The Report released by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities on March 31 has generated a huge response, a lot of it critical, and some of it, regrettably, personal. We in MJR note the wide breadth of sources of this criticism and the justifiable grounds from which they speak. However, we share the calls in this statement from the National Church Leaders Forum – A Black Christian Voice (NCLF) for “real engagement with elements of the report that could be impactful”, and for “all participants in public discourse to adopt a respectful and constructive approach in the exchange of views”.
The statement also says: “While significant progress has been made in our multicultural society, much more needs to be done before the U.K. can justly regard ourselves as a beacon of racial justice in the world.” It goes on to welcome several of the report’s recommendations, encourage further work in areas that align with those of previous reports, and strongly urge that “this and future reports undergo a process of peer review (to avoid further division)”.
Read the full NCLF statement here. Read the Commission’s full Report here.
