Creating a Fairer Future

Young people’s ideas for race equality in Scotland

November 2017

Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security & Equalities

“The Fairer Future Panel’s report is a testament to the 16 minority ethnic young people who remained committed to the Fairer Future Project over the course of this year.

The report provides essential insights into the lived experiences of minority ethnic young people in Scotland, and I was impressed by the honesty and passion of the young people who contributed. I would like to thank the Panel for this timely piece of work, which builds on the Scottish Government’s commitment to advance race equality and tackle discrimination. We have made much progress in addressing inequality and creating a fairer Scotland, but it is clear more needs to be done to help minority ethnic young people to overcome the disadvantages and barriers they face.

I will consider all the ideas for change in this report - and hope others do too as we need all in society to work together if we are to truly tackle inequality in Scotland. Scottish Government will continue to support the Fairer Future Project and I look forward to continued engagement with the Panel.”

“I would like to thank the Panel for this timely piece of work, which builds on the Scottish Government’s commitment to advance race equality and tackle discrimination.”

Louise Macdonald CEO, Young Scot

“Young people we speak to across Scotland care deeply about equality and fairness for all. They want to see a more equal society where race, sexual preference, gender or any other do not matter at all. In this report, the Fairer Future have provided strong ambition and direction to help shape Scotland in its journey to a fairer society.”

“Young people we speak to across Scotland care deeply about equality and fairness for all.”

Background

On 21st March 2016, the Scottish Government launched their Race Equality Framework for Scotland. This sets out the Scottish Government’s approach to promoting race equality and tackling racism and inequality between 2016 and 2030. The Framework is based on the priorities, needs and experiences of Scotland’s minority ethnic communities, with expertise contributed by the public and voluntary sectors and academia to ensure that the Framework is practical and deliverable; and to create measurable progress on race equality.

The Scottish Government felt it was vital to involve young people and commissioned Young Scot’s Co-design Service to support a leadership panel of young people.

In this first phase of work, the panel have shaped their vision, guidance and recommendations on the following themes outlined in the Framework: Overarching work; Community cohesion and safety; Participation and representation; Education and lifelong learning; Employability, employment and income; Health and home.

“Hello” from the Fairer Future Panel

“Our vision for minority ethnic young people in Scotland is to have an equal chance to succeed and flourish in whatever path in life they decide to take, and to feel safe and respected in their home and communities.”

We are the Fairer Future Panel, a team working with the Scottish Government since April 2017, supported by Young Scot to co-design a fairer future for minority ethnic young people in Scotland.

Before you read this report, we have a few questions we would like you to ask yourself.

• To what extent do you believe race equality has improved in the last 5 years?

• Have you ever witnessed or experienced racial inequality or hate crime? What would you do if you did?

• Do you think that young people from ethnic minorities have the same opportunities as others?

• What role should you and your organisation take to create a Fairer Future for all young people?

This is our first report of recommendations and ideas for change to help us all achieve our vision for race equality in Scotland. We will continue to develop our ideas in the next phase of our work, but we need your help to make our vision a reality.

Over 800 hours of volunteering in 5 months

We think:

Institutionalised racism affects many young people, if not all people from minority ethnic backgrounds, just because of who they are. This must change for future generations.

Hate crime needs to be tackled and there should be a dramatic decrease of hate crimes that are committed because of race.

Voting turnout should to be equal between majority and minority groups, and young people should be encouraged to get more involved in their wider communities and politics.

The Scottish curriculum and school system should be more inclusive and supportive of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. This includes tackling discrimination and hate crime.

Young people from ethnic minorities should not face discrimination when going through training and job recruitment processes. They should feel they have an equal opportunity to get a job, earn an equal wage and have the same chance of promotion.

There should be no barriers to young people accessing health care (physical and mental health) and appropriate housing regardless of race, religion, language, etc.

We live across Scotland and are from a variety of backgrounds, but most of us are still in full time education at high school, college or university. Many of us have faced abuse for our race and/or background and have worked on projects to challenge this. We also have young people on the group who represent other organisations including Amnesty International, the Scottish Youth Parliament and Police Scotland Youth Volunteers.

Throughout our investigation, we gathered views from young people and stakeholders to ensure we had a broad range of opinions to consider.

We are hopeful for a ‘Fairer Future for Scotland’, and in this report we hope to reflect real experiences and our shared future ambitions. It is important to co-design policy with young people so our generation is included and empowered in decision making on issues which affect us. We hope that our contribution has a real impact on the Scottish Government and look forward to continuing our work with them.

“It is important to co-design policy with young people so our generation is included and empowered in decision making on issues which affect us.”

I’ve experienced several inequalities and want to see a change in racial inequality. I’m interested to see what the Government can do to tackle it.

I am Scottish, Scotland is my home, and has always been a friendly place to live, but by being mixed raced I have felt under-represented and faced racial prejudice. This has impacted on how I feel within my own sense of identity.

I have personally experienced many inequalities but I do not let this hold me back from different opportunities in life. I knew this project would build my confidence and it would allow me to give my input to help improve Scotland and make it a more accepting place.

I want to see a fairer future in Scotland. I have unfortunately experienced racial inequality and wanted to do what I could to prevent this from happening to others. It has also been a great way to meet other young people from all around Scotland.

I’m interested in joining the police force. Finding out that only around 1% of Police officers are from ethnic minority makes me want a fair representation of minority ethnic individuals in such organisations. I have been able to have a say and make a positive difference as to how race inequality is tackled.

I’m Polish and involved with the human rights charity Amnesty International. This has made me aware of some of the issues facing minority ethnic communities around the world.

I have faced bullying because of my race and religion. I am quite involved in politics and knowing that not many people like me are represented, that could be interpreted as minorities not being listened to. I want everyone to have equal opportunities in life no matter who they are.

I was involved with creating a student-centred research protocol in collaboration with Newcastle University, from there on I have been advocating young people’s rights. Taking part in a project called Muslim Youth and Political Participation in Scotland sparked my interest in looking more into young people of diverse backgrounds and different ethnicities in today’s society.

In the past year I have campaigned about issues involving race equality. It is unfair that people from minority ethnic communities should have less of a chance in life than people who are part of the ethnic majority.

Process

Using Young Scot’s Co-design process, we explored (amongst wider topics) the six core themes of Scotland’s Race Equality Framework and how it relates to young people.

• Kick off Session (Young Scot HQ, 1st/2nd April 2017) - training and initial exploration of the topics

• Stakeholder Roundtable (6th April 2017) - key youth and race equality community organisations attended to provide advice and support to influence the project

• Exploration Session 1 (Glasgow, 22nd April 2017) - explored the themes in more detail, created our future vision and considered key change factors (individual, social and infrastructure)

• Exploration Session 2 (Edinburgh, 13th May 2017) – more insights, finalising online survey questions (young people) and call for evidence (organisations)

• Met with Naomi Eisenstadt CB (Former Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality) and Kaliani Lyle (Independent Race Equality Framework Adviser) to discuss ‘What is our shared aspiration for a Fairer Scotland?’ and ‘What role can young people take to challenge poverty and tackle inequality in Scotland?’ (Edinburgh, 22nd May 2017)

• Future Ideas Takeover Weekend (10th and 11th June 2017) -gathered insights and developed recommendations

• Tested national survey for young people to gain understanding of experiences, perceptions and opportunities to improve Race Equality (summer 2017). To re-develop and run survey again in next phase to get higher responses

• Tested our Call for Evidence. Sent to organisations working with young people and/or minority ethnic communities. Unfortunately, low response.

• Ideas Gathering Event (29th June 2017) Collaborated with other young people and stakeholders (40 participants) by sharing stories and experiences, building theme insights and testing ideas.

Explore

• Define by uncovering the issues through gathering insights and genuine experiences.

Create

• Generate ideas and co-produce solutions with/by young people.

Reflect

• Consider the future impact and sustainability of the ideas produced.

Recommended

• Produce influential ideas/solutions with young people.

Implement

• Implementation of ideas/solutions with young people.

Recommendations and Ideas

We have developed 22 recommendations and 40 ideas for change under the main themes in the Race Equality Framework for Scotland.

These are not just for the Scottish Government. Every individual and organisation in Scotland needs to take responsibility to help create a fair and equal Scotland for everyone, whatever their ethnicity may be. This is everyone’s right and should matter to all young people, from every ethnicity, all sectors and all communities.

We look forward to contributing more across the themes and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you to make these ideas a reality!

“Every individual and organisation in Scotland needs to take responsibility to help create a fair and equal Scotland for everyone, whatever their ethnicity may be.”

Institutionalised racism affects many young people, if not all people from minority ethnic backgrounds, just because of who they are. This must change for future generations.

• Overcome and challenge stereotypes by preventing media bias, stereotypes and stigma.

• Create new role models for young people to be inspired by.

• Race equality should be considered in all decisions and policy.

• Use Year of Young People 2018 as a platform to challenge stereotypes and show that young people will be the generation to break the cycle of racism.

• Ensure every local authority has a designated safe place and support for young people. For example youth clubs where young people can come together and share their experiences.

• Create a national youth campaign (inspired by Truth About Youth) where young people can challenge the media perception of minority ethnic groups. This could include campaigns for specific industries such as more diverse celebrity role models and actors in main roles in TV, film and drama.

• Provide support and encourage majority ethnic young people to have better understanding of issues minority ethnic young people may experience to encourage communities to get together.

• Create a charter mark for Race Equality (like LGBT Youth Scotland and Investors in People).

• Create more ways and support for young minority ethnic people to access decision makers and influencers.

Ensure every local authority has a designated safe place and support for young people.

Hate crime needs to be tackled and there should be a dramatic decrease of hate crimes that are committed because of race.

Increase feeling of safety and support for all minority ethnic communities.

Reassure and show young people that they have support and guidance should they need it, by working with youth work organisations to challenge stigma and racism.

Introduce people to different cultures to eliminate discrimination. For example, educating people living in areas with a high percentage of hate crimes.

Break down stereotypes that are associated with crime/terrorism/poverty and minority ethnic communities.

Work with the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers to talk about issues surrounding race inequality in communities.

• Organise regular multicultural celebrations for communities to create a space in which people from different cultures can come together and learn about each other.

• Hold meetings to encourage people from different racial and/or religious backgrounds to break down barriers and bridge the gap between cultures (using posters, social media and leaflets to promote the meeting).

• Highlight and enforce laws in relation to hate crimes when a racist or discriminatory incident occurs (this may help to prevent hate crimes such as the use of racist language).

• Promote the importance of diversity and celebrate it!

• Reassure minority ethnic groups that support is available and provide information on how best to access this support.

• Train and involve youth work staff to provide better support and guidance to young people on how to report hate crime.

• Ensure that sufficient attention is given to preventing and sensitively handling hate crimes, particularly in schools and youth clubs.

• Have more charity and community organisations provide support to individuals submitting a complaint based on discrimination, or reporting hate crime.

Voting turnout should be equal between majority and minority groups, and young people should be encouraged to get more involved in their wider communities and politics.

• Encourage involvement by showing minority individuals (especially young people) that they have the power to influence politicians and shape their future.

• Increase the percentage of MPs, MSPs and Councillors from minority ethnic backgrounds.

• Encourage more informal mixed participation in community development work.

• Involve younger minority ethnic people in community empowerment work, such as participatory budgeting.

Designated Scottish Youth Parliament seats for minority ethnic representation to ensure youth from these backgrounds are visible.

All party manifestos in General and Scottish elections should be available in the five most spoken languages in the UK to ensure there are no language barriers to being informed.

Increase the number of MP and MSP candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Political parties should provide a clearer picture of their plans for issues that predominantly affect minority ethnic groups in order to encourage voting turnout in these groups.

Share the stories of minority ethnic young people being involved in local decisions.

Encourage and support better diversity in local youth projects.

Increase the number of MP and MSP candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The Scottish curriculum and school system should be more inclusive to and supportive of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. This includes tackling discrimination and hate crime.

Hold all schools and institutions to account. Focus on their actions to promote anti-racism in the community culture, equality and celebrate diversity

Encourage more people from minority ethnic backgrounds to understand their education options and attend university, vocational options and further education/training.

• Education Scotland inspections should include a check of race equality policy and processes.

• All schools and education institutions should produce an annual report outlining what they are doing to tackle inequality and racism.

• Design workshops and information leaflets that target, encourage and support ethnic minorities to advance into the teaching industry.

• The Curriculum for Excellence should include the teaching of cultural history in schools, in order to prevent culture appropriation.

• School councillors and teachers should be trained in how to appropriately resolve racism related conflicts and support individuals with mental health problems as a result of race-related bullying. This includes supporting and encouraging reporting of hate crimes if necessary.

• All teachers should be properly trained to tackle racist behaviour in class and this will be achieved through holding specialised training workshops ran by minority ethnic young people.

• Create a compulsory (Personal and Social Education) PSE module for race equality and different cultures to prevent racism and other misunderstandings around what is considered racist or a hate crime.

• Involve young people in the development of the race equality resource as part of the anti-bullying toolkit for teachers (in development by RespectMe and CRER).

• Celebrate a mixture of religious events in schools, such as Eid-ul-Fitr, Diwali and Hanukkah, giving pupils a chance to explore and gain a greater and more practical understanding of culture and religion.

Young people from ethnic minorities should not face discrimination when going through training and job recruitment processes. They should feel they have an equal opportunity to get a job, earn an equal wage and have the same chance of promotion.

• Encourage more minority ethnic young people to explore options, including further and vocational education, so they can have better opportunities in the future.

• Create a system for a fair and unbiased recruitment process for all organisations across all sectors in Scotland. This system should exclude age, names, sex and race from CV’s which will prevent employers judging people unreasonably; only focusing on their work experience, skills and education background.

• Provide more support for young people in the workplace, particularly around discrimination.

• Review trade union support to ensure they are more accessible to support ethnic minorities in the workplace.

• Deliver more research into the race wage gap and take into consideration age as a further barrier.

• Create campaigns at employment institutions to actively focus on encouraging and supporting minority ethnic young people applying to go into vocational training and employment.

• Provide more support for young non-English speakers of the programmes available for learning English.

There should be no barriers to young people accessing health care (physical and mental health) and appropriate housing regardless of race, religion, language, etc.

• Encourage more minority ethnic young people to be involved in physical activity, understanding their cultural or religious needs.

• Provide specialised counselling and support for mental health issues linked to racism.

• Provide improved support for young carers (taking care of parents who cannot speak English).

• Ensure all young refugees and asylum seekers coming in to Scotland are treated as young Scots, and provided the same rights as other young people.

• Develop better understanding of community housing and ensure there is appropriate social housing for various family sizes.

• Provide sufficient support in the community and through education to understand services. For example, this could see help for young people who act as translators to understand the application process for housing.

• Promote the Young Scot National Entitlement Card to Refugees and Asylum Seekers through multiple languages. Consider adding housing and transport support to the Young Scot Card.

• Sports sessions that are targeted towards minority ethnic young people to encourage them to attend.

• Produce leaflets on taboo physical and mental illnesses in multiple languages to inform and encourage young people from minority ethnic communities to go to their GP.

• Key support workers and medical professionals should be given training to provide the right type of support to minority ethnic communities, specifically young people and their families.

• Provide service information in different languages based on the local community, for example in more medical centres.

• Provide better and easier access for translators to help non-English speaking service users.

What’s Next?

As a group we would like the opportunity to conduct further research on the disadvantages that ethnic minorities face, under some of the key topics areas that really matter to us. We want to collaborate with Scottish Government and other public organisations on how inequality can be eliminated and prevented.

We want to raise awareness on the inequality and injustice some people from ethnic minorities face, in any way that we can. We ask that our recommendations and ideas for change are seriously considered, and that young people play a key role in making future policies and services in Scotland to tackle inequality.

We really value the contribution of the Fairer Future volunteers to date. We will continue to work in partnership with Young Scot and the Fairer Future Panel, building on Creating a Fairer Future report; to continue to develop their ideas for change, and to develop skills and understanding for young people to participate in local and national decision-making processes.

Acknowledgements

The Fairer Future Panel, Young Scot, The Scottish Government and our partners would like to thank all the participants and organisations who provided support and invaluable contributions to this project.

About

Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship charity providing young people aged 11-26 with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives to help them become confident, informed and active citizens. Young Scot’s Co-design Team supported the team throughout their investigation.

Young people have a significant role to play in encouraging organisations and communities to adopt a more collaborative culture, focusing resources to effectively meet the needs of individuals and communities. To support this, Young Scot’s co-design service involves young people systematically creating, designing and delivering solutions in collaboration with organisations.