As a Person of Colour and a Minority in Britain, is it safe to Speak Up?
PDF

Keywords

racism
freedom to speak up
NHS
bias
discrimination

How to Cite

Shrotri, N. (2022). As a Person of Colour and a Minority in Britain, is it safe to Speak Up?. The Physician, 7(3), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.38192/1.7.3.10

Abstract

A recent tweet by Nadine White[1], who writes for the Independent, set me thinking. She wrote that people of colour (POC) had to be always careful about how they were perceived. This comment was related to the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer.[2] Even if POC were successful, they had to temper their talk and actions because a different set of standards would judge them.

I reflected back on similar thoughts that have crossed my mind over the last many years. As an immigrant to the UK over 30 years ago, it did not strike me initially that I was of a different colour because I wasn’t much aware of discrimination. Till then, if at any time I didn’t do as well in my career aspirations, examinations or job interviews as someone else, it was obviously because they were simply ‘just better than me. Thoughts of favouritism and discrimination did not cross my mind. The author explores the impact of racism in modern Britain and the challenges of speaking up as a minority professional

https://doi.org/10.38192/1.7.3.10
PDF

References

Nadine White - Race Correspondent - The Independent | LinkedIn. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nadinewhite1 (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Walker P, Crerar P, Mason R. Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng before corporation tax U-turn. The Guardian. 2022.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/14/liz-truss-press-conference-u-turn-corporation-tax-kwasi-kwarteng (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Darling-Hammond L. Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education. Brookings. 1AD.https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/ (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Bittersweet Success? Glass Ceilings for Britain’s Ethnic Minorities at the Top of Business and the Professions. Policy Exchange. https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/bittersweet-success-glass-ceilings-for-britains-ethnic-minorities-at-the-top-of-business-and-the-professions/ (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

baroness-casey-review-interim-report-on-misconduct.pdf. https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/met/about-us/baroness-casey-review/baroness-casey-review-interim-report-on-misconduct.pdf (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Chakravorty I, Daga S, Sharma S, et al. Bridging the Gap 2021- Summary Report: Sushruta Journal of Health Policy & Opinion 2021;:1–52. doi:10.38192/btg21.1

Fair to refer? https://www.gmc-uk.org/about/what-we-do-and-why/data-and-research/research-and-insight-archive/fair-to-refer (accessed 19 Jun 2021).

nmc-wres-report-2022.pdf. https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/data-reports/edi-reports/nmc-wres-report-2022.pdf (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Workforce race inequalities and inclusion in NHS providers. The King’s Fund. 2020.https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/workforce-race-inequalities-inclusion-nhs (accessed 1 Sep 2020).

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington (DC): : National Academies Press (US) 2000. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225182/ (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Chong A, Guillen J, Rios V. Language Nuances and Socioeconomic Outcomes. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 2010;69:693–716.https://www.jstor.org/stable/40607841 (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Mori I. Language Matters: Good practice for representing diverse identities. Language Matters;:14.

LBC [@LBC]. ‘Rishi Sunak isn’t even British!’ Sangita Myska eviscerates this racist caller who says Tory party member won’t vote for Sunak because ‘he doesn’t represent Britain’. @SangitaMyska https://t.co/xowtWAYTPk. Twitter. 2022.https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1583836182781517830 (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Dr. Ruby [@PaperWhispers]. I repeat, racism in UK is to the extent that white people will not vote in their best interest. They will choose whiteness over money, health and life. You absolutely should believe the assertion of this caller that many white people in UK think and vote like him. Twitter. 2022.https://twitter.com/PaperWhispers/status/1583888349227778048 (accessed 23 Oct 2022).

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2022 Array