Job not for whites, applicant told
By Karen McVeigh



A university graduate has been denied a job working in a museum because he is white.

Officials from Brighton and Hove Council told Kieron Keenan, 23, that he could not apply for a post at the Royal Pavilion because of his ethnicity.



Under pressure to increase their percentage of workers from ethnic minorities, they said that they would accept applications only from people of African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian or Chinese descent for the £9,000-a-year trainee museum assistant post.

The Race Relations Act allows employers such “positive action” when ethnic minority staff in that type of work are under-represented.

Mr Keenan, from Lancing, West Sussex, said: “It’s astonishing. In order to be seen to be less discriminatory towards ethnic groups the council has used a law which is blatantly discriminatory against another ethnic group.”

Bert Williams, who runs the Brighton and Hove Black History Project, said: “Yes, the council must have a more representative workforce but this is not the way . . . because it’s another form of discrimination.”