Racial economic inequality: the visible tip of an inequality iceberg

Early on, the scientific and medical communities discounted the more generalised genetic explanations, owing to the fact that there are few common genetic links between the diverse ethnicities comprising the black and ethnic minority people (BAME) category. The BAME category itself is increasingly contested by minorities themselves although it continues to be used by governments for statistical purposes. The relationship between the British state and its emerging ethnic minority communities and citizens was recast after the passing of the first Race Relations Act in 1965. Measuring inequality is not an exact science, and more complex analysis is necessary to try and identify significant factors that might explain inequality at a more granular level. Race and class are observably aligned on the issue of Covid-19 rates of infection and death.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in The Media and Inequality on 30September 2022, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9780367611729

This chapter looks at the issue of the media and inequality through the lens of race.