This article joins the storm of criticism that greeted Dr Tony Sewell and his Commission’s report when it was published on 31.3.21. It makes some specific criticisms, but it provides a broader context than most of the responses I’ve read so far. Firstly, it aligns the Commission with the ‘culture war’ the current UK government is waging over Britain’s place in the world (and specifically its ‘success’ in responding to racism). Secondly, it shows the intellectual impoverishment of the Commission’s implied analysis of the causes of racism.
In writing for the general reader here, I’m trying to distill a lifetime of reading, writing and demonstrating in the field that sociologists used to called ‘race relations’.
The main article is here. (Quite a long read, about 4,000 words.)
Why Sewell’s 2021 Commission Report is so wrong
I am working with the #RememberOluwale charity on a project designed to transform visitors’ experience of the place in Leeds near where David Oluwale was hounded to his death by two Leeds policemen in 1969. This led me to think about how all ‘places’ could be transformed if we applied a full understanding of the causes of racism that are set out in the above article. So I’m uploading the chart I made here. It’s a quick read. All comments welcome.
Action PLan for Tranforming Place
