Covid Briefings- Institutional Racism

[fiction-factory]

Just heard an interesting interview on the radio with Professor Bhopal who was saying how we need action now not more research and talking on institutional racism and the effects of Covid on people from BAME groups. When asked to give an example of institutional racism he cited the daily Covid briefings which are aimed at educated English speaking white people. He said they should be done in a variety of languages- say a minute in a Urdu then a minute in another language, then another. My first thought was to dismiss it- but he has a point doesn't he? Maybe leave the briefings as they are but occasionally have a respected person from alternative communities speaking in Arabic or Urdu or Chinese or Jamaican patois so the messages can get to more sections of the population. At least the Gov.uk website Covid pages should be available in say 10 different languages and the 2m signs should be in different lanuages. Should we go further?
(Asking for a friend.)

[jim360]

Anything that broadens the access to important health advice seems worth trying. I don't accept that because it's impractical to solve the entire problem, that's enough reason to not try to solve any of it.

[dannyk13]

Retro, in a lot of hospitals white hospital staff are out numbered by BAME staff so it is logical that more BAME staff would be in Covid 19 atreas.

[retrocop]

I appreciate that danny. The accusers were suggesting that due to BAME be particulary susceptible they should be removed from covid environments within hospitals and attend routine medical cases only.

[mushroom25]

didn't a regime somewhere in Africa once try to racially segregate people? wasn't the policy met with nods of disapproval?

[Gherkins]

The point of a government is to govern the nation in a way which supports the average person in that nation. It's better to appeal to 80% of your audience rather than 20%.

[zebo]

If I chose to make my home in another country for a few years I didn't expect to have everything in English, I made it my responsibility to learn the language as much as I could.
The 2m apart signs are pictorial, accessible in every language.

[mushroom25]

//It's better to appeal to 80% of your audience rather than 20%. //

92% of the UK population has English as its first language. 98% of the UK population can read, understand and speak English. less than 1 million have no grasp of the language. the most spoken of other languages are Welsh and Polish (1.7% and 1%) although i can't find any figures for the number that speak only those languages and have no English. it would be a fair assumption that welsh-only speakers would be in Wales, and they have their own national briefing. of the Polish people I've come across, none have no grasp of English. to broadcast in any other language would be for the benefit of a tiny minority.

[Jackdaw33]

There are no Welsh-only speakers anymore. To insist on it is a mere affectation on their part.

[mushroom25]

// To insist on it is a mere affectation on their part. //

no it's fair enough - the language has legal official status in Wales.

[jim360]

//It's better to appeal to 80% of your audience rather than 20%. //

Depends on how appealing to 80% affects the 20%, doesn't it?

[sevenOP]

ff, if you remember, would you be kind enough to give me when and which channel this Professor Bhopal interview was on so as I can try and listen to it? ( I am guessing you are referring to Kalwant Bhopal, Professor at the University of Birmingham... her ? ) -- genuinely interested.

[fiction-factory]

I'll have a look tonight. It was an interview on Radio 4. It was a male, Indian heritage - I thought he was Glasgow Uni but a quick search doesn't show him. Maybe I misspelled his name. He has spoken quite a bit on Covid. Will look after I've been shopping

[fiction-factory]

Raj Bhopal, Edinburgh University

[sevenOP]

*Thanks* for clarifying the name ff, Kalwant Bhopal is a specialist on "white privilege" so I wrongly thought it her.

It looks as if Prof Raj Bhopal (CBE) was on R4 'World at One' on June 16th and Listen Again only goes back to 1st July, but the gist of your OP can be gleaned from his words from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53065306

One option would be listening to Covid-19 Government Briefing BBC on youtube and going Setting>Subtitles>Auto-translate and scroll down for the language, Chinese (various forms) and Urdu are there, NO Jamaican. I have no idea how quick they appear up on youtube, but Johnson's Jul 17, 2020 one is there: