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IntroductionGCRE is not a party political organisation. It is lead by The
elimination of racial discrimination; and Promotion of equality of opportunity
and good relations between people of different racial groups. To
achieve these aims, involving communities around issues with a view to promote
racial harmony, is vital to GCRE work. The racist minority has to be isolated
– not only by ethnic minorities but with a collective effort involving white
communities. That is why a campaign of public education by door knocking had
started in Abbeywood and Thamesmead and in Eltham. Response from the general
public has been brilliant. This
year is the 10th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence – a tragedy
that brought about the MacPherson Inquiry. The MacPherson Inquiry made
recommendations leading even on to the amendment of the Race Relations Act 1976
in 2000. The amended Act and MacPherson Inquiry Recommendations were hailed as a
watershed in the history of race relations in Britain, but with the passage of
time, the enthusiasm seems to be melting away. In
Greenwich the ethnic minorities population has grown from
12.7% in 1991 to 23% in 2001. This has implications for the service providers
–both in the voluntary sector and statutory organisations. Currently the plans
have been based on an estimated 17% ethnic minorities population. An
increase of 6% will require plans to be revised and resources to be increased
both for employment as well as services. The local Voluntary Sector, including
GCRE whose workload increases with increased population will need additional
resources. Statutory Bodies should take a lead as main providers of services.
However actions of certain bodies do not seem to bear this out. For example: The
Local Education Authority has proposed to close down the Home School Liaison
Service without consulting the staff team and parents of the children who
benefit from the Service. The closing down of that service will not only leave a
gap in service provision to ethnic minorities children affecting their
achievement, but it will also be seen as an act of indirect discrimination
because the entire staff team who will be affected are from ethnic minorities
background. GCRE has discussed this with the Director of Education who assured
us that the consultation period has been extended and a review may be
undertaken. There
is an exciting year ahead. The Race Equality Schemes have been in operation for
a year. Our monitoring of the implementation has just started. An Independent
Race Equality Review has been undertaken by the Borough Council. The findings of
the Review Panel and progress of Race Equality Schemes will be (it is hoped)
both interesting and revealing. Makhan
S. Bajwa - Director |
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