I will not stop talking about the racism I face even if it means I lose my job

It’s 7am. I am on the Jeremy Vine show and he has just instigated the topic of race. Here we go again.

Rather than doing the usual introduction to the show and discussing my book, I have just said that I have been held back in my career as a broadcaster because of the colour of my skin.

I was immediately attacked by my two fellow panellists, both women. The first told me there are ‘loads of black female presenters’. I asked her to name one household name. She couldn’t. Instead I was told ‘there were Christmas adverts featuring mixed race couples’.

Less than a few days after the episode, I was contacted by my agent with a message to say I had been dropped as the new face of one of the biggest multi billion pound companies in the world as ‘they have seen your clip on Jeremy Vine’ and ‘don’t want to be associated with racial controversy’.

To lose your job because you spoke well established ideas and truth about real life experiences is devastating. It has led to a place where people of colour, and especially women of colour, are avoiding speaking about institutional racism, or even dare I say it white supremacy in public.

If I agree that racism has hampered my career, I’ve got a chip on shoulder. But if I say nothing, then the same ignorance that allows systemic racism to flourish remains the status quo.

According to the TUC, 41 per cent of WOC (women of colour) have experienced racial discrimination, bullying, or abuse at work, with 36 per cent leaving their jobs.

19 per cent of BME men and women have experienced being denied training or promotion. 42 per cent of WOC did not feel they could report discrimination to their employers. 44 per cent did not report bullying and harassment.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission report confirms that people from BME backgrounds, especially WOC, are extremely marginalised in the work place and tend to occupy lower paid jobs with a significant gap between the wages of WOC and white women.

As an advocate for social justice I’ve had to accept that I might never reach my full potential because I choose to speak the truth.

I was stereotyped from the moment I started out in media. It seemed that every single black woman was either meant to be Naomi Campbell or Grace Jones incarnated (both of whom I adore for their strength and character), complete with our reputation of being aggressive and inhumanly strong – an insidious hangover from the stereotypes propagated by the transatlantic slave trade (TAST).

I was often greeted by casting directors and producers who found it impossible to imagine the British public being able to identify with my Afro puffs, dark skin and Celtic drawl.

But as an Irn Bru-drinking, ceilidh-swinging, shortbread-eating, working class ballerina geek, I found these narrow roles impossible to fit into.

I was often greeted by casting directors and producers who found it impossible to imagine the British public being able to identify with my Afro puffs, dark skin and Celtic drawl.

WOC are rarely included or put on a platform unless they fit within a colonial stereotype: the joker, the temptress.

For some reason it seems to be unacceptable for WOC to be presented in a natural, asexual, educated manner – that’s just not good TV, apparently.

Racism is a complex system of control that continues to castrate and subjugate an entire group of people socially, culturally and economically. It will only change if everyone becomes aware of their implicit bias and listens to people of colour when they speak out.

By becoming more aware we should start being able to create systemic solutions. We are all part of the system which means we all have a role to play in making it better.

And there is one, overwhelming factor that is in our favour; something that humans can do better than any machine and that is our capacity for empathy, reasoning and forgiveness.

It all starts with listening to each other.

Neither men or women should feel ashamed to tell, and hear, their truth. Calm, reasoned, constructive debate it is the ultimate test of true human advancement.

It is imperative to allow WOC to speak about their lived experience in the same way that any other marginalised group is allowed.

Until that happens, until our voices are heard and respected when we speak, I’ll keep talking.

Source: Read Full Article