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| Corbyn supporters claim I played the race card. The left shouldn’t try to silence minorities | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ‘I’d like to vote for you,” a party member said to me when I was standing to be selected as a parliamentary candidate, “but I don’t know if Newcastle is ready for a black MP. I don’t want us to lose the seat because the BNP exploits the fact we have a black candidate.” | ‘I’d like to vote for you,” a party member said to me when I was standing to be selected as a parliamentary candidate, “but I don’t know if Newcastle is ready for a black MP. I don’t want us to lose the seat because the BNP exploits the fact we have a black candidate.” |
| I thought of that exchange this week on the publication of a report showing that ethnic minority candidates suffer an “electoral penalty” in constituencies with many white voters. I also thought about it last week after my New Statesman article on Labour’s leadership contest in which I said that, in preventing two of the few ethnic minority women MPs from doing their jobs for two months because he wouldn’t clarify their roles, Jeremy Corbyn was not consistent with the claim some make for him of being the only anti-racist in the Westminster Village. | I thought of that exchange this week on the publication of a report showing that ethnic minority candidates suffer an “electoral penalty” in constituencies with many white voters. I also thought about it last week after my New Statesman article on Labour’s leadership contest in which I said that, in preventing two of the few ethnic minority women MPs from doing their jobs for two months because he wouldn’t clarify their roles, Jeremy Corbyn was not consistent with the claim some make for him of being the only anti-racist in the Westminster Village. |
| I made no accusation of racism against Jeremy. Nevertheless I was accused of playing the race card; of reaching a new low in the leadership campaign; of colluding with the mainstream media; of not speaking out at the right time; of not speaking out in the right way; of letting ethnic minorities down. | I made no accusation of racism against Jeremy. Nevertheless I was accused of playing the race card; of reaching a new low in the leadership campaign; of colluding with the mainstream media; of not speaking out at the right time; of not speaking out in the right way; of letting ethnic minorities down. |
| I joined the Labour party when I was 16. A black, female geordie of Irish and Nigerian descent brought up on benefits on a council estate by a single, disabled mother, I certainly had, and still have, plenty of personal interest in the struggle for social justice. What the many battles of the 80s and 90s within the Labour movement taught me is that now is always the best time to raise issues of representation. | I joined the Labour party when I was 16. A black, female geordie of Irish and Nigerian descent brought up on benefits on a council estate by a single, disabled mother, I certainly had, and still have, plenty of personal interest in the struggle for social justice. What the many battles of the 80s and 90s within the Labour movement taught me is that now is always the best time to raise issues of representation. |
| Conflating issues of representation with accusations of racism is one of the ways in which minority voices are silenced. Who wants to be portrayed as the uppity black victim crying wolf to distract from their own shortcomings? Who wants to deal with the resulting outrage when the issue of such a horrible crime as racism is raised? | Conflating issues of representation with accusations of racism is one of the ways in which minority voices are silenced. Who wants to be portrayed as the uppity black victim crying wolf to distract from their own shortcomings? Who wants to deal with the resulting outrage when the issue of such a horrible crime as racism is raised? |
| I understand that outrage, in part. The accusation of racism is very serious, and it should be: racism remains one of the great evils of our time and the fear of being accused of racism is justified. Indeed it is a testament to how far we have come that an expression of such prejudice in Britain today is one of the fastest ways of attracting a media feeding frenzy and universal condemnation. | I understand that outrage, in part. The accusation of racism is very serious, and it should be: racism remains one of the great evils of our time and the fear of being accused of racism is justified. Indeed it is a testament to how far we have come that an expression of such prejudice in Britain today is one of the fastest ways of attracting a media feeding frenzy and universal condemnation. |
| And yet another part of me is outraged at the outrage. When I walk into parliament every day, the paintings and images that follow me around are almost exclusively those of white men. Only 6% of MPs are black or minority ethnic. Unemployment rates among ethnic minorities (13%) are twice as high as those for white people. Black workers with degrees earn 23% less on average than white workers with equivalent qualifications. How does that happen? | And yet another part of me is outraged at the outrage. When I walk into parliament every day, the paintings and images that follow me around are almost exclusively those of white men. Only 6% of MPs are black or minority ethnic. Unemployment rates among ethnic minorities (13%) are twice as high as those for white people. Black workers with degrees earn 23% less on average than white workers with equivalent qualifications. How does that happen? |
| A recent report from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission called for urgent action, as racial inequalities are getting worse, not better. Should we not be outraged at the experience of so many, rather than the possibility that someone we respect may have wittingly or unwittingly contributed to it? I observed with the same mixed feelings the howls of protest when Harper Lee’s follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird implied that Atticus Finch might not always have acted as the great white knight of the black race should. I felt it reflected a sense of hero entitlement unrealistic in a country where one third of black men can expect to go to prison and the statement “Black Lives Matter” is controversial. While Britain is neither as polarised racially nor as segregated as America, we need to take steps now to ensure this is not our future. | A recent report from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission called for urgent action, as racial inequalities are getting worse, not better. Should we not be outraged at the experience of so many, rather than the possibility that someone we respect may have wittingly or unwittingly contributed to it? I observed with the same mixed feelings the howls of protest when Harper Lee’s follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird implied that Atticus Finch might not always have acted as the great white knight of the black race should. I felt it reflected a sense of hero entitlement unrealistic in a country where one third of black men can expect to go to prison and the statement “Black Lives Matter” is controversial. While Britain is neither as polarised racially nor as segregated as America, we need to take steps now to ensure this is not our future. |
| The fight for equality is a constant battle to defend and extend the territory of justice. It is not easy, it is not pretty. Working as a female engineer in all-male environments taught me the importance of the support of others: being the only representative of a group does not have to be isolating if you are welcomed and supported. Gender- and colour-blindness will not address the barriers faced by minorities, and yet it remains the preferred refuge of many. I should add that I have had some fantastic white male mentors – in engineering, not politics. | The fight for equality is a constant battle to defend and extend the territory of justice. It is not easy, it is not pretty. Working as a female engineer in all-male environments taught me the importance of the support of others: being the only representative of a group does not have to be isolating if you are welcomed and supported. Gender- and colour-blindness will not address the barriers faced by minorities, and yet it remains the preferred refuge of many. I should add that I have had some fantastic white male mentors – in engineering, not politics. |
| For those on the left, the realisation that there may be more to be done than not being overtly racist can be surprisingly difficult; the assumption that we can rest on our laurels and focus on protesting against other people’s prejudice extremely tempting. But then there is not a social justice bank where you make deposits that you can then draw down on. Up and down the country battles are being fought on many fronts, and after the Brexit vote we seem to be losing rather than gaining territory. We need to respect each other’s experiences and fears and support one another as allies without seeking to silence each other’s voices. | For those on the left, the realisation that there may be more to be done than not being overtly racist can be surprisingly difficult; the assumption that we can rest on our laurels and focus on protesting against other people’s prejudice extremely tempting. But then there is not a social justice bank where you make deposits that you can then draw down on. Up and down the country battles are being fought on many fronts, and after the Brexit vote we seem to be losing rather than gaining territory. We need to respect each other’s experiences and fears and support one another as allies without seeking to silence each other’s voices. |
| When I was asked if my city was ready for a black MP, I said that given my own very real experience of racism growing up in Newcastle I could say with some authority that the vast majority would judge me on my achievements as a local Labour geordie lass – and I was right. I did not say that the question was like a punch in the gut because I did not want to appear to accuse someone of racism. | When I was asked if my city was ready for a black MP, I said that given my own very real experience of racism growing up in Newcastle I could say with some authority that the vast majority would judge me on my achievements as a local Labour geordie lass – and I was right. I did not say that the question was like a punch in the gut because I did not want to appear to accuse someone of racism. |
| I would now. Unless we can learn how to have these kinds of conversations with one another across race and gender lines, on the left as well as throughout society, we are doomed to become more, not less, divided. | I would now. Unless we can learn how to have these kinds of conversations with one another across race and gender lines, on the left as well as throughout society, we are doomed to become more, not less, divided. |