awrence. The Macphereson report (cited in Solomos 1999), states that institutional racism is "The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people." The report found the Metropolitan Police force to suffer from institutional racism highlights that racism is embedded in the institutions of British society (Solomos 1999). Since the publishing of the Macpherson report other institutions like the Armed Forces, the Church of England and even the Home Office have admitted to being inherently racist. It is notable that all these institutions and departments are historically based. The roots of racism appear to be deep in history, and in particular colonial history and how it has affected the development of immigration laws since the Second World War. It could be argued that it is history that affects how we determine who belongs to British society how we view differences in culture and ethnicity and how we view the ‘other’. In terms of History it seems that immigration has always been determined by the economic needs for manual labour. This in itself has broadened fears among the white population of employment and housing shortages, which again comes down to an economic level. It could also be argued that racism is a political construct, that it is not racism practised by the majority of individuals in society that causes misunderstanding and distrust, rather that it is institutional and organisational practices that promote and replicate racism. (Mason 1995). ...
