Was all that ‘taking a knee’ just for show?

FOLLOWING the brutal and completely avoidable killing of George Floyd in the United States earlier this year a lot of things have happened. One, which is easy to remember, was the queue of politicians lining up for the photo opportunity to “take a knee” in front of the local media to show their support for the anti-racism movement.

The question I want to ask is: was this just a convenient press opportunity of performative antiracism by our political leaders?

Meanwhile, are these same leaders completely failing to act upon the structural racism existing within the political institutions they lead?

One person I would ask this very question of is John Clarke, the Labour leader of Gedling Borough Council.

If we look at the data coming out of Gedling Borough Council that John Clarke’s Labour group have led for a number of years, we see repeated data where the council is disproportionally favouring appointing people identifying as “White UK” at the expense of those who are “Black Minority Ethnic Background”.

13.68 per cent of the applicants to jobs at Gedling Borough Council were from “Non-white UK” but those were only appointed to positions 4.55 percent of the time.

To put this the other way, “White UK” applicants made up 86.32 percent of those applying but received an appointment at a rate of 95.45 per cent.

Similar statistics are found year on year and demonstrate a large statistical difference. Furthermore, not a single “Black Minority Ethnic Background” employee finds themselves within the top 5 per cent of earners at Gedling Borough Council.

You only have to look at the links on the council’s website to see that diversity among the leading members of staff is a real issue. How can these council leaders have creditable anti-racism rhetoric while we continue to see the institutions they lead discriminate against “Black Ethnic Minority Background” candidates trying to find employment?

While “taking a knee” and showing solidarity has a place within any movement, maybe some of the time would be better spent in the institutions they lead addressing the structural racism that exists in their own employment structures.

Structures which conclusively inhibit “Black Ethnic Minority Background” candidates getting employed at the same rate as their white peers.

The data quoted is data published by councils annually and can be found on its website. Arguably the most appalling aspect of this data is that every four years the council must also publish a document outlining what they will do to promote equality.

In Gedling Borough Council’s document there is not a single mention of addressing their employment structures that are discriminating against “Black Minority Ethnic Minority” applicants for jobs within the council. Not. A. Single. Word.

Yet the data is there staring them in the face.

My advice to John Clarke and other council leaders…. These documents are not simple tick boxes exercises; they should be used to further equality.

Showing solidarity is great, but these performative acts of antiracism become vacuous if that rhetoric is not backed up with real action in the institutions you have controlled for many years.

All data quoted can be found on the Gedling Borough Council website.

Sadie Spelling Mapperley