Insight

Racism rising since Brexit vote

71% of people from ethnic minorities now report racial discrimination, compared with just over half (58%) before the EU vote.

Our study has revealed a rise of racism in the UK’s most diverse areas. The study suggests racists are feeling increasingly confident in deploying abuse or discrimination. The proportion of people from an ethnic minority who said they had been targeted by a stranger rose from 64% in January 2016 to 76% in February 2019.

Worrying, racial discrimination and abuse is rising both on social media and amongst younger people. The survey found that at the end of 2016, 37% of people saw racism on social media on a day-to-day basis, but that has now risen to 50%, and is even higher for younger minority ethnic people aged 18 to 34.

Online racism has more than doubled since before the referendum, and there were rises of about 50% in the number or people reporting hearing people ranting or making negative comments about immigration or making racist comments made to sound like jokes.

Read more here.