Two years on: reflections on George Floyd's legacy
‘A guilty verdict did not change what we know to be true. A racist system will never deliver justice for our people.’ - The Movement for Black Lives, 2021
We won’t go into the details of what George Floyd was subjected to. Two years on and we all know what happened. No need to cause further harm by revisiting the details of this specific incident and forcing Black folks to relive the trauma. You’re just a Google away.
Instead, what is important is to take time to pause and reflect on the global racial equity movement that was ignited. What’s happened since? What has changed? How do we rally to unroot racism from our systems, workplaces, behaviours?
In the UK context: beyond the highly-visible slave-trader statue toppling, organisations’ public statements and the large-scale antiracism protests, what deeper change has taken place? Optics and virtue-signalling aside, what must allyship look like as we strive for racial equity?
Let’s set the record straight: institutional racism is real
Just so we’re all on the same page with this one: institutional racism is real and must be faced head-on. 2020’s rise in collective awareness saw the British government establish the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to investigate racism within the UK. Their findings were published in March 2021, in a report often referred to as the Tony Sewell report.
The main finding? That any claims the UK was ‘still institutionally racist’ were wholly unfounded and ‘not borne out by the evidence. It alleged that other factors (geography, socioeconomic background, culture, or religion) had a greater influence on determining someone’s life chances. In other words: the blame was laid at the feet of the very people harmed by the system - read People of Colour - instead of acknowledging the systems contributing to their differential social, professional, economic, and health outcomes.
How was it received? Poorly. The report was widely condemned by charities, human rights experts, and even many of its own contributors. Equality watchdog, EHRC, raised concerns about the methods and even the overall objectives of the commission, with one source claiming that it had tried to “explain away or deny structural racism”.
The white-washed report set an official seal on the erroneous belief that Britain is post-racial or that racism is no longer a serious concern in our society. We suppose we should have seen the gaslighting coming when the investigation was announced and Sewell appointed.
Why is it so important we acknowledge that racism is institutional? If we don’t call it out for what it is, how else are we supposed to act? That’s why a growing number of organisations are now taking it upon themselves to act without waiting for the government to make a move.
>> Download our actionable guide to find out how to get started with your racial equity strategy
Institutional racism: UK facts and figures
What does institutional racism look like? In light of whose legacy we are remembering today, let’s start with policing. Police violence against Black people and People of Colour isn’t just something that happens across the pond in the US.
Across the country, people from a Black or Black British background are overpoliced. They are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than their White counterparts. In Dorset, it’s a staggering 23 times. Current estimates show that over 1700 people have died in police custody over the last three decades, disproportionately Black people and PoC.
Other disparities between White and Black groups resulting from institutional racism are:
> Education: Black Caribbean pupils are excluded at a rate of 3x that of White British pupils
> Higher Education: There’s a 23.4% attainment gap between Black and White undergraduates when it comes to achieving a 2:1 degree or first
> Healthcare: Black women are 4x more likely to die in childbirth than White women
> Economy: White families hold on average roughly 8x the household wealth of Black families
> Housing: 30% of Black British households own their own homes, compared to 68% White
> Workplaces: 53% of Black employees feel they are “treated fairly at work” compared with 74% of White workers, 54% of Black employees rated their sense of belonging as “good or very good”, compared with 70% of White employees.
What happens out there is brought in here
That is to say: what happens in the wider world will seep into the workplace. You cannot encounter overt, blatant, unapologetic racism in the world and simply leave it in the office lobby at 9am ready to be dealt with at 5pm ‘Close of Play’. And yet in many organisations, this seems to be what’s expected of Black employees and Employees of Colour?
Take a recent high-profile incident of overt racism in the UK: the Euros 2020 Final. Last summer Premiership footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, were targeted by vile online racist abuse following three missed penalties. As soon as Saka was chosen to take the third England penalty, Black people across the UK understood that a miss would result in racist retribution beyond the stadium.
And that’s what happened: there was a torrential racist backlash against anybody whose skin colour was the same as those players. For Black Brits not only was it terrifying on the night but it continued to weigh on their minds for days to come. This would have affected some people’s ability to concentrate on their work, despite the outpouring of love, kindness and compassion from White allies and allies from other ethnic backgrounds.
We’d like to prompt organisations to think about: what measures are you putting in place to support Black employees and Staff of Colour with their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing? What policies or guidelines are in place in the event of an outright racist attack (direct or in the news)? It goes back to treating employees compassionately and as they want to be treated. Do consult with your networks or employee groups.
>> Want more stats on racial equity in the workplace? Download our 2022 UK Report
At work, we’re all responsible for “everyday inclusion”
What of the racism and racial disparities within our workplace? We’ve got to think about how this particular institution (the workplace) upholds practices and policies that further racial inequities. We also have to think of our own behaviours and how they, intentionally or unintentionally, either legitimise structural racism or disrupt the status quo.
Allyship boils down to our own behaviours and our self-awareness of those behaviours. Humour us with a Put a Finger Down exercise. Start by holding 10 fingers up (or writing down 10 little boxes). Each time you agree with a statement, either put a finger down or cross out one of the little boxes. Put a finger down if:
You feel the need to change the way you speak at work to be deemed ‘professional’ and included at work - also known as code-switching
You’ve ever been to an interview where none of the recruitment panel look like you
You have previously been mistaken for someone else of your ethnic background
It’s ever been inferred you only got your job because of one of your identities
A colleague has ever asked you ‘where are you “really” from?’
You’ve considered the financial implications of what Ethnicity Pay Gaps and lack of pay transparency mean for you
You’ve ever been commended, with surprise, for how well you speak English
You've ever looked at your Board and/or Leadership teams and seen no one who looks like you
You’ve felt the need to shorten your name or create a nickname to make it "easier" for people to pronounce
For you, one of the perks of remote working is that it reduces the daily anxiety of contending with racist microaggressions
How many fingers do you still have up (or how many boxes unticked)? Each finger or unticked box indicates that you hold privilege in that area. Identifying your privilege is the start of your ally journey: it’s your personal sphere of influence and power. Who can you start being an ally to? Hopefully, this exercise has us all thinking about the different ways racism can show up in the workplace. Next step: we help you figure out how to dismantle it!
It’s time for a data-driven approach to racial equity
Building on the legacy of George Floyd, and countless other victims of systemic racism and racial violence, FLAIR harnesses the power of data to beat racial bias. Where strong words have failed, we believe that hard numbers will succeed. Using our analytics engine, we will help you benchmark bias, find the human truths revealed by numbers and lay the right foundations to measure and progress racial equity across your organisation.
Join over 100 organisations harnessing the power of data to advance racial equity. Click here to get started.
