Nissa Finney, a professor of human geography at the University of St Andrews says racism is: “part of the daily lives” of people from ethnic minorities and that: “The kinds of inequality we see in our study would not be there if we had a really just society”. 

 Has equality towards all races got better or worse? I believe that in most parts in the world it may have been improved. However, it can be argued that the progress is minor. How long it will take to create a significant amount of advancement? 

Statista.com conducted an online survey from September 2019 to September 2023. Answering the question, to what extent do you think racism is present in UK society today, only 2% of all respondents choose ‘not at all’ and almost 50% (49%) choosing that its ‘somewhat’ present. This suggests that racial equality has not have been achieved and there’s still improvement to make. Furthermore, the British Social Attitudes Survey Data from The Guardian newspaper published on May 27, 2014, indicates that self-reported instances of racial discrimination in Britain have increased over the past ten years. The data comes from the British Social Attitudes survey, conducted yearly by Nat Cen Social Research, which interviews over 3,000 people about living in Britain and how they see the country being administered. The results of the BSA poll indicate that bias levels vary greatly across the United Kingdom. According to total statistics for 2012–13, 16% of inner London respondents acknowledged having racial prejudice. 

One principal issue is whether more open discussion about racism has led to real change on a global extent. Over a year following George Floyd’s death and the ensuing national demonstrations and discussions, 65% of African Americans claim that the heightened focus on racial disparity has not resulted in improvements to their own lives. Furthermore, 44% believe that Black Americans’ goal of achieving equality is unlikely to succeed, according to recently revealed data from a poll conducted by Pew Research Centre in October 2021. 

In the UK, the Grenfell fire in 2017 was seen to expose racism in the UK. A recent BBC News Report stated that this tragic event was said to be: “inextricably linked with race” as majority of the Grenfell residents who died were people of colour. This event is just one of the many reminders that racial equality should be looked at repeatedly to avoid such tragedies happening again. 

However, from a more hopeful perspective, there are examples of ways that our society has become more accepting towards diverse cultures. The ‘Black Lives Matter’ global social movement established in the US in 2013 aimed to combat racism and acts of violence against Black people. It retained global attention in 2020 because of police brutality which caused the death of George Floyd. It continues to be relevant today and lots of actions as been taking since then such as in cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Dallas, and Charlotte, police departments are enacting and strengthening “duty-to-intervene” policies, which require officers to step in when their colleagues use excessive force. Also, community organisations such as Grenfell United and Justice4Grenfel decided to act through things such as campaigns, events, and grants for all the individuals affected to highlight the lack of injustice and accountability, aiming to: “come together to demand justice and change” in memory of the seventy-two families and neighbours who died. Justic4Grenfel runs a campaign from 14th June – the fourth anniversary of the tragedy – with more stories being released throughout the year, continuing to call for support until justice is done.