Sporting Equals has launched the #EndBAME campaign to push for more specific terminology and language in sport.
According to recent Government advice, terms like BAME – which stands for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic – or BME should no longer be used because they include some groups and not others, and were not well understood.
The charity conducted a ‘terminologies in sport’ survey last year, which revealed that different communities preferred a more specific definition than BAME. The majority of respondents also stated clear dislike for the term.
SURVEY
Sporting Equals' terminology survey saw it consult with over 200 organisations, which represent more than 20,000 members and almost 150,000 service users.
The sports race equality charity has since produced a terminology resource for the sports sector, outlining inaccurate and outdated terms, with suggestions for alternatives.
Sporting Equals held the ‘Race Equality: State of the Sector Digital Event’ this week, with speakers including Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth and world number one Para-badminton champion Rachel Choong.
Sporting Equals CEO Arun Kang commented: "Language is the chief way we communicate as a society, if there is a laziness and apathy even within how we describe our communities how can we effectively seek to reduce inequalities, not just in sport but across wider sectors also.
"We need to retire BAME as a society and Sporting Equals will be leading the way to call for change not just in sport but across wider sectors. For those interested in following our campaign to track our journey of advocation for equality follow us on all our social media and the hashtag #EndBAME."
RESOLVE
The Sports Minister added: "This year has been very difficult for the sport sector and indeed society as a whole; people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in particular have been affected by the pandemic in a large number of ways and looking at the impact in our own sector we know that our collective efforts to reduce inequalities in physical activity have suffered a setback due to Covid.
"This only strengthens my resolve as I'm sure it does for all of you to redouble our efforts and ensure we keep the focus on reducing inequality."
Muslimah Sports Association founder Yashmin Harun BEM also featured on the panel, alongside cricket commentator and former World Cup winner Isa Guha, and England netballer Ama Agbeze.
Find out more about Sporting Equals on its ConnectSport directory page. To add your organisation to the directory, contact [email protected].
