New guide to tackle race talk fears

A new guide from research body Reframing Race aims to make workplace discussions about race and racism more effective in challenging ingrained beliefs and prejudice.

Contains Strong Language, by Sanjiv Lingayah and Nina Kelly, includes definitions of terms such as “race”, “ethnicity” and “minoritised”, outlines phrases that should be avoided, and suggests words that could be used instead.

The guide is based on research that found 40% of workers believe some ethnic groups are naturally harder working than others, while 30% thought someone’s race tells you something about their character, and 20% said some races are born less intelligent than others.

“We have more than a diversity problem institutionally in the UK,” said Lingayah. “We have a race and racism problem. We need HR professionals who champion anti-racist and race equity practices. Our guide provides [them] with words to bring people with them and build support for anti-racist interventions.”