Education is just the beginning for us as white people

Soon after the George Floyd murder, someone shared the brilliant Anti-racism for white people guide by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein with me and I shared it on LinkedIn. I was overwhelmed by the number of white people who contacted me to say thanks for sharing as it was a brilliant starting point for their own education.

Education however is only the beginning of the journey; if we want to truly drive systematic change, then it's up to us - as white people - to help drive it. No minority in history has ever created change without the support of the majority, and in most places in the UK, we continue to be that majority. That means we need to step forward into what are often going to be uncomfortable conversations, often putting ourselves in a position where we may well get it wrong. 

From my own experience of driving gender equality through Token Man, I have always found that provided your heart is in the right place AND you have taken the time and effort to learn about the issues, people will be forgiving and open to calmly explaining mistakes or why you may have made someone feel uncomfortable.

And while I appreciate there is a lot of content currently being shared out there, and empathise that this embarrassment of riches can make it difficult to know where to start, the most important thing is to start. 

The simple act of starting will bring committing to that journey for the long haul a step closer, until we have a society that is equitable and fair (which I hope to see in my lifetime). To help you on that journey, here are a few resources/suggestions that we hope will be useful whatever part of the journey you feel you are on:

Read a UK guide for white people who want to do more to combat systemic racism

This guide is designed to pull together the key UK-focused resources that will have the biggest impact on your own continued education as well as providing handy tips/hacks on things you might do to help activate change. It is very much designed to be complementary to existing guides and resources, such as the brilliant introductory anti-racism guide by Nova Reid, and will be updated regularly.

Join the Allies Against Systemic Racism (AASR) Whatsapp Group

The AASR Whatsapp is a group for white people who want to help combat systemic racism in the UK with a short-term focus on the black experience. It is a place for people to share questions and thoughts without judgement and to help give allies the tools and stats to help educate others. The ultimate goal is to open it up to everyone but in the short term, we are limiting it to white people to allow people to ask the difficult questions without fear of triggering other ethnic minorities, who have suffered many of the same issues that we will be discussing. However the group is being supported by Tolu Farinto to help ensure that any advice is authentic and appropriate. If you would like to join either sign up directly on Whatsapp HERE or send me a note.

Ask your boss/CEO/Head of Social Responsibility what they are doing proactively to support the issue

From my experience of Token Man, I fear that the narrative that white people need to educate themselves will not have the desired outcome for a majority of the UK population. Human beings can be quite selfish and given their other personal issues, which will have been heightened due to the pandemic, this will simply not be given the priority it deserves. (It’s why we continue to find it so hard to get men involved in the gender equality discussion.)

I believe it is the social responsibility of businesses to deliver this training. By not doing so, they themselves are contributing to the system. And that does not mean just giving people a day off to do their own education. You need to educate from the senior management down to ensure that you have a culture that is truly inclusive of everyone. It’s interesting that just last week we were talking to the Head of Social responsibility who is taking responsibility for driving a programme forward, and I would love to see more Heads of Social responsibility taking the lead.

Apply for our Inclusion Makers Programme

Last year we launched a free training programme for people in the corporate world who wanted to accelerate inclusion and diversity in business and who now form a part of our Inclusion Makers group. 

Our inclusion makers come from companies such as easyjet, giffgaff, Harrods, LEGO, Rakuten, Schneider Electric, Sky and Unilever and whose roles are as diverse as Head of Inclusion and Diversity, Global Marketing Capabilities Director, Social impact manager, Diversity and Inclusion co-ordinator and Internal Communications Manager.

If you want to learn how to accelerate change in your organisation, applications are now open for the next stage of our programme. More details HERE (applications close on 19th June).

I hope you found this useful. I myself have got a long way to become a better ally, but I hope this inspires you to do more. And when life gets in the way, I will be sure to remind myself of the words of the late James Baldwin:

“Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford. I know you didn't do it, and I didn't do it either, but I am responsible for it because I am a man and a citizen of this country and you are responsible for it, for the very same reason.” 

 Daniele Fiandaca