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Report transcript in: Reflections on anti-racist reading group
Please Report the Errrors?
OK, so, uh, what has been your learning as part of the anti racism reading group?
Oh, I think, um,
no, it's made a really big impact on me, actually through lockdown. Um,
I think, um, I've always thought of myself as an anti racist person.
Um, but I think, um, So being part of the group and and
learning through the book we've been reading has just really made
me reflect on kind of all of the different elements to
structural racism that exists in society that I wasn't even aware of.
So, for example, you know how the education system,
um, and justice
as well as employment practises have those
kind of ingrained prejudices built in against
against black people and people of colour applying for jobs and, you know, stuff
that historically existed. And then the way history is taught in
schools
all has a really fundamental impact on both individuals and society.
Yeah, so
So I guess it's kind of maybe made you, um,
look back on your own thinking or reflect on your own thinking that you had before.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And and just things like, you know,
reflect back on my own experience of education when there was
virtually no black kids in my school and we didn't really
learn any black history apart from a little tiny bit about,
um, the slave trade and civil rights movement in America.
So it's kind of that wider if I didn't have that wider context,
and now I'm trying to learn it. It it just makes you realise that most
people
don't
have
that wider
if they're white.
Um,
so I think it's just been it's just been
really useful thinking about that and then reflect maybe what
might have been underlying ingrain prejudices both within yourself
or within society that you might not have realised.
I think, um,
one of the really great things has been
learning a bit more about kind of intersectionality.
So about that interplay between
the race and also class
and and, um, kind of gender issues and feminism as well.
So I've always thought of myself as a feminist and kind of been really
inspired by the women of the kind of first generation wave of feminism,
Um, and kind of reading a few of the books through this both
lodge,
um and then also the the kind of picture book. Um, by Bernardine Everist.
Um, girl, woman other has just made me think about how
kind of white a
lot of the voices were certainly in this country in that movement and that, um,
you know, maybe
the movement did it unintentionally.
Mostly, I think unintentionally but
at times intentionally
black people from that movement,
and that was really kind of
a
positive
thought and similarly
kind of looking at race. And
it's been really interesting to
see how,
um
the the the the
that, uh,
you know
how important those two work together. But how kind of politicians have used,
like, language like work white working class is a trope to try and divide and rule,
um,
and and kind of stop with the working class, both black and white,
from working together,
um, and and kind of plain to be sticking up for white working class people.
And in actual fact,
um,
you know it.
It's just kind of rhetoric to use to kind of not improve things, um, for the benefit of
kind of creating greater equality within
society and improving everyone's lifetimes.
So, um, yeah, I think it's been really interesting. I think, um,
it's really reinforced for me the importance of
trying to more actively,
um, address and tackle racism through our programme.
Um, and just kind of raise awareness of black history as well.
So it it kind of made me think a bit more about how we can do that for fancy museums.
Um,
I think as well One of the really great things about the group is that it introduced
me and us to
other people within,
um Barnsley who are working on on similar things and
exploring anti-racism and and and trying to be good allies themselves as well.
So colleagues from
within the council and the equalities team
within, um, other organisations The Theatre
Civic,
um, and teaching that Northern College.
So it's been really good how, you know, a lot of us
have
perspectives and are working towards similar things.
So hopefully kind of by work,
we'll be able to come up with ways that we can be stronger and
think about how anti-racism initiatives work across Barnsley.
Fantastic. Yeah,
I think I I guess just one other thing that I would add is, um,
personally for me. I found it really helpful
The when you feel so powerless in the face of the current situation, with lockdown,
with not being able to go out and see people and do things, not meeting a lot of the
audiences that we would usually interact with at work.
Being part of the group has felt like
we we are doing something by using the the time to kind of
productively to kind of educate ourselves and,
you know, reflect on our own thinking and then make plans for the future.
It it's been kind of
that's been something that's kind of helped my well being as well as
you know, thinking about
Yeah, because I can think more positive. I don't feel as useless.
I think, um,
I feel like, you know,
just, I guess, humbled by everything that I've read. And it makes me want to
kind of
try and educate myself more and think about how I can be
a better ally by kind of reading more about race and,
uh,
intersectional issues and and kind of thinking about how
I can continue to kind of listen and learn.
I guess
those
three points,
Yeah, I completely agree with all of that
real
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