Challenge family members over their racist comments if you think black lives matter, says Trevor Phillips
Britons who have been backing the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign should challenge racist behaviour in their families, the former head of the human rights watchdog says today.
Trevor Phillips, who chaired the Equality and Human Rights Commission from 2003 to 2003, said that Britons concerned about the murder of 46-year-old black man George Floyd in the US should take on racist views among family and friends.
Mr Phillips told today's Chopper's Politics podcast - which you can listen to on the player above: "We take you seriously if you do something within your power. ... next time at a family wedding and somebody saying something unconscionable about Asian or Black people, don't just say that is just Uncle Jack - raise it, confront it."
Mr Phillips called for celebrities who had been Tweeting about the murder of George Floyd to do more to advance the roles of Black and ethnic minority staff in their presenting teams or crew.
He urged them to add "inclusion riders" in their contracts. "Now that I will take seriously," he said. "It is not enough to stand on the sidelines."
He said: "We take you seriously if you do something within your power. ... next time [if you are] at a family wedding and somebody saying something unconscionable about Asian or Black people, don't just say that is just Uncle Jack - raise it, confront it."
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Phillips said blacks people in Britain can feel they are "superglued to the bottom rung" of society because they are discriminated against when applying for jobs or mortgages.
Mr Phillips said: "Black groups in this country still feel that they are basically superglued to the bottom rung of society and that whatever they do, nothing changes."
Mr Phillips said that when he ran the Equality and Human Rights Commission he knew of university lecturers, teachers and doctors who came into his office and wept because they were not getting promoted due to "the colour of our skins".
In the UK there was this "group of people who for one reason or another are convinced that society will never allow them to realise their talents", he said.
Mr Phillips called on ministers to end discrimination against black people who could not get mortgages, or get advanced in a recruitment process due to being screened out when applying online.
He said: "Right now the data protection regime in this country does not allow anyone to investigate that properly, and at the moment nobody is paying any attention even though it is probably the single most important element in keeping some ethnic minorities back in this society."
Listen to the full interview on the audio player at the top of this page, and subscribe to Chopper's Politics here.
