The role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism

The Committee on Culture and Education adopted an own-initiative report by Salima YENBOU (Greens/EFA) on the role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected those from racial and ethnic minority communities, giving rise to, highlighting and exacerbating inequalities including in culture, media, education and sport.

General context

Members stressed that racism exists in all areas of our daily life and can take many forms. They called for a zero-tolerance approach to this issue. Members welcomed the inclusion of a dedicated section on education and specific references to media, sport and culture in the EU anti-racism action plan. Adequate funding should be provided to achieve the plan’s commitment.

Culture

Noting that racism is deeply embedded in society and intertwined with its cultural roots, heritage and social norms, the report stressed the important role that culture can and must play in combating discrimination and racism and promoting social inclusion, diversity, equality and tolerance.

Education

The report acknowledged the decisive role of education and training in tackling structural racism and discrimination, building inclusive societies, debunking prejudices and stereotypes, and promoting tolerance, understanding and diversity.

Members highlighted the role of the new European Education Area in the fight against all forms of discrimination inside and outside the classroom. They also underlined the fact that particular elements of European history continue to have a lasting impact on today’s society. Therefore, they suggested that the educational curricula be revised to explain the history of our societies through a focused and contextualised approach and work to eradicate the stereotypes that are leading to the discrimination witnessed today.

Member States are called on to:

- attach greater emphasis to education about the history of the EU in order to foster cohesion;

- refrain from making budget cuts to education programmes, as doing so may leave less room for discussions on cross-cultural awareness and anti-racism.

Media

The report recalled that the media have a responsibility to reflect societies in all their diversity and regrets the lack of racial and ethnic diversity at many media outlets. Members called on the cultural and media sectors to eschew practices that perpetuate or reinforce negative stereotypes about ethnic and racial minorities and encourages them to show members of these communities performing positive roles.

Sport

Highlighting that sports clubs and federations have a crucial role to play in combating racism, Members welcomed the provision of EU and national funding to enable those in poverty, especially minorities and children, to take part in sporting activities. They insisted on a zero-tolerance approach to racism, hate speech, violence and other racist behaviour in sport and urged the Commission, the Member States and sports federations to develop measures to prevent such incidents and to adopt effective penalties and measures to support victims.