The Ugly Truth about Racism in the UK
/Guest post
(It’s listening time! Get comfortable to read the uncomfortable truth of being a Black British woman and her journey through processing the ugly truth about racism in the UK)
We begin this journey two days before the Brexit vote. I was in my local, supermarket, queue stood between an old, white, man and a young, white, male millennial type. They were basically having an openly, racist, conversation right in front of me, not caring that I stood between them. Referring to the staff, who are mainly white European, the old man was spouting the usual, ignorant, tripe about foreigners stealing jobs and not talking English properly etc. The younger man said that with any luck by Friday they should be leaving. I was about to pipe up and give them a mouthful when a heavy feeling of crippling, despair, settled over me. I managed somehow to finish my shopping and not break, not collapse. I went straight to the pub for a glass of wine and made the decision to vote remain in the referendum. My fear was being stuck on a small island with a bunch of rednecks and here we are.
This incident, the Brexit vote and toxic campaign were the final straw for me. Pure hatred crystalised in me. Hate for this country. Hate for white people. Hate for the country of my birth.
Hate like any emotion has things to teach if you can stay mindful to it. This was not always easy and I was an angry, powder keg as well. I spent the next three years processing it and matters of race. I also had a wonderful education and journey into the word ‘schadenfreude.’ It was the only pleasure afforded me in such dark days and the aftermath of Brexit was ripe with learning material and laughter.
The first thing I learnt was that the survival strategy Black people have of mollycoddling white people, a skill which we master by the time we leave school, was a complete waste of time. I realised that the only effect it had was to perpetuate the myths and delusions of intellectual superiority, greatness and goodness inside those white bubbles of privilege, whilst denying and invalidating our very real Black existence. I dispensed with it forthwith!
I realised that racists are not a minority of people but the majority. Anyone would think that institutional racism was to be found in the plumbing system or the electrics. It is not. It is to be found in the policies, practices and procedures enacted and perpetuated by thousands of people, if not millions, everyday for a paycheck bolstered by the puerile excuse of “just doing my job” when questioned on the adverse impact it has.
It’s the middle class and not the Tommy Robinson’s of this world who are the worst. They hold the positions of authority and power, making decisions that affect Black lives.
I discovered that diversity is a croc of shit and an illusion. It was cooked up by US politicians in the 1960’s as a response to the civil rights movement. In effect it offers the illusion of change whilst maintaining the status quo. In practice a few token positions, preferably visible, are given to Black people whilst nothing actually needs to change in the system and structures behind the scenes. A great deception!
An obvious example is the media and Black newsreaders. Highly, visible, positions giving the impression of inclusion and change, when behind the scenes nothing has really changed and the top jobs still go to white people. It’s the same in football.
In a recent, racist, furore a football club put out a statement condemning racism, espousing the clubs full commitment to diversity. There is still a dearth of Black football managers despite successive generations of Black football players.
Players who are duped into staying on the pitch and told to, ‘let the football do the talking’ in the face of vile, racist, abuse. The only response from their employer is recycled ‘kick it out’ videos on racism. As long as Black players continue to be duped by this, nothing will change in football.
I have been watching these racist incidents unfold over what must be three or four generations of black players, a lifetime basically. If Raheem Sterling et al do not stand up and deal with this, they will be passing the buck onto the next generation of players just like their predecessors did.
Change, if it ever comes, will be at the leisure of football governing bodies rather than the convenience of Black players. Change has to be demanded. They need to stand up and firmly declare with one voice “NO MORE!” They need to walk off the pitch. They need to lawyer up and sue the FA. They need to do it for themselves, for players to come and for those who couldn't. Most of all, they need to do it for the Black community as my generation are tired, weary, exhausted and traumatised by this. We don’t need to be on the pitch. We don’t need to witness it. Just knowing that it happens forms part of our collective experience and wounding regardless.
In seeing how pervasive and insidious it is I began to question the relationships I had with the white people I had known in my life; people who had called themselves my friend. If nothing has changed then what is it about these people who claimed to be my friend why racism persists? What did they do? What didn’t they do? Why didn’t they do more? How can someone call themselves my friend and be complicit in my oppression? I began to see that fighting racism is a precious waste of time.
We had anti-racism campaigners in my day and yet it still persists. I began to see that anti-racism campaigning is nothing more than a distraction. In essence it seems to focus on language and political correctness. However, substituting the term ‘half-caste’ for ‘mixed-race’ or ‘coloured’ people for ‘Black’ did not stop Windrush. It hasn’t stopped anything. If nothing has stopped then it is distraction. Whilst the populace are busy correcting each others speech, the structures of racism remain intact. Another grand deception!
I also questioned how these people could live side-by -side with me and not see that a war was being waged against us and has been for centuries. The demonization of Black men is a tactic from military strategy. When you want to destroy a nation, a civilisation, a culture, community or any group of people, you target the men because power is perceived to pass through men.
As a Black woman I have never been stop and searched in my life.
You can see this strategy at play all around the world not just with Black people. Other examples would be Iraq and the Philippines who have been flooded with drugs, now spreading through the male population like dysentery
One of the saddest realisations I had was the way in which society doesn’t realise how they engage in the racial oppression of Black people as the problem has become a self-sustaining cycle. Every time the British media decide it’s time to reinforce the oppression of Black people with negative articles and the relentless focus on knife crime, Black on Black crime (which was muggings in my day) generating debate and discussion, I was struck by the fact that not only are the talking points facile but they are the same talking points as the ones being discussed decades ago. Nobody seems to realise that this is yet more distraction. Worse still the response is always the same with proclamations from the government on ‘getting tough on crime and the causes of crime.’ If white minds were so brilliant this problem should’ve been solved by now. Communities that were poor when I was a child could’ve been turned around with proper funding and infrastructure in the 49yrs I have lived. Instead they remain poor by design.
The beauty of this self-sustaining cycle is that it plays to white ignorance and fears, reinforcing the myths and lies about Black people such as we are not intelligent. We are kept out from enjoying the trappings of society, not realising our potential. White people then believe these things must be true as they do not see us in the places they frequent and work, not realising that this began long ago and began deliberately.
To believe that melanin is a determinant of intelligence, I ask you, which one of us is stupid?!
I had other realisations of a more personal nature but the culmination of this journey and processing was realising that racism is an illusion. A horrible illusion and above all a lie. An illusion which supports the whole host of myths and lies about Black people; myths and lies that enable the counter myths of white superiority and the dominant world order of white supremacy. It’s why white people can fail upwards and receive declarations of gratitude for incompetence, followed by absolution from blame for the consequences. The pool of talent at the top is small and positions are filled on a revolving door basis maintaining the status quo.
Worst of all is that people have given their lives to fighting something that is a lie and myth. Who would they have been, who could they have been if they had the chance to live out and realise their true potential? I saw this clearly in a Black man who was obsessed with collecting certificates as a defence against the myth of inferior intellect and general stereotype of Black men.
As a minority race Black people are actually in an abusive relationship with this country. Not only are we in an abusive relationship but we are actually expected to like it and put up with it. White people always get defensive and upset when there is any hint of a suggestion that we might not like this situation. This can be seen when we speak up about racism as they typically respond to shut us down by changing the topic or invalidating our lived experiences.
In short, we are expected to like our abusers which would be akin to Stockholm syndrome. I know of no other situation where this absurdity is not only expected but is the normality reinforced over and over again by white people wishing to deny that they and this country are horribly and undeniably racist. This denial means that, unlike victims of domestic abuse, there are no refuges for Black people from white people and no warnings that fraternising with white people is damaging to health and life-threatening.
R.I.P George Floyd
by #BlackWomanRising
