We are pleased to announce that we have at last been able to secure a new date for the ACERT annual conference previously scheduled for September 16th 2022.
Add to CalendarStorytelling, Education & Wellbeing
Friday, 3 February 2023
10:00 – 16:00
John Lennon Art and Design Building (JLADB Space),
Duckinfield Street,
Liverpool, L3 5RD
We will circulate the programme and booking details shortly but we hope you will save the date today.
This report is based on a survey conducted by YouGov using an online interview with members of YouGov’s participant panel. In total, 1667 people completed the survey and prior to analysis, the sample was weighted by age, political measures, gender, social grade, region and level of education to ensure representativeness.
Gypsy and Irish Travellers are viewed more negatively by the British public, with 44.6% of people viewing this group negatively. Muslims are the UK’s second ‘least liked’ group, 25.9% of the British public feel negative towards Muslims.
Younger people, women, non-believers, Labour voters and Remainers tended to have less negative attitudes to ethnic and religious groups than older people, men, Conservative voters and leavers. For ethnic groups, apart from Gypsies and Irish Travellers, higher social groups tended to express more tolerance than manual categories. The report offers various possible explanations for this exception.
The one group that stands out in our survey is Gypsy and Irish Travellers. This group, unlike all the others, is viewed significantly more negatively by higher social grades. 48.4% of ABC1s view Gypsy and Irish Travellers negatively, compared with 39.3% of C2DEs. As we have already observed, there is insufficient data in our survey on Gypsy and Irish Travellers to explain the reasons behind this. One possibility is that in cases where social sanction against a group-based prejudice is lacking, people from higher social grades are happy to acknowledge their dislike. Another is that dislike of Gypsy and Irish Traveller populations is greater among rural and suburban populations – where affluent ABC1s and Gypsy and Irish Traveller sites tend to be located – rather than in inner-cities. Perhaps the most compelling suggestion is that there is a class element to anti-Gypsy and Irish Traveller prejudice, meaning it is more common among middle classes. These are all speculations, however, and require much more research to substantiate.
From ACERT’s point of view this makes depressing though not entirely surprising reading. What is encouraging however is that the researchers have not brushed the findings under the carpet on the grounds that they are not a religious group, but have made a strong call for further research.
The surprising – and in places, highly concerning – results show that it is not Muslims who are the ‘least liked’ group in Britain but Gypsy and Irish Travellers, who stand out by an almost 20% margin.54 44.6% of respondents acknowledged negative attitudes towards this group, followed by Muslims (25.9%) and then Pakistanis (14.5%). This was the only question in this survey that asked about Gypsy and Irish Travellers. While we analyse this question in more depth later in this report, what is clear from this vast difference is there is a significant need for further investigation into public views about discrimination against Travellers.
ACERT is very grateful to the family of the late Kathleen Cunningham for allowing us to make Jell Akai Chavvies available to download from our website. Originally published in 2004, this beautiful collection of nursery rhymes was written for Kathleen’s grandchildren, who helped her with the illustrations. The recordings were made by Kathleen, by members of the Cambridgeshire Traveller Education Team and by schools in the Fenland area where Kathleen lived. Included is a fascinating glossary of Romany words. The resource is ideal for children in early years settings but can be enjoyed by people of any age.
Kathleen Cunningham was first and foremost a poet. Her collection “A Moving Way of Life” 1997 was dedicated to her grandchildren. In the foreword she wrote “so that they will always remember their Romany ancestors and in in memory of my father, Esau Carman without whose foresight in sending me to school they would not have been written”. In “The Great Romany Showman” 2007, illustrated with family photos and with poetry, she remembered the life and travels of her grandfather.
In 2008 Kathleen’s granddaughter, Rose Wilson, coordinated a national project and published Reminiscence a book of photographs to celebrate the first Gypsy Roma Traveller History month.
In her foreword to this collection she wrote: “My Granny, Kathleen Cunningham, lost her long battle with cancer and passed away on 23 October 2008 peacefully at home with her family at her side. She was a truly inspirational person who taught me to believe in myself and others, which can be particularly hard when you’re looked upon as “them Travellers” or “the Gypsies”. She taught me to be proud of who I am, as indeed she was, and to celebrate and not hide the fact that I am a Romany Gypsy. She even researched our family trees, which date back to the 1800’s. This is why I think it is important to celebrate our culture and heritage. Other cultures do this, so why not Gypsies and Travellers?”
