Actually Robert, there is a Hierarchy of Racism
The numbers don't lie, even if you do
Yesterday, Diane Abbott was once again suspended from the Labour Party. The withdrawal of the whip was prompted by an interview she did on BBC Radio 4, supposedly.
Since then, shock jock news aggregators, such as Politics UK and Robert Peston have made their feelings known.
Politics UK announced,
BREAKING: Diane Abbott has been suspended as a Labour MP after she defended her past comments implying Jewish people can't experience racism
ITV’s Robert Peston, who it turns out is Jewish, (who knew!), was interviewed on daytime TV and pronounced that what Diane Abbott had REALLY said, was that she had “no regrets” about her comments last year, and that she continued to say that the lived experience of black women facing racism is different to his experience as a Jew. And, “that most people would say, you should never say there is a hierarchy of racism.”
Today on Great Morning Britain, Kate Garraway declared that what Diane Abbott said had, "really upset and offended Jewish people". And maybe she has.
But what she actually said and what she was suspended for are two different things. She tried to clear that up by posting the video of her interview on her social media channels.
Jewish author Michael Richmond, had this to say:
When mainstream institutions try to enforce an intuitively absurd order of faith that Black people and white Jews face equal racism or that antisemitism is actually the end level boss of racism it is NEVER to protect Jews today or to defend the sanctity of past atrocities against us, rather, it is to defend the current racial regime, an important feature of which is the instrumentalisation of Jews (many willingly) and Jewishness a) to defend euro-US/Israeli colonialism and imperialism and b) to discipline Black/Muslim people/anti Zionists/the left in the metropole.
And let’s not forget that Abbott is the most abused female MP in our lifetimes, e.g, 45% of all abusive tweets sent to female MPs in the six weeks before the 2017 election were targeted at her. (In the previous six months, she received just under a third of all abuse sent to the same group),
Years ago, going up the tube escalator with my then partner, some white men, possibly drunk, definitely malicious, started shouting go home n*gger at me and anyone in hearing distance as they went down the escalator. My partner wanted to call the police. I said let's not bother, that sort of thing happens all the time, I don't want to be late.
At university another ex-partner who was a film student was directing a short film he wrote that dramatised the Pied Piper story. He asked all our friends to be in it. But not me. I was perplexed, so asked him why not. He said it would be weird. He couldn't imagine a fantasy future in which black people were in.
In the past two weeks I have had an uptick of racism targeted at me online, to my dismay and sometimes amusement.
Stuff like this…
And this… (yet I know I'm cute 🤷🏿♀️)
and this…
But these kinds of on the street and interpersonal racisms are mere inconveniences, the hum of the fridge in the background. It's when people get in the way of me and every other black person I know and those I don't, earning a living, or having a roof over our heads, that it gets real personal, real quick.
Did you know that you are more likely to die within 20 years of being threatened with eviction, and that black people are more likely to get a no fault Section 21 eviction than any other ethnicity?
I was threatened with eviction only this week and my heart has been racing ever since. Add to that, women with ADHD live 9 years less than average, I should be about to pop my clogs around the middle of next week. Goodbye cruel world.
Journalism is a particularly precarious trade at the best of times, but even more so if you are not white.
According to LSE:
A 2016 study by City university reported that just 0.4% of British journalists are Muslim, compared with almost 5% of the UK population, and only 0.2% are black, compared with 3% of the UK population.
These figures are more alarming given that most of the UK’s national news media organisations are based in London, the UK's most diverse city at 40% of us.
Figures from 2014/15 on the likelihood of journalism students being employed as a journalist six months after graduation indicate that white students have a 26% chance, while black students only have an 8% chance.
By 2021 the numbers had changed a little, only 90% of journalists identified as white. You wouldn't have thought so if you had attended the Paul Foot Awards with me in 2022, where I was the only black person in the room.
I wish I had a photo from the Hugh Cudlipp lecture last year where the Independent's Editor-in-Chief, Geordie Greig (who reads this newsletter) was the keynote speaker. The only other black person in that room, was a waiter.
So for Robert Peston and his fellow pundits, here are some facts:
In housing…
Black people are 4 times more likely to be made homeless than white people
Black renters are more likely to receive a Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice than any other ethnicity.
Black people are 4 times more likely to be asked for 6 months rent in advance than white people.
10% of black families in the statutory homelessness system gained access to social housing, compared with 24% of white families
43% of black-headed households in temporary accommodation have been there for more than two years, compared with 25% of white-headed households
A fifth (18%) of black-headed households in temporary accommodation have been there for more than five years, compared with 8% of white-headed households.
Black social housing applicants report being treated more poorly than white applicants, facing longer delays and receiving support that is not culturally aware.
A Generation Rent report about discrimination in private renting found that white people are 36% more likely to receive a positive response when applying to rent on SpareRoom than Black people.
Profiles where the user appears to be white are 17% more likely than Black profiles to receive any response at all
Shelter's research found that 10% of Black people were told that the landlord has a ‘no family’ policy compared to only 3% of white people.
15.2% of Black people live in the top 10% of deprived neighbourhoods, compared to 9.9% of the wider population.
While 68% of White households own their homes, only 40% of Black Caribbean households and 20% of Black African households are homeowners.
In the Criminal Justice System..
Black children are six times more likely than white children to be subjected to a strip-search by police
75% of the children who were strip-searched by the Met in custody over the past three years were from ethnically diverse backgrounds, prompting allegations of racism
Black male teenagers are more likely to be tried in a Crown Court than their White equivalents
Black and minority ethnic defendants are more likely than White defendants to receive prison sentences for certain crimes
Black people were 5.8 times as likely as White people to be stopped and searched in Nottinghamshire in the year ending March 2020.
In the year ending March 2023, people identifying as black were searched at a rate 4.1 times higher than those from a white ethnic group across England and Wales
A 14-year-old black girl who was strip-searched by police was left traumatised by the incident and later tried to kill herself. Olivia* was handcuffed and had her underwear cut off in the presence of male officers
Four Met Police Officers who handcuffed and restrained a 14-year-old black schoolboy on the ground during a stop and search in London committed misconduct, the police watchdog said
A Met Police officer ordered a black teenager to kneel in the street before pressing a Taser to his neck. PC Connor Jones threatened Jamar 16, that if he moved during the stop-and-search, a 50,000-volt stun gun would be deployed
For 100 white women sentenced to custody at Crown Courts for drug offences, 227 black women are sentenced to custody
For every 100 white men, it is 141 black men
Black defendants spend on average more than 70% longer in prison awaiting trial and sentencing in England and Wales than their white counterparts
Black people were 44% more likely than white people to be sentenced to jail for driving offences, 38% more likely for public disorder or possession of a weapon and 27% more likely for drug possession
In Maternal Health
Black women in the UK are almost four times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than their white counterparts, while black babies are twice as likely to be stillborn
Black women are up to six times more likely to experience some of the most serious birth complications during hospital delivery across England than their white counterparts
Black women make up 26% of women who experienced the birth complication pre-eclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension during delivery, despite making up just 5% of all deliveries across England
Black womem are six times more likely to experience pregnancy complication than their white counterparts, who made up only 47.2% of these cases despite making up 70% of all deliveries
Black women are 1.5 times more likely to develop preeclampsia than their white counterparts, and are also overrepresented in birth complications regarding high blood pressure, making up 16% of these cases
The Ethnicity Pay Gap…
Black, Asian and ethnic minority employees lose out on £3.2bn a year in wages compared to white colleagues doing the same work, according to a 2018 study
After taking account of differences in average qualifications and job types, analysis by the Resolution Foundation found the gap rose to as much as 17%, or £3.90 an hour, for black male graduates’ pay
Among female graduates, black women faced the biggest pay penalty, of £1.62 an hour (9%)
Only about 3% of large employers have so far voluntarily reported their ethnic pay gaps
One of the few companies to do so, ITN, found that its Black and Asian employees were paid 21% less per hour than white employees
An audit of public-sector pay in London carried out for the mayor, Sadiq Khan, found that Black and other Minority Ethnic staff were paid up to 37% less on average
In publishing…
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) survey found that the number of racially minoritised main characters between 2022 and 2023 dropped by half – from 14% to 7%
47% of black and minority ethnic writers have a literary agent for their debut, compared to 64% of white novelists. Once a career is launched, 53% of the former were agentless, compared to 37% of white writers
Between 1996 and 2017, Malorie Blackman, author of the YA novel series ‘Noughts & Crosses’, was the only Black author shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal out of 150 authors
Between 2018 and 2021, having made an effort to increase racial diversity, Black authors made up 37.5% of shortlisted nominees for top literary prizes
Yet, the Carnegie medal to this day, 85 years down the line, has still not managed to be awarded to a Black British writer
The numbers look stark. But you won’t read or hear them mentioned on any TV channel or in any newspaper in the next few days. You also won’t hear, that by misrepresenting Diane Abbott’s words at every turn, it has given permission to a lot of white people who were racist yesterday and will be racist tomorrow, the opportunity to call black people "the real racists". One of their favourite things to do as Tom Hatfield says.
I don’t expect to change many, if anyone's mind, but my analysis is that whilst there is a hierarchy of racism, there is no hierarchy of oppressions, e.g, I certainly don't think my outcomes as a non-disabled black woman are worse than a white disabled person. However a black disabled person’s might be. And if you're a black Muslim? Good luck.
David Baddiel's long suffering niece Donna, attempted to explain these intersections to her uncle, best selling author of Jews Don't Count. She said,
It's interesting for me as a biracial person.. I can't hide the fact that I'm black.. My dad can hide the fact that he's Jewish..
In America, if my mom gets stopped by cops in her car I'm a little more worried than I am if my dad gets stopped in the car by cops.
“Anti-Black racism is the fulcrum of White Supremacy”
– Scott Nagawa
But please let’s never forget the oppression that Roma and Travellers face in this country. In 2023, the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity published its Evidence For Equality National Survey report. The report showed that: 62% of Gypsies and Travellers had experienced a racial assault, which was the highest out of all minority ethnic groups surveyed.
You read this far and, maybe you will even think about the above beyond today but what you won't think of is subscribing or donating via my paypal, because let's admit it, nobody really values black women’s work. I think I have ably demonstrated that above. ✌🏿
The insidious nature of anti-Palestinian discrimination goes beyond racist stereotypes: It has a chilling effect on speaking about the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and creates an environment where Palestinians are discouraged from expressing their own identity.
Excerpt from, It’s not Islamophobia, it’s anti-Palestinian racism
Some questions from Gaza's children as compiled by staff from the Palestine Trauma Centre in Gaza because Anti-Palestinian racism is unique and as we have seen over the past two years has horrific consequences that have spiraled into a livestreamed genocide that Western countries are complicit in, if not actively backing.
Please consider donating to the Sameer Project who do their best to provide food, water, and shelter to displaced people in Gaza.
They are a grassroots project, founded by four Palestinians in the diaspora. Sameer Abu-Salim is the name of the father of one of the founders who died in Gaza in January 2024 due to a lack of access to medical treatment.
Gaza's life expectancy dropped from 75.5 years to 40.6 years between October 2023 and September 2024.
Consider booking me for a campaigning journalism talk or workshop, details and photos here.
Have a good weekend.