{"id":22231,"date":"2020-06-22T15:39:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T14:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=22231"},"modified":"2020-06-22T16:46:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T15:46:03","slug":"the-scales-are-not-balanced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=22231","title":{"rendered":"‘The scales are not balanced’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Windrush Day today (June 22) Unite celebrates the legacy of migrants from the Caribbean and other countries who arrived between the 1940s and 1970s and helped build post-war Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all their contributions and the work of their children and grandchildren \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of whom followed in the steps of their predecessors in public service roles such as in the NHS and public transport \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they still face institutions blighted by systemic racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research has found<\/a> that across the more than 3m leadership positions in the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s private and public sectors, only 1.5 per cent are held by black people, up only marginally from 1.4 per cent in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is despite black people constituting more than 3 per cent of the population in England and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis from Business in the Community looked at a wide range of sectors and found that in certain areas, black representation in leadership roles was even lower. Across public service leadership roles, only 1 per cent were held by black people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, black people are significantly underrepresented in certain professional roles – just 1 per cent of journalists, senior civil servants, judges, academics and those in the police force are black. Of the 39 appeal court judges, not a single one of them is black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the latest analysis, Business in the Community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s race director Sandra Kerr CBE said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTwenty-five years on from the Business in the Community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Race Equality Campaign being launched, it is clear that black people continue to be under-represented at a senior level. This lack of diverse leadership has a direct impact on decision-making. This is more crucial than ever when the evidence shows that BAME people continue to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBlack livelihoods matter and employers need to take urgent action to ensure that their organisation is inclusive and a place where people of any ethnic background can thrive and succeed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Windrush Day ‘especially poignant’ this year<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite lead professional officer Obi Amadi says Windrush Day is a significant day for her personally, as her family were migrants who came from the West Indies and Africa during the Windrush period and many worked in the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also significant for me personally because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked in the NHS my entire career and I know personally that the NHS wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be where it is now if it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the contributions of migrant and Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAEM) workers, not only from the Windrush period but beyond that up to this day,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Obi with her brother, sister and aunt Connie, a Windrush-era migrant who worked as a community nurse.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Obi, Windrush Day is especially poignant this year during the Covid-19 pandemic when a much higher proportion of BAEM people are dying from coronavirus than their white counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI know quite a few colleagues in the NHS who have died from coronavirus. Someone like me living in London where a much larger percentage of people are BAEM than in the rest of the country, this pandemic has really hit us and our BAEM communities hard.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt makes you wonder where we would be if our families hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come to the UK and faced so much racism that has continued through the generations to this day. It is a fact that if you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t being subject to systemic racism, racist bullying and all the rest of it your health outcomes are likely to be better. This is playing out in the Covid pandemic now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Obi and her aunt Connie now<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

‘Little progress made’<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the analysis from Business in the Community, Obi noted that lack of BAEM representation in leadership roles in the NHS is another case in point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m being generous when I say that it is a complete and utter shame,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told UniteLIVE. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFive years on from when the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard<\/a> was set up in 2015 to ensure employees from BAEM backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace, little progress has been made.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become a tick box exercise and the measures simply don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go far enough. When such a relatively high percentage of BAEM people work in the NHS, you have to ask what is preventing them from progressing into leadership roles? The scales are simply not balanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSenior managers will say they are picking the best person for the job \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but when the best person for the job is in fact a BAEM person, they get passed up because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit into that white \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bubble\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become part of the NHS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 leadership culture. All the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098should dos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that are part of the Workforce Race Equality Standard must become \u00e2\u20ac\u0098must dos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for any real change to happen.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite national officer for equalities Harish Patel agreed and called on employers across all sectors to take decisive action to reverse the significant underrepresentation of BAEM people in leadership roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On Windrush Day when we pay tribute to the legacy of BAEM migrants who came to the UK between the 1940s and 1970s to rebuild post-War Britain, we must also acknowledge the racist barriers they and their children and grandchildren now face,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat only 1.5 per cent of black people hold any of the more than 3m leadership positions across the UK’s private and public sector is a shambolic indictment of the system that continues to oppress and hold back our BAEM communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We must remember that the NHS and our other most cherished institutions would not be what they are today without the contributions of Windrush migrants, and their descendants continue to make these same contributions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Harish added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany businesses and organisations are coming out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but these employers need to look themselves in the mirror too. Are they doing all they can to ensure their BAEM workforce have equal access to opportunities to advance their careers? This latest research suggests not and removing these barriers requires bold action, not simply paying lip service to the problem.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hajera Blagg<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Windrush Day today (June 22) Unite celebrates the legacy of migrants from the Caribbean and other countries who arrived between the 1940s and 1970s and helped build post-war Britain. Despite all their contributions and the work of their children and grandchildren \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of whom followed in the steps of their predecessors in public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[1010,1295,909],"wps_subtitle":"Windrush migrants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 descendants still face institutions blighted by systemic racism","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22231"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22264,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22231\/revisions\/22264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}