Can We Dismantle Discrimination and Biases?
SisDr Sandra Richards
Empowering Change through Culturally-competent Life & Leadership Coaching | Afrikan-centred Author & Educator | Advocate for Social Justice | Community Development Specialist
As another Women's History Month graces us, I find myself reflecting deeply on the pioneering Black British Women who have tenaciously forged paths where none existed before.
The formidable Diane Abbott immediately comes to mind - in 1987, she became the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons as the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, winning 48.7% of the vote.
Her victory reverberated across Britain, upending pernicious narratives about whose voices could shape policies and perspectives could influence power structures.
The Insidious Reality
Yet Abbott's historic win, though inspirational, laid bare the daunting realities Black Women still face in shattering institutional ceilings. It would take nearly two decades before the next cohort of Black British Women like Dawn Butler, Oona King, and Barrister Patricia Scotland followed in her footsteps into Parliament and other influential public arenas.
According to research, only 8 Black Women have ever been elected as MPs since 1987:
These are the only 8 Black Women MPs that have been elected to the House of Commons in the UK since Diane Abbott's groundbreaking win in 1987, highlighting the continued lack of representation over decades.
And in 2022, damning reports revealed the racist vitriol Diane Abbott endured throughout her tenure, including being besieged with racist, misogynistic abuse and even a repugnant call for her to be shot. Such utterly unacceptable hostilities underscore the pernicious discrimination and biassed narratives Black Women still battle daily across sectors.
The Multi-Layered Marginalisation
From the classrooms where our children's aspirations are prematurely stifled by adultification bias and disproportionate disciplining, to the boardrooms where we fight perceptions of being "angry, loud or aggressive" whether assertive or not - Black Women in Britain face compounded, multi-layered marginalisation. The patronising "sassy" tropes, de-feminising caricatures questioning our very womanhood, dehumanising workplace "coded language" questioning our professionalism simply for embracing our cultural hairstyles. All cut like insidious razors against our souls and ambitions.
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An Intergenerational Imperative
So while I celebrate the profound impacts of Black British women who have breached elite echelons like Dame Linda Dobbs, the first Black Briton appointed to the High Court judiciary, I am equally driven to reckon with the formidable labyrinth ahead.
It is an intergenerational imperative that we fortify and expand upon the openings they created by purposefully dismantling cultures of prejudice, exclusion and oppression that still pervade institutions.
Decolonising Power Structures
This undertaking demands far more than hollow platitudes about diversity and inclusion. It necessitates an uncompromising interrogation of the insidious biases, stereotypical narratives and discriminatory behaviours that toxify too many workplace environments, policies and power dynamics. It requires those of us in spheres of influence - from corporations to communities - to be active architects and stewards of equity, inclusion, empowerment and justice.
Mere representation is no longer enough. We must intentionally decolonise the very structures, systems and social mores that breed harm against Black Women and all historically marginalised groups. So that we ascend not in defiance of racist, sexist programming, but propelled by ecosystems affirming our humanity.
A Clarion Call
In this Women's History Month then, I implore us all to honour the journey-makers by embodying their resolute, unwavering spirit. Let us undertake the courageous labour of interrogating our unconscious biases and dismantling discriminatory norms. Let us be purposeful in creating spaces of empowerment, affirmation and true belonging for Black Women - where our full, multifaceted self hoods are seen, heard and valued as indispensable assets to any collective mission.
For it is only through such radical work that we birth ecosystems allowing future generations of Black British Women to fly untethered, their brilliance illuminating new frontiers for us all. This clarion call is the highest tribute we can offer the ancestors and contemporary voices who showed that positive transformations, though arduous, are eminently possible when we confront injustice unafraid.
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5moThank you for sharing, SisDr Sandra Richards. I would like to think that eventually, we'll be able or feel welcome enough to "eat at the table" with everyone else - even if it means bringing our own chair! But guess what, that is not going to happen, unless we feel comfortable enough with ourselves as Black women. It takes strength and courage to fight for justice and for what we believe in; in order for this to happen we need to make sure that we, as Black women, are on the same page. Race will always be an issue, and it would be like changing the attitudes (because that's what racism is), of racist people, and that's not our job; it's theirs! How about us working on means of rising above it, by challenging racist behaviour, by calling it out, and putting the ball back in their court; this will usually cause denial and changes in behaviour (you know the score), in fear of being exposed. We must not allow ourselves to be consumed by it all; since racists are not part of the solution, then they must be part of the problem.