Are charities doing enough to support Black Lives Matter?

Taking action

In the wake of the protests across America and here in the UK, people posting support and raising awareness initiated action on social media. Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, two music industry executives, asked musicians to halt their usual work for a day of reflection and discussion for ‘an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the black community.’

Other industries joined in the digital movement, including the charity sector, to extend support and elevate anti-racism resources and organisations with the #BlackOutTuesday and #theshowmustbepaused hashtags.

Charities for change

Charities in the UK got involved by posting statements across their websites and social media.

Comic Relief posted on Twitter: ‘Comic Relief was founded on the principle of ending injustice. Racial justice is a global issue. We stand with the black community, including our black colleagues, project partners, supporters, and friends’. Their Twitter feed is promoting organisations aiming to dispel racial stereotypes, educate people about allyship, and provide support for people affected by the recent events.

MSF UK posted on Twitter: “Silence Kills. You matter. Black lives matter.” They have been using their Twitter feed to spread awareness of actively anti-racist resources such as Anti Racism Day and UK Black Pride.

Leading the change

Charities closely aligned with the cause have also come forward.

Show Racism the Red Card works to educate people about anti-racism through workshops and training to undermine racist beliefs and ideas. Launched nearly 25 years ago, the organization works with prominent footballers to promote their mission.

Their Instagram page features a post of Jadon Sancho, who joined in with a handwritten message of ‘Justice for George Floyd’ and wrote that ‘we have to come together as one & fight for justice’ on Twitter. Show Racism the Red Card’s Instagram feed features artwork and information about the cause as well as support and information from prominent black figures.

Race Equality First have worked over 40 years to spread awareness and combat discrimination and hate crime in Scotland. They have taken to Instagram to highlight key information about hate crime, sources of help and how to take action. Their Instagram feed features quotes from luminaries such as Martin Luther King Jr and Michelle Obama as well as how to demonstrate locally.

Is the sector doing enough?

#CharitySoWhite, an organisation that questions privilege and structures in the charity sector reinforcing institutional racism, said on Twitter ‘The racism that murdered #GeorgeFloyd is not an issue isolated to America or one that is only perpetuated by the police service...Charity sector - you must hold state accountable on police brutality and racism. You must stand up to the racist power dynamics that riddle our work.”

We reported on the work of #CharitySoWhite when the hashtag first emerged, and revisited the topic six months down the line to see what had changed.

#CharitySoWhite’s statement highlights the responsibility that charities have in working towards a more equal and inclusive society – just as the campaign began to address the underlying racism and discrimination faced by many BAME charity workers.

The sector can do great work in leading social change, just as it always has in this country. But that will only be achieved if charities as a whole take responsibility for underrepresentation in the sector and take steps to address it.

Only by creating a more diverse charity sector that reflects the modern society that we live in will charities in the UK be able to affect wider change.

Fewer than 1 in 10 voluntary sector employees are BAME (9%), and in terms of leadership roles, between 5-8% of executive and non-executive leaders in the sector are from BAME backgrounds.

One third of the largest charities have all-white senior leadership teams and boards. Last year we recorded a two part podcast series exploring this, and tackling the issues facing inclusion in the charity sector. You can listen to Part One and Part Two here.

ACEVO has a list of eight principles to address the diversity deficit in the charity sector. This resource can help organisations to eliminate the systematic barriers and unconscious biases that restrict BAME individuals in the charity sector from moving into leadership positions.

Former CharityComms Editor and charity sector digital veteran Susheila Juggapah anecdotally reports this discrimination:

“This became such an issue that I spoke to an anonymous contributor, a woman of colour, for an article in CharityComms, who said she’s sick and tired of not being promoted while watching lots of white women being promoted over her and not understanding what she was doing wrong.

 

While it’s impossible to know if this lack of promotion is due to being a BAME person, there is a definite common thread there around promotion. It’s frustrating because it’s hard to know if you haven’t got the skills or if its because how people perceive you. So there is a feeling of being gaslit, especially when you’re few and far between and there’s nobody to talk to about it.”

Thousands of you voted for your BAME Charity Digital Leaders in our campaign to highlight the outstanding contributions and digital leadership of BAME individuals working throughout the charity sector. In the months since the vote, we’ve been working with a number of your nominees in our content, and at our #BeMoreDigital 2020 Conference.

These digital leaders are all doing exceptional work, often under difficult circumstances, and set a great example to the wider charity sector of the incredible leadership that we are missing out on as long as we act unilaterally. Addressing the issues of racism and exclusion requires a united response.

As long as BAME individuals are underrepresented in leadership positions throughout the charity sector, then UK charities will not be able to properly address the issues of systemic racism in our society.