Earlier this year, Pamela Uba and Rehema Muthamia won Miss Ireland and Miss England respectively, but racism and online hate soon followed much as it did when Black women started to win the Miss America and Miss USA crowns..
Now though, the pair are teaming up during the United Kingdom’s Black History Month — which is in October — to clap back at the hate in the classiest way possible. British tabloid Metro reports the two held an Instagram Live event on Wednesday (October 27) to discuss what this month means to them and how they overcame online abuse.
“Black history month is a chance for us all to celebrate and share the rich heritage of various cultures, promoting understanding and diversity, ultimately breaking down the walls of fear and ignorance with knowledge, love and understanding,” said Uba, 26, who is a former asylum seeker and the first Black Miss Ireland in the pageant’s 74-year history.
“It is a time where we not only celebrate the great work of those who came before us but also recognise what other Black people in our present time have and are achieving,” she added. “All I can say is that hurt people are the ones hurting people, and you shouldn’t let them break into your bubble and break you down.”
Both Uba and Muthamia are slated to travel to Puerto Rico next month to compete in the 70th Miss World. The winner will be crowned on December 16 and will receive $100,000 in prize money.
“I take this month to analyse my identity as a Black British African woman, and how I navigate myself through society,” Muthamia said, according to Metro. “As well as educating myself on the immense strength and great sacrifices that Black people have made through the trials and tribulations of the past, and an understanding of our present, in the hopes of bettering our future.”
Muthamia became Miss England after a history-making unanimous decision. She entered the contest after winning the title Miss Africa All Colours, a new category launched in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Source: BET
Also Read: Black musicians are ‘overlooked’ due to ‘systemic racism’ in the UK music industry, survey finds
Fifty-eight per cent of Canadian youth say they have seen kids insulted, bullied or excluded based on their race or ethnicity at school, according to new survey data from the Angus Reid Institute in partnership with the University of British Columbia.
Fourteen per cent say they’ve experienced it themselves, with visible minority children three times as likely, and Indigenous children twice as likely, as white children to say that they have faced personal abuse themselves, the study finds.
The study, which surveyed 872 Canadian youth aged 12 to 17, is the third in a series created in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and UBC. The first study helped inform a three-day virtual event, the inaugural National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism, hosted by UBC in June. The latest study is being published in tandem with a report on the key takeaways from the National Forum event that aims to mobilize community and government stakeholders to take action against anti-Asian and other forms of racism in Canada. Ryerson University will host the next National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism: Building Solidarities event on Nov. 9 and 10.
“No child should ever experience bullying and exclusion because of their race or ethnicity, but sadly, this study finds that racism is a daily reality for many Canadian children,” says UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Santa J. Ono (he/him). “I am hopeful that this study, along with our report from UBC’s inaugural National Forum on Anti-Asian racism, will spur urgently needed national conversations in the fight against racism in Canada.”
Survey respondents were also asked about a number of issues and events related to racial discrimination throughout Canada’s history to gauge their self-reported level of awareness of these issues and events. One-quarter (26 per cent) of respondents say they learned a lot about racism in Canada throughout history at school, but nearly as many (21 per cent) say they haven’t learned anything at all about it. Furthermore, one-third of kids say they never learned anything about slavery in Canada, half say they didn’t learn of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, three-in-five say schools didn’t teach them about the head tax on Chinese immigrants, and four-in-five say the Komagata Maru ship never came up in their classrooms.
Source: UBC
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Black musicians are ‘overlooked’ due to ‘systemic racism’ in the UK music industry, survey finds
The UK music industry has a systemic racism problem particularly affecting Black female artists, a new survey has found.
The Black Lives in Music Survey, which is said to be the largest poll focusing on the experiences of Black musicians and industry professionals, was released on Wednesday (13 October) and based on data gathered earlier this year.
Of the 1,718 performers, creatives and industry staff surveyed, over half had experienced direct or indirect racism, including fighting assumptions about what kind of music they should make.
Sixty three per cent of Black music creators said they had experienced direct or indirect racism, while 71 per cent said they had experienced microaggressions.
Eighty eight per cent of all Black music professionals agreed there are barriers to progression.
These include Black women feeling pressure to change their appearance and fearing they will not be able to earn as much as white women. Black women suffered a disproportionate disparity in earnings compared to the rest of the industry, the survey said.
One of the commenters, who spoke anonymously, said: “We can never seem to get through the door, and we are often overlooked at every turn – and if you have kids, it’s even worse.
“But when we bring these facts to the table, we are often labelled too outspoken, forthright, feisty, aggressive, angry, bitter, argumentative, sensitive, ungrateful and or that we have an inferiority-complex when the truth is we are natural-born leaders who shouldn’t have to dumb ourselves down to appease others.”
One Black male singer said radio producers told him they were not interested in Black male artists because they were linked to rappers. Another recalled being told they were “too dark, too young, too slim for a Black singer, too old” and “your music is too good for a British black singer”.
Source: Yahoo
Also Read: Romelu Lukaku calls for summit with social media giants to tackle racism
The Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku feels football should adopt “stronger positions” than just taking the knee, calling for a players’ summit with social media companies, governments and stakeholders to help combat online racism.
Earlier this week the Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso explained his decision to stop taking the knee before matches, instead continuing to stand and point to the “No To Racism” badge on his shirt, as he feels taking the knee has lost some of its impact.
Last season the Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha stopped taking the knee, opting to stand instead in his own protest against racism and discrimination. Lukaku can understand those viewpoints, with online abuse still continuing despite the players’ direct action.
“I think we can take stronger positions, basically,” Lukaku told CNN Sport. “Yeah, we are taking the knee, but in the end, everybody’s clapping but sometimes after the game, you see another insult.”
Lukaku returned to Chelsea during the summer and has made an impressive start to the season, his goals helping to put Thomas Tuchel’s men joint-top of the Premier League. The 28-year-old wants high-profile players to sit down with social media executives and other stakeholders to discuss solutions to the ongoing problem of racism on their platforms.
“The captains of every team, and four or five players, like the big personalities of every team, should have a meeting with the CEOs of Instagram and governments and the FA and the PFA, and we should just sit around the table and have a big meeting about it,” Lukaku said. “How we can attack it straight away, not only from the men’s game, but also from the women’s game.
“I think just all of us together and just have a big meeting and have a conference and just talk about stuff that needs to be addressed to protect the players, but also to protect fans and younger players that want to become professional footballers.”
Source: The Guardian
Also Read: Olympic soccer players take a knee against racism
Some of England’s players were reportedly racially abused by Hungary fans during the team’s 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Hungary.
ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke, who was at the stadium, says he heard monkey chants directed at Raheem Sterling, as well as at substitute Jude Bellingham as he was preparing to come on.
England’s players had earlier been loudly booed as they took a knee before kick off, an ongoing gesture to protest racism.
Raheem Sterling was reportedly racially abused during the World Cup qualifier against Hungary on September 2.
Hungary had been ordered by UEFA, European football’s governing body, to play its next three home games behind closed doors after fans’ discriminatory behavior at Euro 2020, but this ban wasn’t yet implemented as World Cup qualifiers fall under FIFA’s jurisdiction.
“Following analysis of the match reports, FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings concerning the incidents last night at the game Hungary-England,” FIFA said in a statement to CNN on Friday.
“Once again, FIFA would like to state that our position remains firm and resolute in rejecting any form of racism and violence as well as any other form of discrimination or abuse.
“We have a very clear zero tolerance stance against such abhorrent behaviours in football.”
In a statement, the English Football Association (FA) said it was “extremely disappointing” to hear reports of “discriminatory actions” directed towards some of its players.
“We will be asking FIFA to investigate the matter,” the statement read. “We continue to support the players and staff in our collective determination to highlight and tackle discrimination in all its forms.”
England and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire wrote on Instagram: “Since last night’s match I’ve spoken to my team mates and seen some of the footage.
“Any discrimination is totally unacceptable and the authorities must look into it. Racism has no place in our game or society.”
Source: CNN
Also Read: Olympic soccer players take a knee against racism
Workers at a major London hospital have complained about bullying, harassment, racism and sexism during an inspection by the care regulator.
A review of the imaging departments at the Royal London Hospital and Whipps Cross Hospital revealed concerns over the culture of the service and conflict between staff.
Both hospitals are run by Barts Health NHS Trust, one of the largest hospital groups in the country.
On its website the trust said it runs one of the largest imaging departments in the country providing routine x-rays, scans and specialist diagnostics across five sites in London.
In its report the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said: “The service faced significant challenges relating to the culture of the division. There were factions and separate interests within the workforce and nearly all staff suggested that this conflict created a difficult and hostile working environment.
“We were informed of numerous allegations of bullying, harassment, racism, and sexism that had been escalated to requiring intervention from human resources. Staff stated that human resources was not providing adequate resolution to these issues for either frontline staff or the divisional management, and disruption related to individual staff issues remained a source of conflict.”
The watchdog carried out the inspection after concerns were raised about the safety of the service.
Inspectors found equipment repair records were poorly maintained with multiple reports of repairs not being carried out. Staff said it often needed multiple reports to get equipment fixed.
At Whipps Cross Hospital the regulator found old equipment that did not always work, meaning delays for patients and in some cases new equipment had been bought but could not be used as it had not been linked to existing computer systems.
Source: Independent
Also Read: Hundreds of communities declared racism a public health crisis. What’s happened since?
Prince William has been criticized again for addressing racism in soccer after he did not publicly support his sister-in-law Meghan Markle after she spoke about facing racism.
The Duke of Cambridge said he was “sickened” by the racist abuse aimed at England players following their loss to Italy at the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable,” he wrote on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Twitter account on Monday.
While William has been outspoken on the matter of racism in soccer, he defended his family after Duchess of Sussex spoke about her experience with racism in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7.
During the interview, she said that some royals raised “concerns” about how dark her and Harry’s first child’s skin would be. She and Harry did not mention the names of these royals, though Winfrey said that Harry told her it was not the Queen or Prince Philip who made the remarks.
A March 9 statement from Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen also acknowledged the allegations, saying that “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.”
When asked about the interview by reporters on March 11, William responded that “we’re very much not a racist family.”
Royal fans say William’s comments on racism in soccer are hypocritical
Twitter user Love, Lola pointed out that Meghan Markle was trending on Twitter in the US following William’s statement on Monday.
“Many were calling out his hypocrisy,” the Twitter user wrote, before sharing screenshots of the 22 verified accounts she said she had found criticizing the duke.
Read the complete article at: Yahoo
Also read: Meghan accuses UK royals of racism over son’s skin color
Reports of anti-Semitism in London reached their highest number last month, figures from a Jewish safety charity suggest.
The Community Security Trust said 201 incidents were reported in the capital in May, almost all linked to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
More than 160 cases of abusive behaviour, 20 threats, 12 assaults and seven relating to damage or desecration were made.
It is the largest number in one month since the organisation began recording incidents in the 1980s.
The total exceeds the previous record of 179 in July 2014.
Dave Rich, of the CST, said: “This abuse has nothing to do with Israel.
“It’s just racism directed towards Jewish people who are picked out on the streets, on the internet, because they are Jewish.”
There are about 300,000 Jewish people in the UK with two-thirds of those located in London, according to the CST.
Community Secretary Robert Jenrick warned the Commons there had been an upsurge in anti-Semitism on social media.
Last month, four men were questioned by police after anti-Semitic abuse was heard being screamed through a loudspeaker from a car in St John’s Wood.
Footage shared on social media showed a convoy of vehicles draped with Palestinian flags passing down Finchley Road.
Detectives from the Met’s Hate Crime Unit are also appealing for information over a racially aggravated assault on two men in Baker Street on May 23.
Alex Menashe and Joseph Cohen were walking home from a kosher restaurant about 5pm when they were approached by two suspects in their teens or 20s.
The thugs screamed anti-Semitic abuse before pushing and punching them.
A member of the Muslim community confronted the assailants who ran off. He then offered the victims shelter. Neither were injured.
“It was terrifying,” Mr Cohen told the BBC.
“I’ve walked around London dressed as an Orthodox Jew for years and never had any issues.
Read the complete article at: Yahoo!
Also Read: Protesters at NYC public college hijack Zoom lecture with anti-Semitic rhetoric, Jewish students say
A UNPO investigation, published in a report on 15 April 2021, highlights that foreign States, including Iran, Russia and China, are in the process of a serious escalation of attacks against diaspora communities, dissidents, human rights defenders, civil society and ethnic minorities in Europe. Often referred to as reprisals, these tactics take the form of direct threats, intimidation, assassination, espionage and other serious harms. European states and the European Union, however, are not fully using the internal security the tools at their disposal to respond to these threats.
Based on the experience of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), this report outlines reprisals suffered by European citizens and residents, on the sovereign territories of Europe, orchestrated and implemented by foreign States. It advocates for better coordination and response mechanisms by the European Union (EU) and Member States to deter and prevent increasingly violent and serious attacks which challenge the rule of law and territorial sovereignty of States including France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland.
The report builds on the work of the UNPO, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, concerning compromised spaces for unrepresented peoples. As detailed in “Compromised Space: Bullying and Blocking at the UN Human Rights Mechanisms”, unrepresented peoples face a growing range of challenges to access United Nations mechanisms and engage in international advocacy. This has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, as set out in a subsequent report, “Compromised Space and Undiplomatic Immuinty: the Impact of Covid-19 on the Ability of Unrepresented Diplomats to Engage U.N. Human Rights Mechanisms.”
Through an analysis across numerous European states, this report highlights an increase in reprisals and a concurrent failure by European states, including those hosting the U.N. and other international and regional bodies, and the EU to recognize the scope and severity of the issue.
Read the complete article at: UNPO
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Instagram admits moderation mistake over racist comments
Instagram has admitted a mistake in its technology meant racist comments and emojis were not removed.
It comes after a flood of racist abuse was directed at England footballers Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho following the men’s Euro 2020 final.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said content had “mistakenly” been identified as within guidelines instead of referred to human moderators.
The issue had now been fixed, he said.
“We have technology to try and prioritise reports and we were mistakenly marking some of these as benign comments, which they are absolutely not,” he told BBC News.
“The issue has since been addressed.
“Reports on these types of comments should [now] be reviewed properly.”
On Monday, BBC News reported a comment containing several orangutan emojis on Saka’s Instagram.
Within minutes, a notification was received saying the platform’s technology “found that this comment probably doesn’t go against our guidelines”.
BBC News requested a further review but received no response.
On Thursday, Saka himself responded to the abuse.
“To the social media platforms… I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me, Marcus and Jadon have received this week,” he wrote.
“I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.”
Following Mr Mosseri’s comments, on Wednesday night, several more racist comments and emojis were reported – but no notification of the results of any review was received.
A quick scroll on Saka’s account reveals plenty more racist comments yet to be reported and removed.
“It is absolutely not OK to send racist emojis, or any kind of hate speech, on Instagram,” Mr Mosseri added in a series of tweets.
“To imply otherwise is to be deliberately misleading and sensational.
“Emojis are difficult, as are words whose meaning changes based on context.
Source: BBC
Also Read: Prince William Dragged for Slamming Racism Against Soccer Stars, Silence on Meghan Markle