By Desiree Weston, Strategic Communications Manager, Westminster City Council
By early August, the race riots that had swept across some of England’s northern towns and cities were starting to come to an end. At minimum, the country was gripped by five days of chaos, at most, unarguable examples of racism that included an attempt to burn down a hotel that housed immigrants, showed the worst of some of this country’s citizens.
For the UK’s Black and Brown communities, our Britishness continued to be questioned and, on this occasion, even more so if you are Muslim. For the country, its failure to self-examine and address these issues was all too clear for everyone to see.
So, where does this leave the UK? At present, the legal system is working overtime to imprison those who have pled guilty to criminal acts, and hundreds of others are awaiting their trial dates. For Black and Brown communities, we have picked ourselves up and we continue as normal. But what does this mean? Are we supposed to pretend that for five days we didn’t watch a video of a Black man being attacked in a park by a group of White men? Or that we didn’t fear for the Asian man who was dragged out his car whilst being abused by racist chants?
Let me be clear, this article isn’t about eradicating racism. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is possible. I want us to focus on helping public sector organisations to be better equipped so they’re in the strongest position to support their staff and communities when such uprisings occur.
During this period, I noticed several social media posts about organisations not openly speaking about what was taking place. I’m sure these organisations will argue there were many reasons for doing so, yet my argument is if you cannot condemn actions that cause actual physical harm, as well as psychological, then when is it right for you to stick your neck out? I also argue that silence isn’t really ‘silence’ and that it possibly tells your staff, and the communities you serve that you don’t really care. You may say that I’m being harsh. Maybe, but at the minimum you risk appearing indifferent.
It is this muteness that Black and Brown communities will remember when the dust settles. And yet, it is these communities so many public sector organisations need to build, sustain and enrich a relationship with. This cannot be done, unless you are willing to call things out.
Black and Brown communities can smell inauthenticity a mile away. Due to years of broken promises, deliberate misrepresentations of our cultural and religious beliefs, and far too many statistics that prove we must navigate systems that are steeped in institutional racism, trust with authorities will take time. This journey cannot commence or continue to go well if organisations remain silent whilst some of their communities are too scared to leave their homes or visit their regular places of worship.
This is why the question about forgiveness is important. Without it, how does society move on? However, there is an aspect of forgiveness that many people overlook. It is often presumed that those who have been wronged should let go of resentment and anger and move on. However, a valuable partnership with forgiveness is accountability. For those who have done the wrongdoing, taking ownership of your actions can help us all to swallow, at times, the bittersweet pill of forgiveness. Accountability says that you understand how your actions hurt others, whether intentional or not. That you have taken the time to learn, listen, reevaluate what you once thought. In short, you’re willing to do better. Without it, forgiveness can be harder, take longer and whatever is established between involved parties will not be built on a solid foundation.
I have seen firsthand, how organisations can accept their role of creating an environment of distrust and upholding an unwillingness to make effective efforts to engage with and understand the most deprived communities. By holding themselves accountable, such organisations must rethink their approach, learn from past mistakes, eradicate stereotypes and eventually get their hands dirty. By this, I mean setting up local offices, hiring staff who represent the communities they serve, and showing humility by asking these communities what they can do to serve them better.
It is a pathway that can take years to heal and inevitably mistakes will be made. However, the results are worth it as deep-rooted relationships between organisations and communities will be built.
So, if you work for a public sector organisation that chose to not speak openly about the race riots, may I suggest you ask them why. Then, ask how easy it would be to forgive an organisation that is meant to serve all communities, but chose to say nothing when all anti-racist voices were needed to be heard the loudest. Such steps are examples of accountability Black and Brown communities need to see being taken, and in return, we will be more willing to work with you towards forgiveness.