It is clear how ethnic disparities within the labour market are linked to other disparities in policy such as housing, and influenced by national crises such as the cost of living crisis. Issues within the labour market leads to wage disparity between minoritised communities and their White counterparts.
The Telling Stories event on 22nd November 2022, was a powerful, social and introspective conversation about the art of storytelling. I know this because I was there. It asked critical questions that were extremely thought-provoking about how the UnMuseum project (as it stands today with this name) will tell stories. But it was also a general conversation for storytellers in all modes and forms, as well as an educational one.
2023 marks the 60th year anniversary of when the words “I have a dream…” were first uttered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In our own fight for racial justice, we must remember the trails blazed by our elders and remember that their legacy was neither deemed palatable nor easily digestible, but was won through grit and resilience for a society where all are treated equally.
On the 25th of May 2020, 46-year-old George Floyd was pinned down and killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin after being accused of paying with a counterfeit $20 note. Floyd’s death sparked worldwide support for the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, as millions flocked to protest during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephen Lawrence was a Black British teenager who was stabbed to death by a gang of six white youths while waiting for a bus in Eltham on the evening of April 22nd, 1993. As we reflect on the what happened to Stephen Lawrence nearly 30 years ago, we must consider how far we have come and how much further we have still to go and acknowledge the role of every individual in driving real societal change and forging a space of inclusivity and equality.
Racial justice goes beyond anti-racism. It is not just the absence of inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures. The discourses of justice provide a way in which to engage and capture the multiple identities and experiences of oppression.
You can’t change what you can’t name, and it is therefore important to ensure we rally around the same language. The events of 2020, including the Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minority communities, has heightened public consciousness of race inequality. Now there is a need to galvanise and maximise impact through a nationwide collaboration for real change.
As a female, British Asian student, I find myself constantly stuck between two versions of success. Studying economics at a Russell group university comes with the expectations of a six-figure salary, a job in Canary Wharf and a hard-nosed attitude getting you to the top. Whilst I can imagine this life for myself, it feels as though I must forfeit some of my heritage to be part of the finance industry. As a white male dominated sector, there seems to be a culture that perpetuates the Wolf of Wall Street archetype.
