Racism in the news

Well - if there was ever a time for issues of 'race' and racism to be discussed in staff rooms and  by water coolers, now would be the time.  These are the conversations young children are hearing - these are the conversations those that work with them are having.

Let's start with the populist.  Dig around the reality fora and Misha B will pop out.  Some argue that she is too 'black' to be popular - a certain amount of stereotyping, not helped by judges' comments and a feistiness not appreciated by the voting public.  Even Operation Black Vote has waded in, encouraging readers to vote for her.  (Past form suggests that she'd be better off not winning - it hasn't harmed JLS or One Direction, if you're into that sort of thing...)  Perhaps Louis feels uncomfortable urging the 'black' vote, the same way he calls for the Irish one. And that from a man who displayed his unique sensitivity by comparing a black male singer to a 'young Lenny Henry'.

But, whatever those of us who guiltily succumb to the shallow pleasures of X-Factor think,  it shows that we are not a 'post-racial' society; we still have great difficult articulating how skin colour and racial identity shapes our perception of each other and, reading the comments on the Guardian X-Factor blog (gosh, I never thought I'd ever write those words) anyone who tries to introduce a sensible discussion on racial stereotyping will be told they don't have a sense of humour.

Next up, Sepp Blatter.  I'm surprised out telly didn't explode with the fizzing indignation and choice words directed at it after the 'let's just shake hands after a racist comment' debacle.

Interestingly, racism in football taught me that talking about 'race' is wrong. I once was having a great conversation with a guy on a high speed train from Newcastle, in the 90s.  I was a Liverpool supporter and used to play in a local women's team (badly). I mentioned that I'd had to turn off a Man City v Newcastle match because of the abuse the Newcastle fans were giving the black player, Danny Wallace.  The bloke stopped the conversation and refused to talk to me for the rest of the journey.  I suppose I was saved the indignity of an awkward date, but still.

The positive side of the Sepp Blether fallout was the way that the English football community, black and white, responded.  It has taken 30 years, or so, to create an environment that is abuse-free for black players AND black fans. People of all colours didn't want to lose that.  It was a pity that other countries seemed less bothered.

Talking of abuse - currently doing the rounds is the video of a woman with a small child on her lap racially abusing passengers on a tram in south London.  It has taken over as the Twitter video of choice after the dog chasing deer in Richmond park.

 I haven't watched and won't. Like many black people, I've had the real thing. A friend once told me that she walked into the Newcastle  metro (sorry, Newcastle, I'm really not picking on you) and the carriage burst into 'there ain't no black in the Union Jack'.   Funnily enough, a 6-year-old kid sang the same refrain to me on a train from Brighton.  His parents were most embarrassed.

Last year, I was coming home on a bus through Islington at about 5pm. I was sitting at the rear, facing the back window, deep in my book.  I gradually became aware of a monologue containing some rather unpleasant words.  An older white guy was directing a racist tirade at a young, Asian guy, who was sitting hunched into his headphones trying to ignore him.

 It was shocking - not least because most of the passengers were black.  The passengers alerted the driver, who simply stopped his bus at the next stop, turned off the engine and waited by the front door until the racist realised his journey was over.

It was one of those times, though, I really wished I had done 'something'.  Should I have alerted the driver?  Should I have said something supportive to the victim?  I understand that some of the passengers in the tram incident did intervene.

When it happened to me in the 80s and 90s, nobody did - so I am optimistic for change!

Not sure where to start with the racism rows?  Try Show Racism the Red Card.

Job vacancy and events

Community Project Officer - National Archives

Closing date extended to 9 November, the National Archives in Kew are looking for a Community Project Officer for their Caribbean Archives

LiteracyActionNet Awards 2011

There are two categories for this year’s LiteracyActionNet Awards 2011 for work to improve speaking, reading and writing for school children and socially excluded adults and young people. A prize of £1,000 will be awarded for the winners in each category.

Closing date 4 November 2011

Media and the Riots – Big Debate – 26 November 2011 10am to 3pm

London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle, SE1

http://www.media-diversity.org/mdi/additional-files/images/News%20Images/RiotLeaflet2.pdf

Runnymede Trust ‘Pop-up shop’: Do you think we can end racism in a generation? – ‘pop up’ shop in Croydon, November 2011
The Runnymede Trust, a leading race equality charity, has taken over an empty shop and has temporarily converted it into an exciting discussion hub.
Individuals can pop in anytime for a chat over a free cup of tea and slice of cake, or attend one of Runnymede’s planned events.
People can share their views on how to end racism a generation through a number of activities, including:

·         Film their own video testimony on their experiences and views of racism

·         Watch a documentary made by Runnymede on race equality in Croydon

·         Write their own manifestos on how to end racism

·         Share their thoughts over a cup of tea in Runnymede’s discussion zone

·         Participate in a Q&A session with local politicians (4 November)

·         Engage in a discussion on the recent riots (5 November)

The Pop-up shop is in Croydon town centre at 3 Katherine Street, Croydon, CR0 1NX, from 3-7 November.


Click here for details


Census: consultation on the ‘Beyond 2011 Programme’

On 17 October 2011, the Office for National Statistics launched a consultation as part of the ‘Beyond 2011 Population Statistics Programme’ looking at alternatives to the Census.

The Programme was formally established in April 2011 to investigate and assess alternative options for producing the population and socio-demographic data required by users in England and Wales.

The consultation will provide a first opportunity for users to contribute to the discussion and help inform this important work. It closes on 20 January 2012.

To support the consultation, workshops are planned for the following dates and locations –

·         3 November 2011 – Leeds

·         8 November 2011 – Cardiff

·         14 November 2011 – London – FULLY BOOKED

·         25 November 2011 – London (extra event added)

Individuals wishing to register for one of the workshops are asked to email beyond2011@ons.gov.uk stating the date and location of the preferred workshop and the name of the organisation they represent (if any). Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Click here for consultation

Click here for details of the Beyond 2011 Population Statistics Programme

Email beyond2011@ons.gov.uk to be kept informed through the Beyond 2011 Programme newsletter (first edition planned for November 2011).

EC ‘Compendium of practice on Non-Discrimination/Equality Mainstreaming’

The European Commission published a ‘Compendium of practice on Non-Discrimination/Equality Mainstreaming’ in October 2011.

The Compendium offers guidance on supporting and implementing mainstreaming and sets out a broad range of best-practice examples from different member states.

Click here for link to publication (pdf)

Click here for further European Commission information on tackling discrimination

TUC Equality Duty Toolkit

In October 2011, the TUC published an Equality Duty Toolkit.

The toolkit includes:

·         a brief overview of the new equality duty in s.149 of the Equality Act 2010 which requires public authorities and those carrying out public functions to have ‘due regard’ to equality in all that they do

·         a section explaining what having ‘due regard’ to equality means in practice, drawing on case law decided under the former race, disability and gender equality duties

·         an ‘FAQ’ section

·         checklists for union negotiators when dealing with a public authority that is making a decision which will impact on equality and when negotiating implementation of the new duty

·         a draft letter which can be adapted and sent to public bodies who are not intending to carry out equality impact assessments.

The TUC has worked with John Halford of Bindman’s solicitors, who has successfully run public duties cases, and Barbara Cohen, independent discrimination law adviser, in developing this toolkit and the TUC thanks them for their contribution.

Click here for details

Demos collection on race and conservatism: ‘Are We There Yet’
(This is a free download)

 ‘Are we there yet?’ is a collection of essays written by progressive conservatives that explores some of central questions around the party’s race agenda. It provides a key insight into whether conservatives really believe that race equality has been achieved or if there is still some way to go. The essays explore the extent to which the complex issues around race in the UK have been addressed and what conservatives would do to resolve them.

Click here for details

United Nations website: ‘Let’s Fight Racism’

In October 2011, the United Nations launched the ‘Let’s Fight Racism’ campaign and website.

The campaign includes downloadable postcards, ways to get involved through Facebook and Twitter, and other resources to help people fight racism.

Click here for website

"Brown Bottom?"

If a child asks us why people are different colours, what do we say?

If one child makes another derogatory comment about another's nose, hair, skin tone, how do we deal with it?

Meryl Shepherd, early years lecturer, Persona Dolls tutor and most importantly of all - in my eyes - Black Voices Steering Group member, addressed that very issue at the Una Conference in Amsterdam, in May.  Meryl has kindly allowed me to publish her presentation here.




Some of the Una Conference Black Voices Network team.  Clockwise from top left, Meryl, Mary, Jane, Haki and me.



Before I start my presentation I would like to bring a real child into our discussions…

I want you to imagine four year old Kelly who is of Korean descent. That means I want you think about her very light brown skin, her straight, black hair and the shape of her eyes.  I was working in a nursery with another group of children and Kelly came up to me and said, ‘Meryl, I white you brown why’? I started to answer her by stating that I was born in a hot country but the way she was looking my body up and down showed me that she was also asking another question entirely.  She was in fact asking me – Meryl, where does the brown stop?

Kelly made me aware that my answer was incorrect as many people have dark skins that were not born in hot countries. I rolled up my jumper’s sleeves and said to her,’ yes Kelly, I’m brown here too’. She continued looking me up and down, clearly questioning me with her eyes so I rolled my trouser leg up and said, ‘yes Kelly, I’m brown here too’. She continued looking me up and down so I showed her my back, my neck and my stomach. Kelly then looked at me and said ‘Meryl’; I looked back at her saying ‘yes Kelly’ and she asked, ‘bottom brown’?

How can practitioners support very young in their developing understanding about the similarities and the differences that make us all the unique individuals that we are?

One practical way is to use the Persona doll approach, which has been tried and tested. This offers a practical way to support practitioners to discuss and air their questions and thoughts that relate to our racial differences. The Persona Doll approach focuses on all inequalities to challenge discrimination in a safe, non-threatening way.

Persona dolls are different to the other dolls that children use in nursery settings. They are the practitioner’s dolls and they come to ‘visit’ settings. They do not have their own voice, but through the practitioner they tell stories or ask challenging questions that allow the children to answer or comment upon.

The dolls are culturally appropriate and can be male or female. They are used to help young children to empathise with others and to consider how it might feel if something negative and or hurtful was said to them or happened to them. They can be used to redress imbalances that the children may have heard around them without highlighting people who may have made negative comments in the past. As these people could be parents or close family members this is an important point because practitioners do not want to appear to blame parents. 

Persona dolls are introduced to the children as unique individuals around the same age as the children. They have families, homes, pets, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes just like the children they are being introduced to. In this way they offer young children the chance to say, ‘I do that’, ‘I have a brother too’ or ‘my nanny visited me on an aeroplane as well’. This shows children that though we may look different to each other on the outside, on the inside we share many experiences.

Listening to the dolls’ story unfold, the children are able to comment or to elaborate on whatever they have just heard the doll or another group member say. The practitioner’s role is to facilitate the discussions that unfold. Seldom is it necessary to ‘correct’ a child’s view or suggestion as other children in the group, through open discussions are heard to say, ‘but that’s not true because’ or ‘yes they can if they want too’ or ‘that makes me sad when people say that’. Being offered this opportunity to ‘hear the children thinking’ is indeed a privilege that early years practitioners experience on a daily basis.

Using Persona dolls, all kinds of topics that may otherwise been seen as contentious can be discussed, as the focus is not on the children but on a doll. Perry’s mixed heritage for example could be introduced to the children as his mother and father originate from different parts of the world which results in them being different colours and Perry being a third colour. To learn more about Perry though you will have to come to our symposium later on today!

Well - you've missed the conference, but for more details of Perry and Persona Dolls, see http://www.persona-doll-training.org/ukhome.html

Patrice

How to Suppress Discussions on Racism

For those of us who have ever attempted to discuss issues of 'race' and  racism in an internet discussion, we can attest to the blood draining, morale seeping experience it becomes.  You end up trying to construct a coherent argument while ducking the flame throwers hidden behind ludicrous 'names', and of questionable intent.  The Guardian journalist, Joseph Harker, expressed his frustration in 'Balancing the Blogs'.  I didn't check the comments below.  I wanted to retain both morale and blood.

I have now found their source text.
http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/435419.html

Now we can shape our defence!