Moroccan | Trinidadian
I don't think I have ever met anyone with the same ethnic mix as me. Caribbean people are severely underrepresented in Russell Group universities and in professional jobs. There were very few African/Caribbean people in the university generally. However, when I went to the ACS, most people were of African ethnicity but very few were of Caribbean descent. I think people generalise the term 'Black' too much without pointing out that there are major differences between Caribbean and African people and they are not all the same. More efforts should be put into specifically targeting the Caribbean community. With the Moroccan community, they are very small so that’s not something I could judge.
I think racial inequality in the UK is based on class. The reason it persists is because ethnic minorities are more likely to be working-class. They also tend to live in communities with lower prospects which makes it difficult for social mobility. One major thing that I have seen is the limiting beliefs that keep inequality persistent. I went to a comprehensive school in an ethnic minority-majority area in London. A lot of the students here lacked the positive beliefs and self-esteem for them to get out of their comfort zone and go to university outside of London. This is despite the fact that so many of them could have gotten into a much better university outside of London but chose to remain in London because of fear. Exposure to other people who live outside of your own community could help this and could lead people to realise that all humans are pretty much the same.
I also think racial inequality exists differently for different communities. For example, South Asian people tend to be relatively well-represented in business and professional jobs. However, there is a lot of underrepresentation in media, entertainment and sports. This is the opposite for Black British people who are underrepresented in business and professional jobs but relatively well-represented in entertainment and sports. Therefore, programmes that can specifically target different communities and cater for their needs may be effective too.
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