Death to 'BAME' & The Erasure of the Black Experience
Andrew Odong
Brand Strategy Leader (ex-Meta, ex-Google) | Creative Director at Nuts About | Content Creator | Community Connoisseur?????
DISCLAIMER: The views, information and opinions expressed in this article are a direct reflection of my own experiences and those that impact my specific demographic, which is Black people. Just to be clear that I acknowledge that all forms of oppression experienced by marginalised groups are equally valid and need to be uprooted.
Have you ever been in a meeting and said ‘BAME’ when in fact you were consciously referring to Black People…?
Diversity & Inclusion is all the rage at the moment (and for good reason!) which has thrust a certain sequence of four letters across everything from the media to government statistics and even the workplace. Call it peer pressure, bad habits or just ease of communication but even though I loathe the term – I have also at times bought into the pressure to use it (as I’m also sure my fellow Black peers can testify!).
Of course, the term I am referring to is ‘BAME’, an acronym which stands for “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic”, which is often used to refer to ‘ethnic minority groups’ here in the UK.
Context Is Everything
The issue with ‘BAME’ is that it generalises the complex and multi-layered challenges of people of colour and how we experience ‘race’ in this country. This can be incredibly damaging when looking to address the systemic structures of oppression which often look very different when dealing with specific ethnic groups. We also need to acknowledge the importance of context when hoping to engage in any meaningful dialogue around tackling unconscious-bias and racism in the workplace - or anywhere else for that matter. Although there are steps that leaders can take to create safe spaces at work, in most cases, the workplace is still a direct reflection of the society we live in. So if we earnestly hope to build a truly inclusive workforce, we absolutely have to recognise this fact.
With this in mind, society tells us that Black people have the highest unemployment rate out of all the ethnic groups. Society also tells us that between 2017 and 2018, Black people in Britain were approximately 10 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white people were, and three times more likely than Asians. Black Caribbean pupils are permanently excluded at higher rates than their counterparts, while Black people are more likely to be homeless than all other ethnic groups. These are just a few examples that highlight Black people’s unique experience with racism and anti-blackness.
These facts should show us that a “one-size fits all approach” further enforced by the ‘BAME’ narrative is deeply flawed and ultimately doomed to fail. Unique problems demand distinctive solutions. This is why platforms like UK Black Business Show, BYP Network, Black British Business Awards and Black Magic Awards are so important - because they create intentional spaces to celebrate black people in all our melanated glory whilst addressing the imbalance of representation we often see across many industries.
The Importance of Language
In our journey to creating more inclusive environments – words are powerful. Words can be instrumental as a valuable source of deep empowerment but can also be exploited as a wicked force of oppression.
Audre Lorde spoke of the importance of language when she said, “For those of us who write, it is necessary to scrutinize not only the truth of what we speak, but the truth of that language by which we speak it.”
Audre Lorde spoke of the importance of language when she said, “For those of us who write, it is necessary to scrutinize not only the truth of what we speak, but the truth of that language by which we speak it.”
The beauty of this quote is that it speaks to not only the gravity of our words but above all else transforming language to action. It is imperative that those of us with influence and privilege use our voices to shift the narrative to a nuanced conversation around how we all experience race, not only in this country but across the entire globe.
The “B” Word
So the next time we are in a meeting, please feel free to say the “B” word… here’s a hint it rhymes with the word “Rack” ;)
#NotAMinority #DeathToBAME #NormaliseBlackPeople #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth
Great post, love the fact you wrote about what many of us are thinking Andrew Odong
Founder @ Mount Social
5 年I seriously could not agree more. I am a recent marketing graduate and focused my dissertation around cultural diversity in marketing practice within uk organisations. This dissertation seeks to investigate the lack of BAME individuals in senior marketing positions within the uk, through the opinions and experiences of current marketing professionals. It then came to my attention after analysing the data collected that there was a trending pattern mostly pointing towards Black individuals in these senior roles, which in fact could counteract the term BAME, which at the time I had not realised. I did not have the time to change my focus at that point. However, justified my findings with valid arguments through the amazing candidates I had partake in research, whilst clearly stating that different ethnic groups face different challenges at work when dealing with organisational culture, diversity and progression. This post validates exactly why we cannot generalise ethnic groups but should seek to identify the challenges of what different ethnic groups may encounter. Andrew Odong This post has definitely left me thought processing and wanting to extend my research. Great post????
Director @ School of Pan African Thought. Decolonial Thinker. Anti-Discrimination Consultant. Education Consultant. Aspiring Intellectual.
5 年Spot on Andrew!?
Empowering change-makers, BCorps and Purpose-led brands. Amplifying your voice so that, you're Seen, Heard & Equipped through our sustainability, cause and impact PR ecosystem
5 年Brilliant insights and great piece. You’ve just inspired a new line of thinking as I write my dissertation which is on another form of implicit bias & so somewhat correlated to this article! ???? However, in my opinion it’s not just matter of killing BAME , I think labels should die period. I don’t like how black - is often associated with everything & all things evil or bad or just mostly negative... therefore I want a choice to be provided for me to chose my ethnicity as Brown because that’s what I in fact am brown not black ??
Client director | Founder The Uncommon Collective | Co-founder of JOT| BRIM Snr Changemaker 2022 | Campaign 40 over over winner | AD WEEK Europe Future is female winner 2021 |Performance coach| Public speaker
5 年Thank you for this, such an important conversation. I am the founder of a community interest company that is specifically trying to to readdress black representation in media at the very early stages of education. To even be eligible of getting funding I have had to switch my narrative to hit the widely accepted BAME term. When as you say it is black children that are being failed by the school system. I am all for diversity and inclusion and my services are open to everyone however we should not be afraid to call a spade a spade and create spaces that reflect our specific issues. Stormzy had a great lyric when he set up his scholarship scheme, I am not anti white just pro black!