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ISSUES: Racial & Ethnic Discrimination
Chapter 2: Tackling racism
attack discrimination through law remain
the basis of our current system.
The legal framework was complicated
and in several respects strengthened
by the development of European law
and by the extension of the prohibition
of discrimination to gender, disability,
religion and other fields. The creation
of new boards and commissions for
some of these fields led to pressure to
consolidate – hence the Equality Act and
the supposedly comprehensive Equality
and Human Rights Commission. Sadly, as
so often, consolidation means cuts and
the withdrawal of necessary powers and
resources. The EHRC has been decimated
and can no longer pursue the legal paths
which lie at the heart of the legislation.
David Cameron recently commented
on the fact that “people with white
sounding names are nearly twice as likely
to get call-backs for jobs than people
with ethnic sounding names”. Was he
aware that this almost exactly repeats
the finding of the PEP report of 1967? “I
want to end discrimination and finish
the fight for real equality in our country
today,” he went on. If so, he must restore
the funding of the EHRC and the ability
of victims of discrimination to assert their
legal right to equal treatment.
Ö
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with
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from
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information.
©Runnymede Trust 2017
Why we need to stop
labelling some black
people as white
Tellingablackperson: “you’re sowhite”, doesmoreharm
than good…
By Michelle Badipe
I
’msure I’mnot the only person that’s
heard this. The snarky comment
mumbled under the breath of the
Nigerian aunty, the startled statement
that escapes the lips of your white
classmate. A lot of us have heard those
three identity bending words, words
that I used to just brush off, but have
now got me thinking what exactly does
it mean to be black?
The way I behave has always been
deemed as white. The way I speak,
the food I eat, my mannerisms and my
interests. A friend of mine in high school
once exclaimed that I was out of touch
with my culture and people, because
she was talking about basketball and
I couldn’t follow what she was saying.
There seems to be certain archetypes
connected to the black identity –
we’re supposed to know all the words
to Kendrick’s new album, know how
to dance, be able to run fast, talk in
ebonics and act a certain way, such that
when one of us doesn’t fit this mould,
it unravels both black and non-black
people.
The white and black community react
differently to people who do not act
stereotypically black. White people
see it as something positive; sure it
confuses them, but it also makes them
feel like they can relax. Tucker Bryant
in his spoken word poem “Oreo” states
that when a white person says: “you’re
so white”, it’s seen as a compliment,
they “expect you to wear their words
as a medal” because they don’t see
you as something that makes them
uncomfortable. This is dangerous
because it suggests that the white
identity is the only identity that is
allowed to be versatile, if individuals
from other races try to break from the
stereotypes that have been set in place
by a white society, then they are seen
as white, just because they are not
adhering to a certain mould.
On the other hand, in the black
community,
when
someone
expresses interests that are different
from what the community enjoys, we
tend to bring that person down. It’s
not always malicious, we sometimes
point these differences out by
joking about them, but at the end
of the day the aim is to make the
individual feel uncomfortable. Some
of these differences are pointed out
as ‘acting white.’, a pejorative term
that suggests that the individual has
betrayed their culture in favour of
white culture. Victoria Bond in her
article said “It’s time to abandon the
‘acting white’ theory once and for
all” and states that “black people in
all-black communities police their
fellow citizens for their productive
behaviours.” So if someone is acting
in a way that is different, especially if
it is productive, the community finds
it intimidating. Our communities
need to create room for people to
explore and expand their identity,
so when people say that they enjoy
Fall Out Boy, love to read Jane Austen
and don’t mind
Seinfeld
we shouldn’t
bring them down.
I find it interesting how we seem to
measure blackness by behaviour,
when that is not what being black is
about. Yes, black people are possibly
more inclined to like certain things
but that is not what makes us black.
Rachel Dolezal, a woman who’s made
headlines by identifying as black,
does and says all the right things and
yet she is not black. No matter how
hard she tries in interviews to place
herself as a black person because of
her actions, she is not. What unites
us as a body and as a people is the
challenges and experiences we all
face, because of our race. We’re human
beings with varied thoughts, tastes
and emotions, so that means we don’t
