The Normalisation of Racism!

It all started with the demonisation of “Wokeness” fuelled by the Brexit vote and the presumption that anti racism was not necessary.  The fear of strangers has always been an intrinsic element of British culture from bygone days when a foreigner was someone from the next village. Wokeness originated from African American vernacular and meant being alert to systemic racial prejudice and injustice, but evolved into a broader, often contested term for awareness of social inequalities (race, gender, etc.) So traditionally being woke was recognising and challenging existing inequalities and doing something about it. There are many today who now use the “accusation” of Wokeness as a justification for not responding positively to Racism or any other inequality.

Unfortunately, anti-racism was always going to be challenged by those who wanted to hold on to the power and control they still had (mostly middle-aged White men’), and they were not going to let go of that advantage easily. Brexit helped to continue the identification of  “foreigners” as the pantomime villains responsible for all the ills of society. More recently it was the Poles, and the Romanians, but of course the Asians and Blacks have always occupied the default position of strangers/foreigners as our Prime Minister recently reminded us in his quote reminding us that without strict immigration controls, the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers”. We now have many from Black and Brown communities who are the vanguard in defending the positions of White supremacists who have duped them into believing that they are “one of them”.

Having completed two successful years of exhibitions relating to “Colourism”, it has become clear that we have only scratched the surface; because underneath some of those light skins there lies an unacknowledged African heritage, which some refuse to acknowledge. Within our own Black and Brown communities we are still disentangling the legacy of the traumas that have afflicted us regarding our identity and how we value ourselves.  Our very language are indicators of our condition and the choices that we make are very often a continuation of inherited trauma of our Race. There are so many avenues to explore that showcase the desire of those that are not white to try to be as close to Whiteness as they can! This reminds me of the famous Malcolm X quote which has resulted in psychological traumas for many “Black” people:

“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the colour of your skin? To such extent you bleach, to get like the white man. Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose, and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to, so much so that you don't want to be around each other? …. you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God gave you”.

I wrote a paper some years ago re-examining the notion of who the “We’ are as Black people and when I hear commentators speaking of “We’ I am even more sure that we all have different definitions of what constitutes the “We”. The redefinition of what it means to be “Black” has contributed to how “we”value ourselves. The thing is Colourism, which fractures the notion of the we, is real and not just a debating point and there are many who are anxious to associate with Whiteness either physically or ideologically because they see that as a protection and a statement that they are not like the othertroublesome “Blacks” who they sometimes despise. The thing is that the racists make no distinction and lightness is not a protection even from their own delusion. Far Right ideology from people like Sarah Pochin who believes that there are too many Black people in adverts or Jim Ratcliffe who fears “Black Colonisation” does not differentiate regarding complexion and we would be foolish to believe that our complexion protects us as it will only be used to further demonise those of a darker hueand I still come back to the question of how dark brown do you have to be to be Black. The euphemistic use of the terminology “migrants” is also a tactic that we all know primarily means Black and Brown people which was further demonstrated when White English families were inviting White Ukrainians to live in their homes, and this was promoted extensively. I have rarely seen White families inviting Afghan refugees into their homes, and these are people who supported the Brits over there and had to escape the Taliban because of that support.

The normalisation of Racism started when the systems to recognise racism and respond to racism were dismantled and we did nothing. The normalisation of racism continued with the failure of institutions to not only deny institutional Racism but failied to set up systems that those subjected to Racism were comfortable with…..and we did nothing. All these mainly White organisations did was to nominate token Blacks to widely represent the views of their communities to mimic the illusion of diversity.  This continued with the failure of Black and Brown communities to vocalise their own experiences of Racism and lacking the courage to do something about it, not appreciating that such behaviour encouraged further racist behaviour and the blatant expression of racist views as we have seen in the regular marches of the so called “Patriots”. The anti-racist alliance of Black, Brown and White peoples have also dismally failed to forcefully challenge the lies and disinformation perpetrated by the far right sympathisers. Furthermore, the values and contributions of Black and Brown peoples born here and those who are migrants has not been promoted; almost as if we do not want to irritate a general public who refuse to value us as we should be valued! Lies are regularly perpetrated by the far right and authorities do nothing to challenge the lies or  promote the values and contributions of Black and Brown communities.

Sadly, Black and Brown communities have chosen not to acknowledge the normalisation of Racism and believe that the old-fashioned celebration of Diversitythat include saris, samosas and steel bands will win the day as we parade in our ethnic gear and try to convince the “patriots” that we are not a threat!....Well good luck with that as the policies of Reform sweep the country and other political parties lean further to the Right.The ultimate irony is that the civil rights movements of the seventies and eighties empowered many Black and Brown people who are now using that empowerment to sustain White supremacy and find a place for themselves! Have we not seen that before!

There was a time when we used to challenge Racism but for too long too many of us believed that Racism was a thing of the past and we are now so divided that it is hard to envisage a time when we properly recognise the commonality of the Racism we all face as some of us invest in the possibility of our families becoming whiter and whiter through the miscegenation of generations or tightly clutch onto our connections with our so called “Mother Countries” who very often see those who return periodically as “outsiders” anyway.

The reality is that the more we try to deny who we are the more the far-right lobby will appreciate how uncomfortable we are about our identity. Yes, Racism has been normalised and the longer we refuse to challenge that condition the longer it will take for us to appreciate that silence is not neutrality….. silence is complicity……whether we are Black, Brown, or White.

Don John

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