Is BAME an ‘unhelpful’ term?
BBC abandons acronym in newsrooms and corporate communications
Four UK broadcasters will no longer use the acronym “BAME” to describe black, Asian and minority ethnic people after an industry report found there was a “lack of trust” around the term.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will follow the findings from the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, which said that the collective term had been used to “hide failings in the representation of specific ethnic groups”.
The term will be ditched in favour of the use of “more specific terms to describe ethnicity”, as recommended in the industry report, in order to “provide better representation and to boost diversity by acknowledging the unique experiences of people from different ethnic backgrounds”, said the BBC.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Broadcasters will no longer use the term in newsrooms or in corporate communications although it may still be used in “reported speech and official documents”, but will be “accompanied by an explanation i.e. specific information on a particular ethnic group not being available”.
The term, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, is now often seen to be outdated and offensive.
In March, the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, launched by Boris Johnson after the Black Lives Matter protests last July, recommend scrapping the label as one of its “key proposals”, reported The Telegraph.
The commission found that the term BAME is “unhelpful and redundant” and should no longer be used by public bodies and companies.
It advised the prime minister to drop the “blanket term”, warning that it “masks the much more complicated picture of different lived experiences of individual ethnic groups”.
Rather, the term “ethnic minority” was found to be more popular among people from ethnic minority backgrounds than BAME or “people of colour”.
The report also highlighted concerns that “companies increasing the number of BAME staff they hire then feel there is no need to tackle other systemic racial problems, inadvertently curbing progress”, reported The Telegraph.
One insider told the newspaper: “The commission has taken evidence from across the UK, examined the data to create a rigorous fact-based report on what is often a highly charged debate.
“It was important for commissioners to produce findings based on data and evidence to try and take down the temperature on this issue and have a debate based on the facts, not driven by ideology.”
The Times said critics of the recommendation “might question whether efforts to increase diversity will be complicated by the lack of a single, clear term to track progress”.
At the time, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, told Sky News: “I think there is a call to move away from it [the term BAME]. The question is what do you replace it with?”
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, tweeted that, although he “never liked” the term BAME, “simply stopping its use doesn’t deal with specific issues encountered by minorities”. He accused the government of focusing on “symbols and not substance”.
Sajid Javid, however, seemed to welcome the new proposals, telling LBC’s Nick Ferrari that he “never particularly liked using the word” and the report shows the government is “taking these issues very seriously”.
“It’s a catch-all that doesn’t distinguish between some of the differences between different ethnic minority groups,” he said.
Johnson announced the creation of the commission after the death in the US of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in May 2020 when a white police officer used his knee to pin him to the ground by his neck.
Floyd’s death sparked a wave of protests across the US and around the world, prompting fresh debate over how to tackle racial inequalities.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
Oysters from New York's past could shore up its future
Under the Radar Project aims to seed a billion oysters in the city's waterways to improve water quality, fight coastal erosion and protect against storm surges
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
What might happen if Trump eliminates the Department Of Education?
Today's Big Question The president-elect says the federal education agency is on the chopping block
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
What message is Trump sending with his Cabinet picks?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION By nominating high-profile loyalists like Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., is Trump serious about creating a functioning Cabinet, or does he have a different plan in mind?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Can Europe pick up the slack in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Trump's election raises questions about what's next in the war
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What does the G20 summit say about the new global order?
Today's Big Question Donald Trump's election ushers in era of 'transactional' geopolitics that threatens to undermine international consensus
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell?
Today's Big Question An 'unprecedented legal battle' could decide the economy's future
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published