ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Race and Ethnicity
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1510814
This article is part of the Research TopicUnderstandings and Experiences of Colourism: Global PerspectivesView all 4 articles
Colourism and Law in the UK: A Story of Colonial Indifference?
Provisionally accepted
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
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In this paper I explore legal and judicial responses towards skin tone and colourism in the UK. I argue that despite incidents involving colourism coming before the courts, there is no mention of this oppression in the legal framework. Colourism is invisible to the law and courts. 'Colour' is included under the protected characteristic of 'race' in the equalities and hate crime frameworks, but this is inadequate. This approach, I argue, reinforces the wider issue that the law is incapable of effectively addressing racism so measures to tackle colourism are even further beyond its scope. The law's weaknesses here are emblematic of its indifference towards racially minoritised communities and their experiences. This colonial-inspired strategy of indifference is dismissive, dehumanising, and disdainful towards the vulnerable people and groups who are most affected by colourism.
Keywords: colourism, coloniality, Antidiscrimination Law, Hate Crimes Law, Equality Act 2010, Skin tone
Received: 13 Oct 2024; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Naqvi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zainab Batul Naqvi, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
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