Corine Sheratte, senior consultant at Green Park, writes about the importance of Race Equality Week.
I struggle to articulate the anger and frustration I feel from racism-driven crimes such as those carried out against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Daunte Wright, Ahmaud Arbery, and the list goes on. Racial inequality clearly very much exists, despite the implementation of legislation like the Race Relations Act (1968) and the Equality Act (2010) to outlaw racial discrimination. Black and ethnic minority communities remain massively under-represented, particularly in positions of authority, wealth, and power. In fact, research shows that ethnic minorities are statistically more likely to live in poverty which raises their risk of having worse general health, Black workers with degrees earn 23.1% less on average than their white counterparts with degrees, and just 6% of MPs are from an ethnic minority.
The Black Lives Matter movement has spotlighted severe racial discrepancies across all sectors – and charities are no exception. In fact, it has long been known that there exist racial inequalities in the charity sector, and that under-representation is worse at senior leadership tiers. In line with research, two-thirds of Black, Asian and minority ethnic charity staff have experienced or heard of racism, and fewer than 9% are represented in the voluntary sector.
Although posting a black square on social media is a representation of unity and a brilliant attempt to create waves towards change it is simply not enough. We must, and need, to do more. As responsible individuals, we must act now by consciously and consistently including Black communities and taking accountability for our own learning and understanding of racial inequality.
With conversations about race and representation live, how can charities use this as an opportunity to reflect and make organisational changes?
To affect change, Black voices within the workplace must be actively heard. Beyond employee engagement surveys, this can be achieved through partnering with race equality networks. Only then can impactful and meaningful initiatives, policies, processes, and legislation be fully implemented.
A catalyst for ongoing change, Green Park have partnered with a consortium of D&I Championing organisations to found a not for profit organisation, Race Equality Matters (REM). REM was formed in response to the social uprising of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. REM helps to turn declarations of commitment and support from organisations and individuals into meaningful change in racial equality both in the workforce and in wider society. Ongoing commitment is required to create positive change; to this end, REM also hosts Race Equality Week, which is an annual UK-wide movement uniting thousands of organisations and individuals to address the barriers to race equality in the workplace.
In addition to launching a UK-wide Race Equality Week, Race Equality Matters formed the Race Equality Network to provide free services, insight, opportunities to collaborate and training materials to 1000 Ethnic Minority Network Chairs. Anyone can get involved with the initiative and you can register your interest at: raceequalitymatters.com.
Together, there is a need to galvanise and maximise impact through a nationwide collaboration for real change. Now.