The Reading / Listening - Racism - Level 5

A report on racism in the UK has been heavily criticised. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities was set up last year in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. That death sparked worldwide protests and fuelled the Black Lives Matter movement. The commission acknowledged that racism remains a "real force," but said the UK is no longer "deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities". It said people use racism as a "catch-all explanation" for not getting ahead in life. It added things like geography, culture and religion have a bigger impact on success in life.

Advocates of racial equality called the report, "a truly historic denial of the scale of race inequality". The day the report was released, the UK government's most senior adviser on race resigned. A leading UK politician was deeply critical of the report. He accused the government of "gaslighting" the British public. He tweeted: "For my own mental well-being I am not doing media interviews on the race commission today. Like so many in Britain's Black community, I'm tired of the endless debate about whether structural racism exists with little desire to actually address it."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Racism - Level 4 or  Racism - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.npr.org/2021/04/01/983499592/u-k-government-report-draws-criticism-over-historic-denial-of-race-issues
  • https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/02/sewell-report-racial-disparity-progress-division-racism
  • https://www.thedailybeast.com/samuel-kasumu-quits-after-gaslighting-study-that-denied-institutional-racism-exists


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. in the wake
  2. sparked
  3. racism remains
  4. deliberately rigged against
  5. use racism as a
  6. not getting ahead
  7. things like geography, culture
  8. have a bigger impact
  1. ethnic minorities
  2. and religion
  3. of the killing
  4. on success in life
  5. a real force
  6. worldwide protests
  7. in life
  8. catch-all explanation

Paragraph 2

  1. Advocates of racial
  2. a truly historic denial
  3. the UK government's most
  4. deeply critical
  5. accused the government of
  6. For my own mental
  7. debate about whether structural
  8. with little desire to actually
  1. of the report
  2. racism exists
  3. "gaslighting"
  4. address it
  5. well-being
  6. equality
  7. senior adviser
  8. of the scale

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

A report on racism in the UK has (1) ___________________. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities was set up last year in the (2) ___________________ killing of George Floyd. That death sparked worldwide protests (3) ___________________ Black Lives Matter movement. The commission acknowledged that racism remains (4) ___________________ but said the UK is no longer "deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities". It said people use racism as (5) ___________________ for not getting ahead in life. It added things like geography, culture and religion have a bigger (6) ___________________ in life.

Advocates of racial equality called the report, "a (7) ___________________ of the scale of race inequality". The day the (8) ___________________, the UK government's most senior adviser (9) ___________________. A leading UK politician was deeply critical of the report. He accused the government of "gaslighting" the British public. He tweeted: "For (10) ___________________ well-being I am not doing media interviews on the race commission today. Like so many in Britain's Black community, I'm tired of (11) ___________________ about whether structural racism exists with little desire to (12) ___________________."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

AreportonracismintheUKhasbeenheavilycriticised.TheCommissiono
nRaceandEthnicDisparitieswassetuplastyearinthewakeofthekillingo
fGeorgeFloyd.ThatdeathsparkedworldwideprotestsandfuelledtheBl
ackLivesMattermovement.Thecommissionacknowledgedthatracism
remainsa"realforce,"butsaidtheUKisnolonger"deliberatelyriggedag
ainstethnicminorities".Itsaidpeopleuseracismasa"catch-allexplan
ation"fornotgettingaheadinlife.Itaddedthingslikegeography,culture
andreligionhaveabiggerimpactonsuccessinlife.Advocatesofracialeq
ualitycalledthereport,"atrulyhistoricdenialofthescaleofraceinequalit
y".Thedaythereportwasreleased,theUKgovernment'smostseniorad
viseronraceresigned.AleadingUKpoliticianwasdeeplycriticaloftherep
ort.Heaccusedthegovernmentof"gaslighting"theBritishpublic.Hetw
eeted:"Formyownmentalwell-beingIamnotdoingmediainterviews
ontheracecommissiontoday.LikesomanyinBritain'sBlackcommunity
,I'mtiredoftheendlessdebateaboutwhetherstructuralracismexistswi
thlittledesiretoactuallyaddressit."

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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