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I see a lot of organisations congratulating themselves these days for dropping the use of the term BAME or Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. However, I feel this is just a sideshow.

We have a problem with the over-reliance on acronyms in all organisations. We know that BAME doesn’t helpfully capture the diverse identities present in twenty-first century Britain. 

But look, whatever progress we’re making advancing equality, many ethnic minority groups remain significantly disadvantaged in accessing opportunities. The real topic of contention is what organisations are tangibly doing to tackle structural inequalities and improve lives and livelihoods. 

How can we congratulate ourselves for dropping an acronym, when there are disadvantaged groups still struggling to access higher education, whether due to economic barriers or discrimination in secondary education?

Whether we call these groups ethnic minorities, or refer to their specific cultural, religious, ethnic or national identity, is really immaterial to that reality. The real issue is how we are going to address actual inequalities inside our organisations.