A journalist has started a petition calling on others to “stop referring to people as ‘minorities'”.

Loretta Thomas, who writes for the Hackney Gazette and Islington Gazette, launched the petition in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the world.

Loretta says the term ‘majority’ is “appropriate when collating statistical information relating to data, but not to describe people” because it “creates power dynamics and fosters inequality”.

The petition has so far attracted more 200 signatures on Change.Org, and is addressed to Keir Starmer, Boris Johnson, David Lammy, Jeremy Corbyn and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Loretta explained the reasoning behind the petition in a opinion piece for the Islington Gazette last week.

She wrote: “I and other Black people do not believe we are a minority in relation to another human being and continual use of the word minority reinforces the inequality the government says it wants to change.

“As human beings we are all created equal as part of one race, the human race, made up of people with different skin colours and cultures”

“As non-White British citizens, we know this is not the land of our fore-fathers so by default also know we are the minority group in relation to the population – as would a White person who lives in or visits the Caribbean or Africa know they will be the minority of that land.

“The word ‘minority’ should only be applied in relation to geographical and demographic statistical monitoring or to identify when particular sectors or organisations are under-resourced.

“The mentality of the individuals and groups in positions of power and decision making must take an honest self-inventory and challenge their own and each other’s perception of how they view and treat non-White people.

“I feel so strongly about the offensive description that a few days ago I was compelled to start a petition to address removing the word ‘minority’ when referring to people which implies there is another group of people superior to us.

“Exercising equality is not hard to do and is simply a matter of changing one’s mind to do something better, and there is nothing more powerful than a changed mind.”