Racism: Equalities minister says anti-discrimination drives can ‘create prison for black people’

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The government’s equalities minister has said that some efforts to root out racism in British society are “creating a prison for black people” by politicising their skin colour. Ms Badenoch sparked controversy earlier this year by saying that the UK was one of the best countries in the world to be black, and this week warned that teaching the concept of “white privilege” as a fact in schools’ Black History Month lessons would be illegal. And if it’s not, then we should remove it.” Discussing texts by writers including Reni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, and White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo, Ms Badenoch said: “Many people don’t realise that is political. This suggestion is false.” She added: “I’m not in any way a proponent of segregation.” Ms Badenoch warned in The Spectator that former Tory leader David Cameron risked feeding into a “victimhood narrative” which was “really poisonous for young people” when he highlighted statistics suggesting that black Britons were more likely to end up in a prison cell than a top university.