The UN’s race ‘experts’ should learn from Britain

There’s plenty of reason to be sceptical about the visit to London this week of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, apparently to investigate racism. It is this very group which tarnished the groundbreaking report into racial and ethnic disparities by Lord Sewell’s commission as an attempt to whitewash racism, ignoring its evidence-based analysis that discrepancies are not necessarily the consequence of discrimination. Adding insult to injury, the group then accused the report of “normalising white supremacy”.

This all seems to have been done in bad faith. Yes, racism still exists in British society and, of course, that has to be confronted – the Sewell report said just that – but we must also recognise that ethnic minorities in this country have equal rights and ever-increasing opportunities. Nevertheless, an entire industry now exists to “find” and “combat” racism – from diversity and inclusion managers to race “investigators” – eager to promote the narrative that Britain is an irredeemably racist nation. Even the UN, it seems, has fallen victim to this new economy.

The reality is very different. Britain is one of the most successful modern multi-ethnic societies in the world, with gold-plated anti-discrimination legislation, a growing ethnic minority middle-class and a rapidly increasing mixed-race population. Together, such factors suggest a brighter path ahead, in which the colour of one’s skin gradually becomes an irrelevance.

And while, alas, this optimism hasn’t yet been recognised by the mainstream, the UN visit presents an opportunity to promote it. I’m glad to hear that the group will meet with Kemi Badenoch, a woman of Nigerian heritage who now represents the UK across the world as Secretary of State for International Trade. She has become a lightning rod for a new generation of thinkers, writers and campaigners who are critical of modern “anti-racist” theories, with their emphasis on racial difference, their indifference to free speech and their fundamentally pessimistic worldview.

The Badenoch view, that the current racial narrative is rooted more in victimhood than reality, is finally gaining traction in some of our university campuses and institutions. Those of us who detest the authoritarian tendencies of “woke” ideology are becoming more organised – and no better was this demonstrated than at Cambridge University last weekend, where my non-profit, the Equiano Project, hosted a powerful conference on the question of race.

Over two days, primarily ethnic minority thinkers from both sides of the Atlantic explained the dangers of identity politics. Prof John McWhorter, author of Woke Racism, spoke about the way a tiny minority of activists in his university classes intimidate the majority – with two or three vocal individuals dominating any discussion on racism. The rest of his students remain silent for fear of being “called out” on social media.

Katharine Birbalsingh, head teacher of the highly successful Michaela School in London, spoke about the importance of personal responsibility. Prof Glenn Loury explained how racial victimhood has become a form of “unfreedom”, whereby people entrap themselves in a mindset of oppression. And Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, spoke of the need to tell a new story about race in Britain.

This was the main theme to emerge from the event – that the current narrative around ethnic minorities is doing more harm than good; disempowering people of all colours and backgrounds.

But it was a statement by Thomas Chatterton Williams, a mixed-race writer who grew up in America and now lives in Paris, that really stood out. He noted that black and brown people in Britain receive far more recognition and affirmation than he has seen in any other European country. This sentiment was echoed by others who argued that we are best in class, thanks to our collection of data on racial makeup and disparities, which is not legally permitted in France.

Britain leading Europe in confronting racism? Now that really is a different narrative. Let us hope that the UN’s race experts approach their de-facto inspection with an open mind this week, for even they might then come to a similar conclusion.