The Problem with BAME

The Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic acronym is past its expiry and let us tell you why.

It’s a sloppy way of grouping people together who may not actually have anything in common, implying that they are all of the same disadvantage, which of course is not true.
"It misleads people into thinking that everyone who isn't white English should come under the term 'BAME'"

Podcaster and lawyer Raifia Rafiq told the BBC:
"When it comes to racial discrimination you have anti-blackness in the Asian community and anti-blackness within the Arab community. So when you group a group like that together, you're really erasing the fact that men and women within the black community also suffer at the hands of these other persons of colour"

In government research of over 300 people in the UK, only a very small number actually knew what the acronym stood for. The term BAME, takes peoples identities from them, says Zamila Bunglawala who works in the department of education. “Like many ethnic minorities, I proudly refer to my specific ethnic identity – my background is Indian.“

Using the term BAME is avoiding the acknowledgment of a persons heritage, and while an acronyms may be handy in behind the scenes data research, it isn’t something we should be using in our everyday language.

Student Tosin Attah describes the term:"I mean, it was a white term, if we're being honest," she says. "White people made it so they don't have to say 'black' because they feel weird saying black for some reason.”
The term is also considered confusing as it may or may not refer to White ethnic minorities, such as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage groups who are some of the most marginalised communities in the UK.

In March 2021, the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities recommended that the government stop using the term BAME as it can create a misleading interpretation of data.

What can you and your team do?

✅ Use ‘ethnicity’ instead of ‘race’ when describing someone's heritage
✅ Spell out acronyms if you need to use them
✅ When in doubt, check out these gov guidelines on writing about ethnicity
✅ Speak to your team! Find out their personal preferences and honour how they identify 

Further reading

Is BAME an ‘unhelpful’ term?
Please, don't call me BAME or BME!
'Don't call me BAME': Why some people are rejecting the term