Current Affairs

Baroness Amos sets race relations goals for 2005 UK elections

Baroness Valerie Amos dressed in her finery of office, pictured with millionaire Lord Waheed Alli (left) and community rights activist Baroness Ros Howells (centre), first of a new wave of New Labour Party Black and Asian working peers Courtesy: Universal Pictorial Press & Agency (UPPA)

Resplendent in her official robe of woven scarlet wool, lined with silk and topped with miniver fur, Baroness Valerie Amos standing by the Queen at the opening of Parliament did not seem to be a moderniser sweeping away the cobwebs of history in the House of Lords, once considered an upper-class gentlemen's club and the instrument of colonialism.

But the noble leader of the Lords, Britain's supreme unelected legislative body, has proved first impressions are deceiving. In her lecture at Warwick University she spoke confidently of her hopes for a "multi-heritage society".

Anticipating what many consider the most crucial challenges in Britain's future, Baroness Amos called for greater diversity in national institutions. She warned that "delivering economic opportunity, fair representation and tackling racist abuse are crucial to our daily quality of life".

Her remarks had special meaning in a nation that, for the most part, chooses to ignore its "race relations problem". Black people are racially abused, unemployed, imprisoned and die in custody at hugely disproportionate rates than whites.

Baroness Amos, who fought her way through tough times in 1960s Britain, supports the diversity goals of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government and New Labour Party. But the highest ranking Black noble woman in Parliament goes far beyond mere tolerance of differences.

She calls for a revolutionary change in political and popular attitudes towards people of colour. Kind words and laws are not enough, she says; there must be respect for the cultures of Black and Asian minorities.

"Yes, some Britons can trace their heritage back to the Norman conquest. But others can trace theirs back to the Ashanti kingdoms of West Africa or to old civilisations from the Indian subcontinent. Our heritages differentiate us but do not make one set of experiences or backgrounds more valid than another", she says.

These strong views are bound to rile her "go-slow-on-race" colleagues in the Lords and Tony Blair's New Labour Party. They will also anger indigenous white supremacists such as the British National Party.

Yet, Baroness Amos's social and political credentials for assessing British race relations are impeccable. Imagine arriving with her immigrant family in cold, dreary Britain of the 1950's, where housing was restricted by signs "No Blacks need apply - niggers go home" and the best, unconsciously demeaning, greeting was "Welcome dark strangers".

About Baroness Amos Throughout her rise Baroness Valerie Amos has retained her pride in her Guyana homeland. She is one of a number of compatriots of African and Indian descent who have gained political prominence on a world scale. The Warwick lecture series at which she spoke was named after Walter Rodney, the martyred pan-Africanist scholar and author of the seminal work How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Others who have reached the apex of British political life include Lord Herman Ouseley, the first Black executive of the government supported Commission for Racial Equality; Trevor Phillips, current chief executive of the CRE; and Shridath (Sonny) Ramphal, former Commonwealth Secretary-General. Notably, Amos was named "Guyanese of the year" by the Guyana High Commission (UK)

Against these odds, her rise to prominence was meteoric. Baroness Amos took a politics degree at Warwick University, worked with Black communities and local politicians, chaired the nation's Equal Opportunities Commission, and rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister and confidant of Prime Minister Tony Blair, and later Secretary for International Development.

Bound to ignite controversy over remodelling Britain's image of tolerance, tarnished of late by episodes of racism and discrimination, Baroness Amos presents some specific proposals that if taken seriously can improve race relations. They are, in effect, the key problems and goals that must be addressed by government and the voting public in the run-up to next year's elections.

One is delivering economic opportunity. "Economically, since 1997 ethnic minority communities have benefited from greater prosperity and Government measures to beat poverty. More remains to be done though and British black and Asian people want greater opportunities and a better standard of living".

"Where we are discriminated against, in employment or education for example, then we have a legal right to equal treatment and our institutions have a duty to take our concerns seriously".

In addition, she says: "There is a personal responsibility too. To take advantage of new retraining and regeneration opportunities, to take part in decisions about how our local schools are run and to participate in debate and offer grassroots suggestions about ways to improve life in our communities."

This means, she concludes: "Taking responsibility ourselves - as British blacks and British Asians and as supporters of equality and justice. Focused on giving everyone a fair chance".

Increased political representation is another goal. "We have more ethnic minority representatives in Parliament than ever before. But does this mean that there are enough? That our Parliament adequately reflects modern Britain? It does not. So where racial bias is holding people back then let's hold our political parties to account", she says.

Furthermore, at the grassroots level, Baroness Amos says: "Let's also get involved in the structures that are open to us, that depend on people with local experience. People with a vision for their community's future. It may be a health board, or a trade union. Securing rights for others".

In addition, "Let's contribute to mentoring schemes and work to break down the walls that make some (and often the very poorest in both white and black communities) think that political participation is not 'for people like me'".

Baroness Amos also targets racial intolerance. "Let us continue to combat racist abuse. Remember the slogan used in the Smethwick by-election of 1964 - 'if you want a nigger for a neighbour - vote Labour' we need to support strong, effective laws against race hatred and we must remain vigilant against those who cloak their bigotry behind weasel words".

Solving these problems and achieving these goals are the building blocks of a "multi-heritage society", and Amos says: "British people have been good at handling diversity, adapting to change. Let us continue to use our day to day interaction to challenge racist stereotypes and racist language and we will do better still."