I had a conversation with a white woman artist about awards that are given to artists exclusively from minority ethnic backgrounds. Basically she said: what about me? I pointed out how few black artists are on show at Tate Modern, or at any other publicly funded or commercial gallery - and that this does not reflect the range of black artists working today - or historically.
But I also understood. I have felt that way myself, when I look around and see how few women artists are shown, despite the fact that most artists and most curators seem to be women... And yet I have seen the middle class racism of the (art) media and the insitutional racism of museums and galleries, so rationally, I see what those awards are trying to do.