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

The European Parliament adopted by 495 votes to 109, with 92 abstentions, a resolution on the role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism.

General context

Parliament stressed that racism exists in all areas of our daily life and can take many forms. It 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.

The Commission and the Member States should adopt a comprehensive approach and provide sufficient funding and resources to achieve the plan's objective.

Regretting that only 15 Member States have national action plans against racism and racial discrimination, Parliament urged the Commission to publish common guiding principles for the implementation of such plans. It called for these plans to contain specific objectives that reflect the full diversity of society in the fields of culture, education, media and sport.

Member States are urged to reach a common position as soon as possible on the proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Culture

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

The Commission is called on to:

- promote initiatives that foster greater diversity in the participation of racialised communities and individuals in the cultural sector, including through the use of funding from all relevant programmes;

- test, share and exchange participatory tools and best practices, which can demonstrate the effects of promoting inclusion and non-discrimination and to combat racism through culture.

Education

Parliament 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 (such as colonialism, slavery and genocide, in particular the Holocaust) 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 invited to:

- attach greater importance to the teaching of EU history in order to foster cohesion;

- promote minority languages, cultures and history in school curricula, museums and other forms of cultural and historical expression, and recognise the contribution of their cultures to the European heritage;

- combat prejudice in school textbooks, teaching materials, films and information programmes for children and young people, as well as in sport;

- combat racial and ethnic segregation in schools by putting in place inclusive policies that aim to prevent marginalised groups of learners from being placed in segregated schools, educational institutions or classrooms.

Media

Members recalled that the media have a responsibility to reflect societies in all their diversity and regret the lack of racial and ethnic diversity at many media outlets. They 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.

The Commission should ensure that the definition of hate speech, both offline and online, and the criminalisation of hate crime is fully and correctly transposed into the national laws of Member States, and to launch infringement procedures where necessary.

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.