections carried out for certain social groups, including Blacks, ethnic minorities, and the youth, may increase their sense of being the target of injustice.
Blacks Are Many Times More Likely to Be Victims of Crime than Whites
According to data from recent years, Blacks are stopped 9 times more often than Whites by the police. At the same time, Blacks are increasingly becoming the victims of crime: every 60 Black people out of a thousand as compared to 42 out of a thousand Whites in 2018 and 2019. Home Office surveys show that the number of racist crimes has increased in recent years. In 2018 and 2019, 78,991 cases were reported. Last year, this figure was 71,264.
High Mortality Rate of Blacks After the Covid-19 Outbreak
The outbreak of Covid-19 exposed inequalities and discriminations even more. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Public Health England are looking at why the death toll from Covid-19 is high in Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups. Calculations by the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England show that four times more Blacks lives are lost as their White counterparts.
Findings from the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England show that half of these changes can be explained by other demographic factors, such as place of residence, level of deprivation and education. Following the amendment, neither the Office for National Statistics nor Public Health England can provide definitive conclusions about the increased risk of Covid-19 among minorities. They acknowledged that their study model was flawed and that no one believed that the increased risk of Covid-19 was a function of racial issues. Hence, they are reluctant to offer advice to Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to reduce their risk of developing Covid-19.
According to the Public Health Service, the picture is more complex and depends on social factors that are difficult to measure: Blacks, Asians, minority ethnic groups (BAME) are at risk because they often live in crowded urban areas and have high-risk jobs. As such, these communities face more barriers for cultural and linguistic reasons than White groups born outside the UK.
The Economic and Social Situation of Blacks Is Worse than that of Whites
Economically, Blacks are worse off than their White counterparts. 22% of Black children live in low-income families. The employment rate for Blacks in the UK is 66.9% and the employment rate for Whites is 76.4%, indicating that the employment rate for Blacks is lower. The average wealth of Black British households is significantly lower than that of White households. According to the Office for National Statistics, Black Africans are nine times less wealthy. Although the academic performance of Black students has improved in recent years, they still face many obstacles to move up the ladder in British society. This is true of the 3.1% of Of these students, 6.2% enter the labour market. The proportion of high-income Black employees is reported at 16.3% in ethnic groups. This is a dilemma, meaning that people in these communities have fewer opportunities to work in companies or positions similar to Whites.
Racial discrimination against Blacks in the UK is rife. Although efforts have been made by human rights organisations and the government to promote the rights of Blacks, statistics still show that they are discriminated against and their quality of life is far lower than that of Whites. Reforming systematic discrimination against Blacks is a necessity, and they expect the government to take effective action to reduce racial discrimination against them.
