Labour MP David Lammy has said the ‘BAME’ (black, Asian, minority ethnic) tag should not be used by organisations because it is not granular enough and does not recognise that people from different backgrounds are at ‘different starting points’.
On the second day of the CIPD’s Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE), Lammy reminded HR professionals of the business case for having a diverse and inclusive organisations and urged them to collect meaningful data about the ethnic groups that make up their workforces.
“If you don’t even collect the data, forget it,” he said. “You’ve got to know the evidence base [for diversity] in your organisations and you’ve got to get into the granularity of it.
“[Lack of granularity] is actually one of the reasons people hate the ‘BAME’ tag, because it doesn’t really help you. Different communities are starting in different places and you’ve really got to get into the detail of that.”
Race terminology
He praised Deloitte for developing a black action plan in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year. The plan includes actions to improve its employee experience for black staff, as well as improve how it works with its clients and wider society.
“This is a company that gets that the BAME tag isn’t working. It’s not afraid to say ‘black’,” Lammy said.
The shadow lord chancellor and justice secretary also highlighted the desire from younger generations to bring about change and create a more equitable society.
He noted that there is an important difference between “equality” and “equity” that HR needed to take into account. Equality is where each person is given the same resources or opportunities, whereas equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and needs different opportunities and support to reach an equal outcome.
Lammy concluded by saying that the business and moral case for D&I is only going to intensify as the UK signs trade deals with other nations over the coming years, as these deals are likely to come with visa arrangements.
“If you think that this agenda is going away and that five years on from George Floyd we would’ve all forgotten about [Black Lives Matter and equity] and that we will all go back to normal, it’s not,” Lammy said.
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“Diversity is real and the geopolitics isn’t going away. In fact, I predict that over the next 20 years it will intensify. It’s why moving on from the business of equality to the business of equity is essential.”
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