E. Tendayi Achiume

“Over the past two months, people who are perceived or known to be of Chinese or other East Asian descent have been subject to racist and xenophobic attacks related to the virus.”

“Certain disease names provoke a backlash against members of particular religious or ethnic communities ... This can have serious consequences for peoples’ lives and livelihoods.”

“It’s dismaying to witness State officials—including the President of the United States—adopting alternative names for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Instead of using the internationally recognized name of the virus, these officials have adopted names with geographic references, typically referring to its emergence in China. This sort of calculated use of a geographic-based name for this virus is rooted in and fosters racism and xenophobia.”

“Crises like the coronavirus pandemic remind us that we are all connected and that our well-being is interdependent.”

“The UK’s immigration enforcement strategy relies on private citizens and civil servants to do frontline immigration enforcement, effectively transforming places like hospitals, banks and private residences into border checkpoints. In a broader context of national anti-immigrant anxiety, the predictable result of the UK government’s immigration policy and enforcement is racial discrimination and radicalised exclusion. The Windrush scandal is a glaring example.”

“Public and private actors have played dangerous roles in fuelling intolerance. Among them, politicians and media outlets deserve special attention given the significant influence they command in society.”

“I am shocked by the criminalisation of young people from ethnic minorities, especially young black men. They are over-represented in police stop and searches, more likely to face prosecution under the country’s joint enterprise provisions, and are over-represented in the prison system. There can be no question that a pervasive and officially tolerated culture of racial profiling is at work in certain police forces and that racial and ethnic minority children and youth are among the most vulnerable.”

“A clear example was the resignation of the home secretary, Amber Rudd,on the first day of my visit. This resignation came amidst the still-unfolding scandal of the gross human rights violations and indignities that Afro-Caribbean British citizens popularly referred to as the ‘Windrush generation’ have had to endure as a result of the so-called ‘hostile environment’ policy introduced during Prime Minister Theresa May’s tenure as home secretary.”

“The harsh reality is race, ethnicity, religion gender, disability status and related categories all continue to determine the life chances and wellbeing of people in Britain in ways that are unacceptable and in many cases unlawful.”

“The environment leading up to the referendum, the environment during the referendum, and the environment after the referendum has made racial and ethnic minorities more vulnerable to racial discrimination and intolerance.”

“The election of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been linked to incidents of violence against members of Dalit, Muslim, tribal and Christian communities. Reports document the use of inflammatory remarks by BJP leaders against minority groups, and the rise of vigilantism targeting Muslims and Dalits.”