Could a truth commission into our past help us understand how racism lives in our present?
The UK is often seen as ‘better’ at integration, race relations and equality than other countries, but I hear people ask; what is with the Black Lives Matter protests in the UK? Are we that bad? To move forward we need to hear the true horrors of history, in order to stop pretending that racism is just confined to the past, or that we can measure its prevalence now by the form it once took.
Racism still lives and thrives in British society, both in blatant and subtle ways. But it is always painful, and always damaging. It is not something you can generalise — one person’s story is not everyone’s. Those seeking the one truth and one answer to racism will need to be patient, listen and learn. Behind the acronyms and soundbites, the promise to do better is a lot of pain, hardship and trauma, and we need to provide psychological safety for all those feeling that to speak their truth. We need to start listening to those who lose out time and again — those we enslaved, then freed, then enslaved again with our ignorance.
Coming to terms with racism growing up in Britain
I won’t pretend I know much about how racism feels. I had privileges being half-white, well spoken and well educated (I also discovered a term for this; white-passing). Sure, I experienced racism being of mixed heritage growing up in a rural part of south west England in the 70s and 80s — words I won’t repeat here were shouted. I first realised we had a racism problem at 7 years-old when I was told calmly, as I was crying, by a little boy at school, that I could not go to a party because I was ‘coloured’. Today I feel free from those comments but shy away from social media debates on it, fearing the backlash.
Now I am educating myself about institutional and everyday racism, with questions now racing around my head — why didn’t I get the pain relief I asked for in both child births? Why was I told to work full-time to get a promotion and others weren’t? Why do I still get asked for customer service while shopping? These are just niggles that make me feel uncomfortable, but for Black people in Britain, there is no question — racism is alive and much, much worse than feeling unwelcome. It disadvantages people in more ways than we care to see. Racism can be blatant, subtle and even violent — today it is still all those things.
This is a wake-up call for most of us, including me. My mother never spoke much of racism growing up. She is also of mixed heritage and came to the UK from Mauritius in 1968, an island that was colonised many times and her roots span the world. Mauritius is an island with a slave history that didn’t end after its abolition. Just this week, I discovered that the British, after the abolition of slavery, then invented a new type of slavery disguised as employment and brought dozens of Indian nationals to Mauritius. I had never heard of this kind of slavery, known as ‘indentured labour’, until today. I have so much to learn. Mauritius had a Truth and Justice Commission to face the history of slavery on the island and consider reparative measures. Truth is just the beginning, not a solution, but it is an important beginning towards better understanding.
My mother has finally opened up about her own history of racism and the exclusion she experienced as a nurse in the NHS in Britain for over three decades. It is clear now that she wanted to shield me and my sisters from this, desperate for her brown skinned babies to be accepted and unafraid. Though we were just about accepted, we were still afraid to speak up for ourselves and others on racism.
The stories started centuries ago but continue today, weaving through our lives and impacting each generation. Racism runs deep because it hasn’t gone away, it has simply mutated.
Like a virus, racism spreads in the lack of action by those who have power
I think we need a Truth Commission, one that opens the books we didn’t read and reveals the wrongdoings of our past and present. There are so many stories that need telling in our friendship groups, families and to the government too. No Cabinet can say they know it all either, no matter how many ethnic minorities sit in it. To believe that is to continue glossing over big differences in our paths, missing the voices of those who had no choices and no opportunities, skipping over those who lost out time and again — everything just feels airbrushed. No one, no matter your colour, is an expert on others — there is no Black member of our Cabinet, you cannot airbrush that.
I heard racial slurs and subtle put-downs even in the most educated circles while climbing the career ladder — they were indiscriminate in who they targeted, school boy ‘jokes’ and knowing looks. I was too shocked and worried that I would not be allowed back ‘in’ to say anything, so after a few awkward dinners, I gave up listening. Now that I am reflecting, I want to hold a mirror up to myself, my friends, colleagues, bosses and those who work in leadership positions who look away. Many don’t have the choice to block their ears to racism and be protected from its worse forms, including me. Many live it in truly horrific ways.
My generation grew up watching the Brixton riots, we saw the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence, and today we see the deaths of Black people in custody be wrongly portrayed and explained away by authorities (does Mzee Mohammed in Liverpool mean anything to you?). In the UK, racism continues in our ignorant, head-burying silence in the workplace, but it is clear to see in the statistics who loses out. Sympathising with murders but doing nothing is racism because Black lives have never mattered as much as White lives, and there has been a lack of real concern and action in response to that in the UK.
Black people in Britain are underrepresented in top professions, misrepresented in the media, disproportionately imprisoned and dying in police custody. Now, they are also dying disproportionately of COVID-19. There is a clear connection between racism today and our colonial past, so let’s draw that straight line out loud and clear.
Are we comparable to the USA? I don’t think we can know, we have barely uncovered the truth about our own racism here. Some may try to take comfort in the fact that the UK doesn’t have quite the same presence of organised racism as the USA, demonstrated by the continued existence of the KKK. Nor do we have an island where we detain people who attempt to arrive illegally into Britain as happens in Australia. Or maybe we have not confronted racism because we do not have an indigenous community, as Canada or New Zealand. However, there are people who have the power to educate themselves, change the systems and confront the issues… but choose not to. This is a form of collective racism with ignorance held up as the excuse for inaction. Like a virus, racism appears invisible, but is alive spreading through this inaction.
Waking up
When I joined the Centre for Public Impact, I led my organisation to more deeply understand what building legitimacy and trust means today. I didn’t have to go far to see that racism was among the top issues people wanted to talk about all over the world — racism and legitimacy are linked conversations. Many said that:
- Racism thrives in our symbols, celebrations and language
- Racism thrives in our institutions, workplaces and processes
- Racism thrives through no action at all and through ignorance
The students at the First Nations University in Canada said that they were being listened to through Truth and Reconciliation, but wanted to see commitment to the education of their history. They felt that settlers were shielded from their pain even though it is clearly published in public papers, so why not teach it in schools? ‘Isn’t that racism’, they asked? I realised we don’t even have such teaching in the Commonwealth home of Britain.
In 2018, two young Black students in Bristol spoke about the sadness and trauma of seeing the Colston statue still standing. I had forgotten all about it — I walked past it every day as a young graduate but didn’t complain to colleagues or local representatives. In contrast, these young students were speaking up. I wanted to be sick at my own cowardice as a student, they were braver than me. I had to continue to listen.
In South London I met young people from different backgrounds who wanted to be valued beyond cultural stereotypes of music, food, dancing and sport. They talked about their families’ contributions to this country and the persistent struggles they have to overcome. They felt erased from history. ‘Isn’t that racism’, they asked? ‘Don’t we need to tackle this ignorance’, they asked? They were asking all the right questions that I never did.
These people have inspired me to speak the truth and call for urgent action to embark on a national journey of learning in Britain, however uncomfortable.
A Full Truth Commission
Every country has its skeletons in the closet, but the doors are being forced open. The lack of global mass protests before the death of George Floyd doesn’t mean that our society was not racist and that this is all just a wild overreaction. It means the victims have found their strength and voice, and allies from all walks of life are supporting them to speak their truth. They are no longer waiting to be asked to speak or laws to change. Many of those focusing on laws being broken have all the laws to protect them. As we look back at the suffragettes, we don’t say they broke the law, we say they fought for new ones.
When people all over the world asked CPI to ask governments for empathy, authenticity, openness to scrutiny and willingness to listen to voices unheard, they did so to feel understood, valued and equal. For as long as there are no studies about slavery, and the contributions and sacrifices of the Commonwealth countries, no seeing in the media how many other countries made VE day possible, the spirits and trust of young people will continue to be broken. It is insulting at best and deliberate racism at worse.
Legitimacy cannot be built on lies and the pretence that everything is okay. Racism isn’t wearing a white robe here in Britain, but lives among us. The unequal opportunities, being held back for 400 years only to be criticised and judged for not succeeding, and not living up to a White person’s expectations of ‘good enough’.
Now is the moment to accept out loud that the past happened, but its legacy continues to the present day; from blatant racism, to ignorant statements about how we have reached the pinnacle of diversity and there is no more to learn. We all need to be brave, get over our awkwardness, listen and speak up.
Though many debate the merits of a truth commission, claiming that they are over-hyped, countries like Canada, New Zealand and Australia are being inspired to try their own versions. One study outlined: “The job of a truth commission is to change beliefs and attitudes as a process of societal transformation. In order to do so, it must capture the attention of ordinary people, and be perceived as a credible source of both information about the past and guidance about political activity in the future.” Hence, in order for a truth commission to contribute to societal transformation, it must be done properly and legitimately.
So, let’s have a full and bold truth commission so that we may teach the pain of our nation’s past to understand our present. Let’s hear about how our symbols, celebrations, teachings, professions, justice system and inaction are contributing to unequal opportunities and the problem of racism. If we do not embark on this journey to truth and justice with our hearts and minds open, but instead choose to criticise actions, I believe this country can justifiably be labelled as racist, even if many inhabitants are not.
Despite it all, I am optimistic that we will hear the truth, and together find new peace through our determination to learn and act. I can do better at shouting for that and so can you.
