Azeem Rafiq’s experience of racism is not an appalling exception – if only

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Azeem Rafiq spoke to MPs on the DCMS committee on Tuesday (PA Media)

We are shocked at periodic news stories of racism in sport, in the police, in social services and many other areas, as if they were something that we no longer expect in society today. But these revelations are not appalling exceptions, they are symptomatic of continuing racism and discrimination in wider society, notwithstanding all the race relations legislation.

The fact that there are now prominent black and Asian achievers in many walks of life has lulled white people into believing that the problems are now largely a thing of the past – while knowing nothing of the struggles that often lie behind these individual achievements. The experiences of British figures like rapper Akala, barrister Hashi Mohamed, Barbara Mills QC, and many more, give the lie to this complacency.

Moreover, as English cricketer Azeem Rafiq and others have pointed out, many white people who would be shocked to be called racists are simply unaware of the thoughtless remarks that they and their associates make in their occasional or even frequent daily intercourse with members of ethnic minority communities.