Publish date: 22 October 2021
Confronting, acknowledging and using my white privilege to challenge racial inequality
A personal reflection from Sue Hunt, Associate Director of Workforce (Mid Mersey Division)
Over the last 18 months I’ve been on a huge personal journey on my understanding of racial inequality through the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) experts programme.
There seems no better time to share this with you than in October 2021; a few months on from my return to Mersey Care from North West Boroughs and Black History Month.
Many will argue that England is a tolerant multi-cultural country and where racism is perceived as rare isolated incidents of cruelty. People will point to how far we have come since Liverpool was a major port of the slave trade, the murder of Chris Wooten in 1919 and even the race riots of the 1980s. But to those who think racial inequality doesn’t exist, I’d encourage you to reflect on my blog and the following data:
- Black workers with degrees earn 23.1% less than white workers
- 45% of children from BAME families live in poverty compared to 26% of children in white British families
- Unemployment rate for those of BAME ethnicity is 6.3% compared to 3.6% for people of white ethnicity
- 16% of white British households rent social housing versus 44% of black African and 40% of black Caribbean households
- 38% of BAME people wrongly accused of shoplifting compared with 14% of white people
- Black men are 5 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white men
- Black women are 5 times more likely to die in pregnancy than white women
- Black people are more than 4 times as likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people
The WRES course gave me my first understanding of what it was like to be a racial minority. I grew up in a white village and school in West Lancashire, went to a predominantly white university (Loughborough) and those of ethnicity I met were Indian or Chinese. I didn’t know anyone who was from African or Caribbean heritage. I have worked in NHS all my career but in both general operational management and HR, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues have been rare. Despite working with amazing front line clinicians who are BAME, very few have been in leadership positions.
For the first time in my life I walked into a room where I was visibly in the minority; I didn’t get the cultural references / jokes, I worried constantly about saying the wrong thing; I felt vulnerable. But this was my life for 2 days a month and then I returned to my comfort of being the majority. For my BAME colleagues, this was their norm.
We did many different reflective exercises and group work on the course but one that had such a personal impact on all of us was ‘stand up if this applies to you?. It opened my eyes to how many of my BAME colleagues in professional NHS roles had been followed round shops by security, had people cross the road to avoid them, had been stopped and searched by the police for driving a nice car, had supported their children in managing racist incidents at school, had been told to go back to where you come from, had been complimented on speaking great English despite it being their first language, had been thanked for being ‘unlike the rest of your lot and not being a terrorist’ and many other horrors that I would find traumatic.
This was the moment I realised what it was like to be judged purely by your race – none of these things had happened to me.
I was also asked during the session – what does my white racial identify mean to me – and I realised I had never had to think about this before. What a privilege!!
2 years ago I was debating with a black staff member about white privilege. I knew there were areas were black people experienced negativity, disproportional harm and hatred but I also knew that in education, white working class children have the lowest levels of attainment than any other group so you can’t possibly argue there is white privilege for all white people. I also knew many BAME individuals who had financially privileged upbringings and lots of opportunities afforded to them.
I now realise I was completely missing the point!!
Of course not all white people are privileged and not all BAME people have awful lives.
The difference is a white person’s difficulties are never driven by racism – there can be lack of opportunities, lack of income, lack of familial support, gender, age, experience, caring responsibilities - but as a white person my disadvantage is not driven by my race.
Similarly – someone who is BAME can have a very privileged life in terms of wealth, career, family support, opportunities etc. but they can still walk into a room and be judged on their race. The rest of their life may be privileged but they experience a reaction in a room of strangers that is still determined by their race – the bias about their ethnicity shapes their experience.
As the realisation and acceptance hit me that I had white privilege it also dawned on me the potential fear and alienation white people could feel when discussing this – a concept known as white fragility. White people can feel that the only way for BAME individuals to feel supported will disadvantage them or they feel personally affronted that someone is accusing them of being racist that they get angry. This will only increase friction and ruin attempts at improving racial equality.
So how do we confront these difficult issues and use the privilege that white people have to become actively anti-racist?
Firstly we need to acknowledge what racism is and the deep rooted nature of it in organisations.
“Systemic racism is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice in an organisation…. it can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviours which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping that disadvantages ethnic minorities.”
This is what we need to tackle - we may never be able to fully eradicate individual acts of racism but we can make the lives of the majority of BAME staff better by tackling bias and prejudice within our policies, processes, attitudes and behaviours.
Ultimately we need to get to a position where white people care as much about addressing racial inequality as those who are impacted by it.
Yvonne Coghill, a long term senior employee of the NHS and strong advocate for addressing racial inequality, has developed a model for mobilising the majority – the 7A’s of Authentic Allyship.
Being a white ally or demonstrating allyship is much more than just NOT being racist – it’s a role of cultural change and challenge influenced by in-depth knowledge and passion.
It’s a commitment, an educational journey, a difficult place to inhabit in work and amongst friends and family and requires action. It is not for everyone, it’s not for those who question the ‘ism’ they are trying to ally but having allies who are not personally involved but willing to speak up on their behalf negates the race card allegation, removes the personal interest and shows a commitment as a bystander to call out the unacceptable. You have to take action to be anti-racist.
Call to action
We recognise that being an active educated ally is not something that all 12,000 of our staff can or would want to do. But everyone should be a supportive and respectful colleague. Therefore we are advocating for three levels of education and understanding to progress this agenda.
- All our staff, regardless of role or band, should familiarise themselves with the language of race, be a supportive and welcoming colleague and be willing to challenge unacceptable behaviour through our Trust values and civility and respect work stream.
- Those staff who are in a position of power – through recruitment, talent identification and development, investigations and team culture – will require additional education to ensure there is a full understanding of bias and the legal framework of positive action.
- The highest level of education and growth would be the achievement of allyship; a number of staff across the organisation who we invest in and who have a genuine passion for addressing inequality.
Level 1 and 2 will be governed by your role in the organisation but we would love to hear from those who may be interested in achieving the highest level of allyship.
This approach fits with Mersey Care’s CARES values, our civility and respect commitments and our Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) to have zero tolerance of racism, discrimination and disrespectful behaviours. Let’s mobilise the majority and ensure the fight against racism is not solely in the hands of those most affected by it.
The summit is beautiful but the journey we take and those we climb the mountain with are equally stunning. Together we can, together we will.
Additional Information and Reading
Look out for new information about Mersey Care’s BHAG.
Books:
- Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race – Renni Eddo-Lodge
- White Privilege: the myth of a post-racial society – Kalwant Bhopal
- White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo
- Me and White Supremacy – Layla F Saad
- How to be an Anti-Racist – Ibram X. Kendi