Its been a turbulent year for race in Britain. So what next? – The Guardian

David Harewood: Too many people wish we would just shut up

Its hard not to see the past year as a missed opportunity. Ive been banging on about racism for 30 years, but the voices for change are getting louder and more articulate. Yet though weve seen a range of books on our experiences, our hopes and our frustrations, it still feels like a huge section of the British public arent listening. This is a country that cherishes its history and its traditions, but unfortunately this means theres a resistance to change. We need to start embracing difference.

There are voices on the right that are aggressively seeking to stamp out any discussion of white complicity in the disadvantage of black people. They dont want slavery taught in schools; they think it was such a long time ago that it doesnt matter. But thats because they dont understand that slavery and colonialism are the roots of what we go through today. The legacy of slavery is racism.

People in Britain have unfortunately grown tired of the subject. They either dont understand why we keep talking about it, or wish we would just shut up. But these are our careers, our livelihoods; and when we talk about white privilege, all were saying is that white people dont face the racial disadvantages that we do. Those of us who have been successful have a choice: we can either throw the ladder down for other people to climb up; or deny that colour has an impact and say, If you just work hard you can achieve anything, when plainly thats not the case.

In the US, where I spend a lot of time working, I can turn on my television any night and see a range of black actors in leading roles. Look at what Netflix has done with Bridgerton. Im still not seeing that on British TV. Even today, Ive never played a leading character on British television.

Now theres a whole new generation coming through thats finding its path blocked by an older demographic that almost seems threatened. This new influx of talent should be welcomed, not just on to Britains stages and screens but into its boardrooms too. Its not going to be easy and there will be pushback, but we have to find ways of bringing new energy into the decision-making process.

Black Lives Matter has forced white people to take notice of our story, and tackling racial discrimination is something that people are finally acknowledging. But I dont think most white people really understand their role. While its great to see so many people accept that things need to fundamentally change, things are just moving too slowly. Until more white champions join the fight, I think the positive conversations weve had this year are unlikely to lead to root-and-branch change. Its about time white people did some of the heavy lifting. David Harewood is an actor

It would be easy to say that nothing has changed, and that weve failed to move on. It is true that bigotry and racism are still with us; and campaigners for diversity and equality clearly cannot take their foot off the pedal. But that is not the whole picture: there is also progress.

In March, the Rugby Football Union chose Tom Ilube as its new chairman, making him the first black chair of a major sports governing body in England. Like me, Tom was born to an English mother and a Nigerian father in 1960s Britain, when such an appointment was not in anyones contemplation. In British sport, the pathway is there, not just on the pitch but in the boardroom too.

And in our national game, the race conversation now has national attention, with moves toward an independent regulator for English football, which would work to tackle these issues. I am a proud member of the group championing this cause. Yes, there is much to do, but these are examples of hope for the coming generations. Helen Grant is the Conservative MP for Maidstone and the Weald

On the one hand, the murder of George Floyd stimulated an awakening for those white people who seem to have been asleep prior to 25 May 2020, and had managed to ignore the experiences of Black and Brown people around them. On the other, we have also borne witness to a sophisticated sanitising of racism particularly anti-Black racism as if to admit to suffering racism is to embody fecklessness and a lack of ambition.

There are those who speak of having hope in the light of the stream of advertisements and TV shows now featuring not just Black and Brown people but those with disabilities and differing sexual identities. And there is now greater attention paid to the ethnic mix of discussion panels and, in some cases, of boards and interview shortlists. But do I, as a Black woman working in the field of racial justice for more than 20 years, have hope?

I will have hope when I am no longer invited to be a signatory to letters about people of colour who have been overlooked for roles despite their qualifications, and when I stop receiving emails from those teetering on the edge of mental breakdown because of their experiences at the hands of their employer. My measurement for hope is simple: the outcomes, experiences and decision-making powers of racially minoritised groups must improve. Anything else is simply tinkering at the edges. Nicola Rollock is professor of social policy and race at Kings College London

October tends to be bookended by looking forward to the celebration of black achievement and reflecting back on the month. As for the other 11 months of the year, it has once again been utterly depressing: black-owned business have been twice as likely to close in the pandemic; unemployment for black and minority-ethnic citizens is rising three times as fast as for white workers; and black African men are four times more likely to die of Covid-19. To add insult to injury, the widely discredited Sewell report, commissioned by the government, sought to deny institutional racism.

At times like this I look for hope. Not much of that can be found in Westminster, but it feels like there is a revival of a narrative of common cause between all oppressed communities. Today there is more of an appreciation that tackling the causes of structural racism actually improves the lives of the white working class too. The gravitational pull of Joe Bidens US has breathed new life into demands for racial, environmental and social justice. Amid the rubble of last year, the black, green and red shoots of recovery are visible once more. Lester Holloway is editor of The Voice

The wave of anti-racist feeling that surged after last years Black Lives Matter protests has crashed on the rocks of the culture war: in 2021 we seem to have gone backwards.

It is a shame that, rather than marking any kind of progress, the most diverse cabinet in British history has merely reminded us that, even in its darkest days, the British empire was facilitated by Black and Brown middle managers. Home secretary Priti Patel is presiding over the most draconian of immigration policies that includes deportation flights and threats to push back small boats that could lead to people drowning in the Channel. Not to mention that the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill will essentially outlaw the very protests that last year were meant to mark a watershed. We are at a dangerous moment where another Tory MP suggests that teaching white privilege should be considered a counter-terrorism violation. The lesson for any Black History Month is that the fires of resistance rage the hardest when the stakes are highest. But last summer reignited a flame that will not be extinguished. Kehinde Andrews is professor of Black studies at Birmingham City University

I am a Windrush Generation child brought up in poverty in Small Heath, Birmingham. I suffered then, and now, most of the indignities that people of colour experience. My success is not just down to my drive and ambition, but also to senior white executives who saw past my colour and gave me a break. Change only happens when individuals in a position of power decide to stop the injustice rather than turn a blind eye.

But not enough high-level executives are sticking their heads above the parapet and stating that black inclusion is on their list of priorities. I want Black awareness to be a year-round thing, not just something for Black History Month.

I am sick of being rolled out and given a platform for just four weeks, when for the rest of the year it seems as if I dont exist.

Next year, and subsequent years, I would like to see companies report what progress has been made in their organisations. We need to start seeing hard evidence of real change. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is a businessman, farmer and former Conservative party candidate

In parliaments Black History Month debate last year, I spoke about racism and the hope of its eradication. A year on, I am not nearly so optimistic. Racial justice appears once more to be a niche interest.

Where is the leadership? We have a home secretary who wouldnt condemn football fans who booed black England players taking the knee. What kind of message was that to send to the country, and to us? It was nice to see so many people from different communities supporting those players, but it is hard not to feel that right now we are a divided country.

As someone who spent 20 years as an engineer, I have a particular worry going forward that racism, instead of being addressed, will be further enhanced, entrenched and automated by algorithms. It may seem left-field, but algorithms are everywhere, determining who gets a visa, a top-grade A-level, priority healthcare, or a knock on the door from the police. The Sewell report said algorithmic bias would be solved by a fairness equation. But they are only as good as their design and the data theyre trained on. Few software engineers are women, from ethnic minorities or working class.

Racism is not an equation, it is a lived reality, and it cannot be coded out. On top of everything else, that is a worry and a battle for the future. Chi Onwurah is the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central

This is a country in which people take to the streets to chant for change when a white woman is murdered, while the murder of two black women, in equally revolting circumstances, can go relatively unnoticed. A country in which only 8% of Black pensioner families drew any income from a personal pension. The median accumulation of wealth through homeownership by a Black family over the past decade in Great Britain is zero. Even the housing bubble discriminates.

Campaigns to decolonise the curriculum have been dismissed in England, as have efforts to address the high mortality rates for Black women in childbirth. So I dont think, overall, anti-Black racism is in any kind of recession. Perhaps because of the visibility of famous Black people, its better disguised.

There are positives. We have Black Pound Day. I have a library full of books for my preschool children where they can see themselves represented in ways I was never able to see myself. While major publishers have diversity initiatives, the blossoming self-publishing industry is to thank for that.

Increasingly, Black people are taking the initiative, rather than waiting for the structural change weve been waiting centuries for. This is where I find the most optimism. Athena Kugblenu is a comedian and writer

We have a long, complex and deep-rooted history in this country, so the question of why has it taken so long to have these conversations is an important one. White people have a role to play: we need allies, not enemies.

There have been some big jumps for black people in the fashion industry: black people are in creative director roles and other positions of genuine authority. But I want people to ask more questions. Who are the decision-makers? Who are the gatekeepers? Who has the economic power? And how can we produce art and culture that reflects the complexities of the black experience?

Can we promote black designers and black creatives all year round, beyond Black History Month? Can we teach our children about their history, their heritage and how it relates to their experiences today? Black history is British history. And black culture is as diverse as it is rich. Having people who can understand that, and celebrate it, is a necessary step towards a more level playing field. Nicholas Daley is a menswear designer

The outburst of superficial solidarity that framed much of the response to the Black Lives Matter movement inevitably built an unstable coalition around what it meant. Brands, institutions and publications that launched PR campaigns or attempted allyship found themselves unwittingly drawn into a culture war where supporting Black Lives Matter was pilloried as endorsing such things as Marxism, Palestinian liberation and police abolition. It is no surprise that this years Black History Month has seen far fewer campaigns and appeals its no longer commercially viable or worth the reputational risk in a country that is militarising its war on woke and obsessing over the teaching of critical race theory. It does sting a little that brands cant even fling us a BHM discount code for some self-care. Jason Okundaye is a culture writer

Rather than looking forwards and trying to tackle the injustices raised by the Black Lives Matter movement, weve seen the government insisting theres no such thing as institutional racism driving a wedge between working-class communities.

Of course working-class children arent being held back by schools teaching them about racism; theyre being held back by the Tories starving deprived schools of funding. The culture wars are a distraction tactic, designed to point the finger away from the real problems in our society, like the shocking concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the super-rich.

But there are causes for optimism. Under Mark Drakefords leadership, Wales has this month become the first UK nation to commit to making teaching black history in schools mandatory. Ahead of Cop26, Im also proud to have established a parliamentary group on African reparations, which will open up a debate about how Britain can make amends for its history of slavery and colonialism as well as their ongoing legacies. Advances like these give me hope. Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the Labour MP for Streatham

How Black literature changed Britain Join this Guardian event featuring poet Benjamin Zephaniah, pioneering publisher Margaret Busby, and historian Deidre Osborne on Monday 8 November, 8pm GMT | 9pm CET | 12 noon PDT | 3pm EDT. Book tickets here

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Its been a turbulent year for race in Britain. So what next? - The Guardian