It is our expectation of equality and fairness and by extension the notion of privilege and the hierarchy of privilege, that strikes at the heart of the real day-to-day impact of racism, whether it’s overt, unconscious, structural or institutional. It is the fear that at any given moment I could be Stephen Lawrence, Damilola Taylor or George Floyd. It is also the knowledge that these are the few cases which have struck a chord through the media or that have only been driven on by the bravery, persistence and sheer bloody mindedness of the likes of Neville and Doreen Lawrence.
The Lawrence case is very well known but if you’d like to know more about Damilola Taylor and the 6 years it took to prosecute and convict please see: -
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/10/ukcrime.sandralaville1 and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2557647.stm
One of the positives to come out of 2020 is that it provided me with the impetus to talk about being stopped and searched as a young man. We must not let complacency set in, given that between April 2018 and March 2019, 4 stop and searches were conducted for every 1000 white people and 38 for every 1000 black people. 2020 was also the year that Alexandra Wilson, a Black Barrister, was mistaken for a defendant 3 times at the same court in one day in September.
So why is this important and how does it relate to the workplace?
The death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matters (BLM) movement, as well as the various protests around the world, have provided the platform to start a difficult but necessary discussion of privilege. To address privilege is to understand how we all have views and assumptions of privilege that inform the way we behave, the decisions we make and how these impact ourselves and others in the workplace. Discussing privilege supports how we can address the challenges that racism presents in all its forms, with a view to understanding practical ways to reach true equality and fairness in our lives and in wider society.
I am a passionate advocate for the principle of meritocracy - a society or social system in which people advance on the basis of merit - as a key theme in how we can address equal opportunity. Some food for thought can be found at: https://www.thoughtco.com/meritocracy-definition-3026409 and https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/oct/19/the-myth-of-meritocracy-who-really-gets-what-they-deserve
Welsh Water has the customer at the heart of everything we do and should reflect the makeup of our diverse and rich communities. Better representation can be achieved through a combination of education and work initiatives, and the announcement from Pete Perry in December 2020 of a commitment to appoint a BAME Executive Board Member by the end of AMP 7 is very welcome, if overdue.
There is always more we can do at all levels, and the emergence of Groups like BAME+ supports the drive to improve inequality and diversity.
BAME+ may not be for all but please do come and take a look, you will be very welcome, and you may just be surprised.
