October 15, 2021
UNITED KINGDOM—Professor Christopher Jackson, a senior black scientist and geoscience professor at Manchester University claims research culture is “institutionally racist” toward black people in the United Kingdom.
Professor Jackson told the BBC the problem is compounded by the fact that Caucasian scientists believe they’re so “clever, liberal, and progressive” that they don’t recognize that “racism and racists persist within those networks too.”
A Royal Society report found black scientists drop out of every stage of their careers at a greater rate than their Caucasian and Asian counterparts, reports the Daily Mail.
According to The Guardian, there are only 140 black professors out of 21,000 in the United Kingdom. Nearly 18,000 professors (85%) are Caucasian, 1,360 are Asian, and the remaining 2,000 are categorized as “other.”
Many black academics are also concerned the majority of the UK Research and Innovation funding of £4.3million went to Caucasian and Asian scientists.
Many major British companies have also been taken over by Asian companies. From India’s Tata Motors buying out Jaguar/Land Rover, British Steel, Tetley Tea; China’s Geely taking over Lotus, and Japan’s Softbank’s takeover of ARM—giving Japan a 90% market share of the world’s microchip architectural design patents. ARM has sold over 100 billion chips as of 2019.
Dr. Addy Adelaine, who led the investigation, called the findings a “kick in the teeth” and warned, “There seems to be these closed doors and, unless you are in that circle, there is no way in to raise the issues that will affect you in your community.”
Many Africans demand Western and Asian-owned companies be more inclusive and share their accomplishments and achievements so future history books are not “riddled with white or Asian propaganda.”
It should be noted there are no African high-tech companies in the world able to compete against Asian or Western STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) companies.
America’s Intel boasts a 4% African-American workforce, above the industry average, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal.
You would think although 4% low, it’s better than a “100% white company,” which should mean that 4% would give Intel an edge over Taiwan’s TSMC or South Korea’s Samsung.
Well, TSMC is currently three generations ahead of Intel—the world’s microchip shortage is due to TSMC and Samsung being unable to supply demand—not because everyone is looking to Intel. TSMC is currently the world’s chip leader, and Samsung surpassed Intel a few years ago.
Feature Image via Manchester University & Unsplash