4. Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: Eradicating racism and building an anti-racist Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:57 pm on 22 June 2021.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 3:57, 22 June 2021

I want to thank the Welsh Government and all the stakeholders, of course, involved in all the work that they've done in developing this draft race equality action plan. It's certainly bold, it's ambitious, and it's what we need to help eradicate racism here in Wales. As you said earlier, Minister, it covers all areas, and we can't cover all areas here today, so I'm going to focus very much on culture, heritage and sport, particularly sport, because you would expect sport to be one area where people would be united, regardless of their ethnicity, with us all sharing a common desire to see our team or our country doing well, whether that be at a local or at a national level, yet it’s an area where we see competitors from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds experiencing some of the most vile abuse. Earlier this year, Welsh footballers Ben Cabango and Rabbi Matondo received abusive racial messages on social media following a Wales versus Mexico game in March. These young men are just two of many sportspeople of black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who experienced horrendous abuse online this year alone. I’m keen to know what discussions Welsh Government have had with organisations about tackling online racism in sport.

I noted that one of the key actions in the plan for tackling racism in culture, heritage and sport is to take action to increase ethnic diversity in the workforce at all levels, and specifically in leadership teams and on boards. I was particularly pleased to see that in light of the report from Wales This Week that showed the shocking—