In December 2008, Jesse Jackson visited Ormskirk to deliver a historic lecture at Edge Hill University which explored the relationship between economic justice and race, entitled Civil Rights to Equanomics.

Academics and ethnic community leaders alike were deeply impressed by the passionate speech from America’s foremost black civil rights campaigner, but there was a reluctant acceptance that effective equality in the UK remains some way off.

Jackson, who twice stood for presidential office in the eighties, gave an inspirational speech to an 800-strong audience about Barack Obama’s election before warming to his main theme of economic and social justice.

His visit to the University’s Centre for Local Policy Studies (CLPS) followed significant research work by the department around ethnic equality in the labour market. In addition, the CLPS and Jesse Jackson share strong links with the campaigning group Equanomics UK.

Stuart Speeden, CLPS Director, commented: “Jesse Jackson’s lecture wasn’t out of the blue. It was in the context of our work with Equanomics UK and a book we published in 2007, entitled Beyond the Workfare State: Labour Markets, Equality and Human Rights.”

Jesse Jackson’s audience comprised not only academics, but also a broad cross-section of representatives from ethnic communities in the North West such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton and Preston.

“The number of people who were clearly moved by his presentation and his presence was quite striking,” said Stuart. “This is a man who has been America’s most celebrated black civil rights campaigner in the tradition of Martin Luther King and he made a profound impression. Exactly where people are going to take that by responding locally is something we must monitor over time.”

While acknowledging the impact of Jesse Jackson’s lecture, Stuart pointed out that much hard work remains if full racial equality is to be accomplished.

He said: “His message was that civil rights isn’t sufficient. There must be hope, but there is still a job to be done. Following on from civil rights, there is now a distinction between formal citizenship, for example having the vote, and to what extent people can become effective citizens in the face of economic barriers. What Jesse Jackson was pointing to was the importance of surmounting these barriers.”

Stuart added: “The current economic difficulties will make it tougher to promote labour market equality, but there is a continuing momentum and this must address economic rights which are fundamental to effective citizenship.”

Karen Chouhan, Director of Research and Policy at Equanomics UK, echoed Stuart Speeden’s assessment.

“One of the reasons we wanted Jesse Jackson to come to the UK was that he had a strong track record on campaigning against economic inequality and we believed his message would resonate in the UK,” she said.

“Martin Luther King was involved in Operation Breadbasket and Jesse Jackson had picked up on this, tackling the corporates on the issue of what they are putting back into their local communities.

“From what Jesse Jackson said, there is a clear correlation between combatting issues of poverty in the USA and in Britain. He put this into a historic context and also addressed the need to take this forward through local community action.”

Levelling the Economic Playing Field 

Equanomics UK is a campaigning organisation formed two years ago to raise public awareness of economic inequality and press for action to tackle the causes.

However, it is not a divisive movement that is anti-business or against wealth creation, as research and policy director Karen Chouhan explains.

“We applaud businesses that grow and create wealth, but we want this to be shared among all shareholders and stakeholders.”

Research suggests that 25% of white children are living in poverty, while the proportion among African British youngsters is 56% and 72% for Bangladeshi children.

“This is unacceptable for any section of the community and ordinary people must ask questions and tell those in government and commerce that we must tackle these problems.

“There are no easy solutions and the recession will certainly not help, but we must persuade large businesses that corporate social responsibility shouldn’t suffer as a result.”

Jesse Jackson's lecture sparked a great deal of debate across campus. E42 asked five academics from different disciplines what equality means to them and how it can be ac­hieved.

Criminal Injustice? 

While economic prosperity may help some Black Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, it is unlikely to change the situation for the majority until institutionalised racism in the criminal justice system - and elsewhere in society - is eradicated.

Inequality is inherent in British society in a number of forms: social, political and economic. One arena where inequality is particularly visible is in the criminal justice system, where BME groups are disproportionately involved, as both victims and alleged perpetrators.

The overrepresentation of black and other minority groups in UK prisons is well known. In 2005, almost one quarter of the male prison population and 28% of the female prison population were from BME groups, according to Home Office figures.

Some explanations focus on the social and economic disadvantage of BME groups, arguing that this leads to involvement in crime. Others disagree and suggest that the explanation of black crime in terms of social class, with the added dimension of ‘race', downplays the impact of an institutionally racist criminal justice system.

Minority groups are disproportionately affected by policing strategies such as stop and search and the ‘war on terror'. In addition, fears about ‘foreigners' and terrorism conspire with the introduction of unfair and unequally applied draconian new laws. British society is currently unable to offer one of the basic principles of a liberal democratic society, namely equality before the law. Hence, arbitrary arrest and detention are disproportionately felt by BME groups.

Dr Eleanor Peters
Senior Lecturer, Criminology

Getting Down to Business 

As the structure of the UK economy has changed, so the demographics of the workforce have shifted - in terms of gender, age and ethnicity. A recent study by the Ethnic Minority Business Network forecast that by 2010 only 20% of the working population will be white, male, able-bodied and under the age of 45.

The Ethnic Minority Business Forum estimate BME enterprises contribute an estimated £13bn a year to the UK economy. In the North West, it was recently estimated that BME entrepreneurial activities contribute £2.3bn a year to the region's economy, creating almost 103,400 jobs.

Despite research calculating that small and medium enterprises with BME owners are increasing, there are still barriers to self-employment and small business start-ups for those from BME groups. National Statistics identifies that fewer than one in 10 people from mixed or black ethnic groups are in self-employment compared with about one in five for some Asian ethnic groups.

One of the push factors into any self-employment is the lack of formal education. In an increasingly knowledge-based economy it is vital that all groups have access to higher education. The numbers of BME students in UK higher education has increased significantly in recent years to 3.2%.

However, for those living in the most deprived areas of the UK where BME groups are overrepresented, there are still barriers to economic betterment. Awareness of opportunities to enter higher education needs to be improved, as do training, employment and business start-up assistance. Only through sustained investment of this type can barriers to entry into economic activity for all groups be achieved.

Giles McClelland and Pat Smith

Senior Lecturers

Business School

Educational Achievement: Not Black and White 

Access, participation and attainment in education by black and minority ethnic groups have been progressing in England at all levels of education.Our biggest educational issue is social class rather than race or ethnic grouping, although there will inevitably be overlaps.

In universities, BME groups are well represented among students. The most significant higher education access issue is underrepresentation among boys, from both white working class and African-Caribbean backgrounds. However, both genders in the African-Caribbean sub-group are increasing representation as mature students, so it seems they are coming back to higher education later in life.

At school level, achievement by BME students, as measured by GCSE and A-Level results, has been improving and there are similar trends at A/AS/VCE-Level.In light of the progress being made in schools and universities by BME groups, it is concerning that recent figures show there are only 14 BME MPs, whereas the proportionately representative number should be 60. It would, therefore, look as if we have a long way to go before a black or Asian prime minister is elected in Britain.

This is a significant point because of the vital importance of role models to young people. We can see this in the case of Barack Obama: he is mixed race and proud to be so, but comfortable working with all groups. He is smart as well as well educated and is consciously reaching out to young black males to encourage them to aim high and create positive identities so they will succeed. I believe this may well have a positive impact on young British black males too.

Andrew Rawson
Deputy Director

Action on Access based at Edge Hill

Living Separate Lives

We are a long way behind the United States in creating an equal society for all ethnic groups. As well as having the first black president, America has many black people at the top of their professions. In the UK, we have very few and in some sectors, none at all.

The repoliticisation of Muslims is comparable to aspects of the American black civil rights movement in the sixties and in this respect, Jesse Jackson spoke like a civil rights leader when he said ethnic groups should not stop kicking. Unless the majority culture agrees that we should have more BME people in society's top positions, this simply won't happen.

Asian people are living in appalling conditions in places such as Burnley and Oldham. They are living separate lives. Indeed, many British Muslims live in an ‘Islamic psyche', regardless of their physical presence in Lancashire towns and cities.

There is a dearth of knowledge about how segregation really works. As an example, mosques are viewed suspiciously by some authorities - but in reality, part of their role is to provide services to the local community which Government has failed to deliver. The more Government misunderstands this psyche, the worse the problem becomes because it prevents the growth in confidence needed to become part of the mainstream.

I believe Barack Obama will provide a positive inspiration for a lot of British Muslims. His view of the world seems more aligned to theirs than that of the Bush administration and, indeed, that of our Government in the UK.

Dr Tasleem Shakur
Senior Lecturer

Human Geography