ABSTRACT
Community work and work in the field of race relations are often viewed as separate activities, the one pursued with little reference to the other. The government’s view of racism, expressed in its approach to race relations over the last decade, appears to be focused on a definition of individual racial prejudice, the symptoms, rather than institutionalised racism. Race has played a central role in the history of this country. In one institutional form, colonialism, it has for centuries been a linchpin of British economic and social policy. The ‘open door’ policy should, in theory, have led to a greater awareness and discussion of policy issues related to racism but, in spite of an increase in membership of field workers, this does not appear to have happened. For ACW the 1979 conference was a public acknowledgment that racism was integral to community work practice.
