Blacks condemn anti-racist jargon

TIME TAKEN teaching police a long-winded new term to avoid offending black and Asian people would be better spent dealing with racism within the force, leading black activists said yesterday.

The Metropolitan Police are advising officers to refer to groups of black and Asian people as "visibly minority ethnic groups" because of worries that the words "black" and "Asian" may cause offence.

The move is part of the Met's soul searching following the release of the MacPherson report into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, which found that it was institutionally racist.

But Inspector Leroy Logan, chair of the National Black Police Officers Association, was scornful of the move. "I don't know why they wont use the words black or Asian. I think some white officers find the term `black' too hard hitting," he said, "I believe the new term came from the MacPherson report but I think as police we need to stop compromising and tackle the real problems at hand.