The colour of caring
From Mr Thomas Cooke Sir: As a mixed-race (as I often have to define myself) man who has worked in the so-called 'care-sector' in London, I am able to add an observation to James Cartlidge's exposition ('How to win votes for the BNP', 14 June).
In those 'care-homes' where the 'clients' (as we must call the residents) are mainly black, it becomes a matter requiring urgent redress if the colour of the staff does not reflect that of the 'client group'. But in the reverse situation, where all the clients are white and virtually all the staff are black (you only have to work at a few locations to see instances of this), no one dares say a word about the need for a higher complement of white staff.
Where black clients and their relatives would put in a complaint and have it addressed immediately, a white client who observed that there was virtually no white person among the staff would be deemed — you guessed it — 'a racist'.
Many a time I have asked friends who work in HR departments why advertisements are never put out to encourage whites to places where they are under-represented. Such questions are always met with a blank amazement which seems to say that were it not for our friendship, they would deem my question obnoxious. Thomas Cooke London SW17
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