Diversity Hurts

“Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.”

― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Admittedly, I am not the best person to offer opinions on ‘Reality TV’ or the modern incarnation of talent shows. Nothing against the people who appear on them or indeed the largely inoffensive panellists that are as regular a fixture on terrestrial TV as a pair of high-waisted trousers on Simon Cowell. Reality TV to me is an oxymoron, a phrase so ludicrously inaccurate that it skews the very concept of what reality is. As for talent shows – they seem to be the new opiate of the masses and too often reward mediocrity or exploit vulnerable and deluded people for the purposes of entertainment. Just my opinion and I truly envy the millions of people that can suspend all of their critical thinking to sit back and enjoy them.

One such show is Britain’s Got Talent, in its 14th season on the Daily Mail of terrestrial television, ITV1. Think of the contestants as ‘whacky’, ‘loveable’ and ‘quirky’ spliced with some actual talent and you’ll get the picture. It’s the kind of show that I imagine most of our identikit politicians professing a profound love affair with. Anyway, the most recent episode featured a powerful performance by the winners of the 3rd series, Diversity. Led by a biracial phenom called Ashley Banjo who is now also a judge on the show, the group are a true rainbow coalition of young people who have genuinely inspired a generation of youngsters from diverse backgrounds to dance or express themselves creatively as opposed to destructively. Something for Britain to be proud of and to give the middle finger to the naysayers like me. Right?

Wrong. Not entirely, but still, pretty much wrong.

Diversity had the temerity to deliver a performance that centred around #BlackLivesMatter and the death – sorry, the murder – of George Floyd. By all objective accounts it was beautiful, powerful, poignant and considering recent attempts by the right to depict peaceful protests as riotous mob rule, some might say timely. There were numerous congratulatory messages that cut across colour, class, age, gender and religion which highlighted how invested a majority of Britons feel about the battle for social justice and basic equality. However, there were (are) a vast minority who feel it necessary to express the view that all lives matter because the statement Black Lives Matter is oppressive to them. (Who knew that not suffixing the word ‘too’ would cause them such consternation?)

‘I’m not racist but I don’t want politics in my face when I’m just there to be entertained’ tweeted one such snowflake and he was far from alone. In fact, perhaps credit is due to him because at least he managed not to be abusive and bilious in his commentary unlike the majority of his counterparts. I know I’m setting the bar reeeeally low but I have a lifetime of low expectations from white people when it comes to objectivity about racism. Just saying. It’s easy to say black and brown people should ‘get over it’ when racism is highlighted but it’s hard to get over something that’s still happening. Every day and literally all the time. Racism destroys ALL of us because this wilful blindness between us only serves the oppressive system(s) in which we live. And for (black) men in particular, there needs to be an awakening; a recognition that misogyny and sexism are major impediments to liberation because they are the bastard siblings of racism and homophobia. We must understand that revolution against injustice anywhere brings benefits and justice everywhere and that some will always be offended by the notion of equality.

But the fear of offense is an incredibly small price to pay for freedom.

So as a quick reminder, after approximately 500 years of exploitation, dehumanisation, scapegoating, rape, pillage, murder, cultural theft (and appropriation) and countless other transgressions, the world entered an age where black people could provide tangible evidence to support their ‘complaints’. There was the technology to publicise the crimes committed against our bodies in private – the police brutality (and murders), the inequities of the criminal justice system including disproportionate misuse of stop and frisk laws, the beatings – for the (white) world to see. And the (white) world saw it through a prism of collective angst brought on by a pandemic, which itself further highlighted the inherently racist, white supremacist societies the world over. And ostensibly, after this head start of half a millennium and over 25 generations of inherited wealth, are we beginning the conversation of what it means to be black.

White privilege doesn’t mean you haven’t suffered, struggled and strived for what you have or indeed that you can’t be proud of who you are. It doesn’t mean that you should carry the burden of the sins of your ancestors. It does mean that you have to accept that the system (of capitalism) that exists is built for white people to benefit from. It does mean that you accept that black and brown people are treated negatively purely because of the colour of their skin and that this a crime against our collective humanity. It does mean that if you believe in the concept of inherited wealth you HAVE to believe in the notion of inherited debt and to understand that ALL of us were paying reparations to slave owners until 2015; yet not a single penny paid to the descendants of slaves whose enslavement literally built Bristol, Liverpool, Swansea the Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London, the wealth of European colonising countries and so much more. White privilege means acknowledging all of the above and more so that we can collectively work to make the world a better place.

Admitting power, history and privilege matters. Black Lives Matter as does understanding why you have to say it. Your voice as a white person in this movement matters most of all. Because it’s the truth, and that will set you free.

Otherwise unearned privilege will continually weigh you down like an anchor. And Diversity, both as a philosophy and a dance troupe, will always be seen as a threat.