Racism is a virus Photograph:( AFP )
Ethnic minorities in Britain are paying with their lives after years of government neglect left them uniquely vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, the report says.
A recent report has drawn attention to how Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in the UK are more likely to suffer from obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Ethnic minorities in Britain are paying with their lives after years of government neglect left them uniquely vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, the report says.
But pre-existing conditions cannot explain entirely why they have suffered disproportionately, the six-month review by Doreen Lawrence said.
"Black, Asian and minority ethnic people have been overexposed, under-protected, stigmatised and overlooked during this pandemic -– and this has been generations in the making," the report says, highlighting their often low-paid work and poor housing.
"The impact of Covid is not random, but foreseeable and inevitable -– the consequence of decades of structural injustice, inequality and discrimination that blights our society.
"We are in the middle of an avoidable crisis. And this report is a rallying cry to break that clear and tragic pattern."
Lawrence has become a respected figure in campaigns for racial justice in the years since her 18-year-old son Stephen was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993.
Her report builds on research by government statisticians who found that white Britons are at lower risk of dying from Covid-19 than any other ethnic group, except for people of Chinese heritage.
Black Britons are four times more likely to die than white people.
BAME people referenced in the report also complained of unsympathetic treatment by white NHS doctors who had little understanding of their specific medical or cultural needs.
The report also cites hostile public attitudes among the majority white population, including racist attacks on Chinese Britons who were blamed after the virus originated in China.