The state of Black people in the United Kingdom is the focus of numerous nonprofits and reports, chronicling the difficulties people of color face in a society where experts say they are still often treated as if they are not welcome.
More Black Deaths in Custody
In 2012, the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent assessed the experiences of Black people living in the U.K. One of the group’s primary areas of concern was the deaths of Black people in the custody of law enforcement. From 1990 to 2014, there were 150 deaths of Black people in police custody or in police shootings, according to a charitable group called Inquest. Whenever there is a death in custody, the police have to call in the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Since the IPCC’s formation in 2004, 827 people have died during or following police contact. Not a single police officer has been convicted in relation to any of these deaths, according to statistics provided by the group Open Security.
Black People More Likely to Be Stopped and Searched
Black and Asian people are still far more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police in England and Wales, according to a November 2013 report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which said in some areas Black people were 29 times more likely to be stopped and searched. Overall, Black people were six times as likely as white people to be stopped.
