Rejoinder to "Why funders must pledge to fund equitably"
Reading Kevin Osbourne's laudable post I did start with a hearty scoff. It would have been better entitled “Why funders will never pledge to fund equitably in our lifetime”.
Since I was old enough to define what I do as creativity I have been a paid up member of the movement however I’d count my years in the Creative Industries from the moment I joined the Arts Council in 2003, till the end of my Industry contract at Kings in 2017. In all that time nothing has happened in the funding landscape that would temper my opening statement. ?
White led, white staffed organisations are spending public money and private funds set up to serve a cause and not a race on other White people to the detriment of Black people and they don’t care enough about this inequity to even promise to make a change at some future date. ?
Does that sound a little less fluffy? Yes it does. Is it true? Yes it is. Yes the ice cream comes in other flavours and is served in other ways but that does not make this any less accurate. Do the people making these decisions come to work in white hoods? No. Does that make a difference to the bottom line? No.
The vast majority of the people in the Arts Council when I was there were very nice people but they detested the idea that an intervention was needed. They believed they were doing their jobs well and to suggest they were somehow biased was an affront. Their position was genuine but the fact that I was there at all showed how misplaced it was.
Most Major funders know that it is impossible for them to sign up to Kevin’s cause for many reasons and it is not just the money. Here is an unspoken one. They do not believe that our art as Black people competes with their Art as White people. (Difficult reading? Feel free to take a break and come back to it but it’s true.) Believing that I am unable to do the things that you can do simply because we are of different races is the epitome of Racism. Full stop. “Outrageous here we go with that racist thing again, unbelievable there’s no way I’m racist” Well mostly I’ll back that, you’re not, but the thought process exists however well-dressed and it is very much sodden with racism.
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My role as an ‘Ambassador’ 19 years ago was to try and redress the balance that Kevin is still trying to fix today. On my first day in the Arts Council I went to what was then an Artform Meeting to be introduced to the team. The Head of Music at the time said to me and I quote “really good to have you here, looking forward to seeing who you bring us. Just not too many drummers OK ”. Extreme example yes I know it but spearheads a ferocious undercurrent that runs right through Arts Funding. In 2018 62% of the Arts Councils music budget went to Opera. I hope I don’t need to explain the significance of that figure.
Not only are we fighting for a fair percentage of Arts budgets to be spent supporting Black led Organisations [see the ice-cream analogy from earlier] but also a fair spend in general based on the objectives of that spend. It is not fair and equitable to say here’s your 14% spend it where you want and we’ll spend the rest on us when our 14% will benefit everyone as a great deal of our art is in effect “pop” and easily accessible by all. So the numbers quickly become disingenuous… (I think, I hate Maths)
This is true of staffing as well as the budgets of these organisations include amounts for salaries. If there is inequity there then that reflects on the 14% as well right.
After the GFC in 2007/8 the Government started funding Large Organisations leaving specialist smaller Organisation struggling for breath. Some, like mine, passed away peacefully in their sleep but as this was money being spent on the diversity and most of the Organisations supporting that section of the community were small, it affected us disproportionately. More valleys, more hills. ?
In conclusion what I’m attempting to point out here is a pledge to do better is such a basic request, that despite my opening statement, we should demand and not ask for. Gloves off. Say what we mean. This inequality has been watered by racism, prejudice and privilege. It is social cadaver propped up by an unequal society. The only way we win is by stepping up and taking the penalty. ?
I said to Kevin I’m lucky [well creatively if not financially] to not have to mince my words anymore as I am not working in the industry. I write this unapologetically as a Black man, from a Black perspective but we accept all currency in this shop. This is just funding to you but it is not to me. My daughter and I went to Tesco to buy her a meal deal. When we got to the self-service till it asked us if we needed a receipt, I told her we didn’t for ￡3, let’s save the planet but she insisted “Remember we’re Black Daddy” she said, “the Security guard is watching”. She is 12 and I did not teach her that. This is our England. When Saka stepped up to take that penalty every Black person held their breath just that bit longer, we knew what would happen if he missed. And these organisations want to debate whether or not they can “promise” to do better sharing out money earmarked for us all.
I am not Toks X, I am not BAME. I am not muzzled. I may be out on the ragged edges with this piece as I’m annoyed but I can guarantee I am not alone here.
Kevin should succeed in his objectives. If he does not, shame on you all but we are not surprised.
#befairorbegone