21 July (Part 2) - Don’t mention the R word
Following Councillor Ogundayo’s disturbing story of racism in Bexley her colleague
Anna Day seconded the Motion. She said that what some white people people
say to her in unguarded moments about race is “shocking”. She has also seen “vile racist vitriol” in
connection with HMOs and people with brown skin called terrorists.
The Stephen Lawrence murder was retold in some detail as proof of endemic
racism as was Islamophobia relating to the recent Palestinian disturbances in
London. A Conservative supporter verbally attacked Diane Abbot and all black women
and their Mayoral candidate Tweeted negatively about “the wonderfully diverse city we live in.”
“We must call out any racism we see, comments in the News Shopper show how
much work there is to be done. We must foster good relations between our residents.”
Councillor Nick O’Hare (Conservative) put forward an Amendment to the Motion the contents
of which we can only guess at.
He said that Bexley is now 36% from ethnic minorities, “not including our
Ukrainian friends who have been welcomed with open arms”.
Nick also spoke of of his childhood experiences as a non-English
speaking immigrant sent here (Hertfordshire) for adoption. The only foreign
child in a school of 1,000 children. “Of course I was picked on and called names
but I got on with it and made friends and the name calling stopped. I promised
myself to always be respectful of others regardless of the colour of their skin
religion or sexual orientation. Racism has no place in the 21st century.” It is
good to see that Councillor O’Hare appears not to have been damaged by his earlier life experiences.
Councillor
Janice Ward-Wilson (Conservative) thanked Mabel Ogundayo for putting forward “this
very important Motion”. She referenced Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and
the 2021 census that showed Bexley to be more than a third ethnic minorities and
more than 10% of residents speaking a foreign first language. “As a Council we have an
enduring commitment to standing against racism. We believe in a fairer Bexley.”
Labour Councillor Zainab Asunramu said that the Amendment claims that Bexley
stands against racism “but we have sitting Councillors who have made racist
remarks and still have the privilege of a place here and a group of majority
white people [a reference to the Conservative Group] who think they know more about the experiences of Black and Global
Majority people than those of us who experience racism on the ground every day.”
“You trample on the wishes of your Black and Global majority
Councillor colleagues and also the staff who work here who are Black and Global Majority.
All the Black and Global Majority people in the room here have seen and
experienced racism up close and personal. The original Motion was incredibly
important because it names the issue of racism but by not naming that issue you cannot hope to solve it.”
“Growing up on Thamesmead I have experienced my fair
share of racism, in my own community, in my school and being called the N word
which still happens in 2024. In very recent history there have been specific
places in Bexley where we are told not to go for fear of being physically abused
or attacked. Racism is a scourge on our community and in our institutions and
health care and in the Council. Black kids make up 20% of stop and searches
while making up only 6% of the population and fewer than 1% of school pupils
study books written by people of colour.” A whole load of similar statistics followed.
At last year’s election count “a disparaging and Islamophobic comment was made
to me by a sitting Member in this room right now. The original Motion sets out
our intention to root out racism, unlike the showboating Amendment, it is a
chance to put political differences aside and should be supported.
Councillor Ogundayo was “extremely disappointed” by the Amendment. “I had reached
out to the Global Majority Staff Network and Cabinet Members about the
terminology but you chose not to bring your Amendment to me because politics
comes first in this Council. That is the message you are sending tonight and it
is embarrassing that we cannot get on the same page in advance of a meeting. It is really disappointing.”
The Conservatives voted for the Amendment and Labour did not. As far as I can
tell from the debate, the Amendment did not refer to racism which probably makes it worthless.
Bexley’s Conservative Council at its very best.
I am nevertheless left wondering where all this racism takes place because despite living
close to and arguably within Bexley’s African conclave I never see what our black Councillors do on a
daily basis. As you might imagine, if I saw racism at a Council meeting it
would be enthusiastically reported here but it never has been. It’s come close a
few times but never quite sufficiently clear cut to confidently merit the use of
the R word. Misogyny, now that is another matter, but not recently to my knowledge.