Equity in excellence or just another tax on Black skin?

Abstract

There is a cost to being Black in the UK: a tax on the colour of a person's skin. It is the price paid for other people's perceptions of what skin colour means about one's abilities, behaviour, or worth. Black people pay in many ways, including poorer health, higher rates of litigation against them, and slower career advancement. These adverse impacts are well described;1–3 strategies to address them have been far too slow in coming.3 Black people also pay a minority tax—ie, the burden of additional responsibilities placed on them by organisations in the name of diversity.