Mayor opens up on ‘aggressions’ over race issues

WHEN Dan De’Ath became Cardiff’s Lord Mayor this year, he was doing far more than continue a century-long tradition in the city.

As Councillor De’Ath donned the mayoral chains at City Hall for the first time, he became Cardiff’s first-ever mayor from a black background.

The previous 114 mayors in the city were all white.

It may seem surprising in a city with long-established African and Arab communities, but people from a BAME background are still under-represented in public life in Cardiff, as they are throughout Wales and the UK.

During his acceptance speech Cllr De’Ath said Cardiff was one of the greatest cities in Europe and praised its “openness, diversity and tolerance”.

But what is it like being a black politician in Cardiff in 2019?

Although he loves his job, five months in, Cllr De’Ath has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he is still facing what he calls “microaggressions” due to to the colour of his skin.

“As a black politician, I have been out at events and people presume I’m a security guard or the wine waiter,” he said.

“I don’t look like what they imagine a councillor looks like. Even now as mayor, it still happens.

“It happens about 30%-40% time.”

Cllr De’Ath tells a story about an event at the Senedd in 2014 where a cabinet member of another South Wales council immediately assumed he was not a councillor.

“You’re not a councillor, are you?” he asked.

When Cllr De’Ath explained that he was – he was elected in 2012 – the cabinet member replied, “Ah, but you’re not in the cabinet, are you?”

Another example Cllr De’Ath gives is when he is driven to an event and people immediately assume his white driver is the mayor.

He explained: “People conjure up in their mind a councillor as being white, middle-aged and wearing a grey suit.

“People don’t do it consciously, unconscious.

“I don’t think they are doing it because they are racist – it’s the ideas they have about society, about different roles,” he added.

“I think most non-white people to some degree will experience very small nuanced slights.

“I have been in Sainsbury’s and have seen the security guard eyeing me because I’m a tall, looming black man.”

But Cllr De’Ath, 40, says attitudes towards race have improved since his childhood, which he spent in Warwickshire.

As a child he would experience casual racism and racial abuse – both in society of the it’s and directed at himself personally – as an almost accepted norm.

But he said good progress had been made in society since then and praised Cardiff as being a “good place to live as a non-white person”.

Cllr De’Ath said: “In some ways it is buried and obscured.

“Prejudice is not as fierce as it was in the 1960s.

“There are less people who hold these views, but they are still there.

“In the 1950s and ’60s it was part of the fabric of political debate, whereas today it’s quite the opposite.

“The problem today is it’s not just how we’re treated, but how society is structured.”

But how does he feel about still experiencing “microaggressions” decades later?

“I’m disappointed, but not surprised,” he said.

“You can appreciate people don’t do it because they are bad people some of the time, but quite possibly they are some of the time.”

Cllr De’Ath, a father of four whose own dad came from Antigua in the late 1970s and has a white mother, wants to see more people from BAME communities enter politics.

He said he hopes Cardiff’s first Muslim mayor or first gay mayor will come along soon.

He said one of the best things about his job was visiting primary schools and speaking to young people.

“I’m really pleased and proud to be the first black mayor of Cardiff,” he said.

“I really want to use the role to encourage other black people and people from working-class backgrounds to enter the public sphere.

“I find young people today are so funny, confident and articulate in a way kids weren’t and I wasn’t when I was at school.”

To people from those communities who may be thinking about entering politics, he said: “It’s worth it, it’s important. We need you to come in and help make the change.

“I thoroughly enjoy it – I love being a councillor.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had. “You make a difference at the individual level and at the city level as well.”

Cllr De’Ath has described his experiences as we mark Black History Month – which recognises the achievements and contributions of black people in the UK.

He said the month was important as sometimes people “tell stories” in order to “sweeten the pill” of certain events – such as the arrival of the Windrush generation – to make it more palatable for people.

“I want to be candid about my experiences as a black person in public life,” he said.

“Compared to a lot of people, I’ve had it very easy.

“We need to have a more honest conversation on a number of levels,” he said.