I have changed my mind: anti-white racism exists

Telegraph

10-04-2025

I have long been reluctant to use the phrase 'anti-white racism'. It is a term I have worried might fuel a grievance narrative and foster resentment in an already crowded field of competitive victimhood.
But as time passes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore what looks like a growing pattern of institutional discrimination against white Britons.
The recent case involving West Yorkshire Police is another example, following closely on the heels of the controversy surrounding the Sentencing Council's guidelines on pre-sentence reports, which many have rightly described as 'two-tier justice'.
In this latest case, West Yorkshire Police have reportedly blocked white applicants from joining the force as part of a diversity recruitment scheme.
What is especially disturbing is how this policy has embedded a formal hierarchy of racial preference within the police force. According to internal documents, black and far east Asian candidates were awarded 'gold' status, south east Asians were ranked 'silver', while 'white others', including those of Irish or eastern European descent, were pushed into the 'bronze' tier.
This is not equality. It is a new kind of racial ranking, uncomfortably reminiscent of apartheid-era thinking, made socially acceptable only because those placed at the bottom are white.
This is not an isolated incident either. Last year, an employment tribunal upheld claims from white officers in Thames Valley Police who were denied promotion or entry under policies that explicitly prioritised candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds.
At a time when crime is rising and public trust in policing is under significant strain, we should be welcoming all capable individuals, regardless of race, to serve their communities. Competence and commitment should be the only criteria for suitability, not ethnicity.
Some will argue, particularly those profiting from the booming 'Diversity, Equality and Inclusion' industry, that these initiatives are needed to correct historical under-representation.
But this assumes that diversity necessarily improves policing outcomes. That assumption is, at best, unproven. Take the case of the now-disbanded Scorpion unit of the Memphis Police Department in the United States – a unit composed mostly of black officers, some of whom were involved in the horrific killing of Tyre Nichols, a black man.
That tragedy only reinforces the point: representation alone does not guarantee justice, professionalism or public confidence.
But why do disparities in application and promotion rates exist? I would argue that narratives pushed by organisations like the National Black Police Association – claiming the force is institutionally racist – have likely deterred many ethnic minority applicants.
And dragging officers through questionable disciplinary processes, such as the case of police firearms officer Martyn Blake following the shooting of Chris Kaba, only serves to undermine trust on all sides. And seeing a force riddled with scandal hardly makes it attractive to join.
In the name of fighting racism, we are instead fuelling it. Overtly discriminatory policies, however well-intentioned, hand the genuine far-Right an easy and increasingly valid argument: that white people are now being treated less favourably than other groups.
Even more insidiously, these initiatives are often prejudiced against ethnic minority candidates themselves. By lowering intellectual or moral standards, institutions send the message that minority applicants cannot compete on merit. That is not equality: it is patronising and ultimately harmful.
We face a fundamental choice. Either we uphold the principle that all individuals, regardless of race, have the capacity to serve with integrity and impartiality, or we continue to divide society by judging people on the basis of their racial group.
If equality means anything, it must mean equal standards, equal opportunity, and equal treatment. Abandoning this conception of equality risks tearing apart the very fabric of public trust we are so desperate to restore.