#RaceEqualityWeek: A guide to responding to racism in the workplace
For quite some time, I’ve taken this approach in my work where whenever I meet someone new, and I expect it to be a sustained long relationship, I say the following words:
‘ If I ever say something that doesn’t sit right with you or I make a comment that hurts or offends you I apologise in advance. I am on my own respective journey to being as mindful and inclusive as possible. Naturally, as a human being socialised in this world, I will slip up. However, I will continue to try my best.’
With this foundation, I try to view my work and my relationships at work from a place of empathy and kindness. At the same time, I don’t want to sound like a forced LinkedIn post against ‘Cancel Culture’ that completely negates any kind of accountability.
Accountability for me is the act of holding an individual responsible for their actions and behaviour so that they can also learn if they’re willing and wanting to. As someone who has experienced racism in the workplace and now works in anti-racism, it's safe to say that I have more questions than answers in this area because anti-racism is a life-long journey, and the more I learn, the more questions appear.
Before I start, I just want to caution that I’m not from an HR background as such my recommendations below are grounded in basic acts of human kindness for anyone who identifies as an ally and is starting their journey in anti-racism. Equally, this is for anyone who is experiencing a challenging period due to racism. Which I recognise can be a daunting step as there’s so much information to take in. My intention with this piece is to provide small tips and pointers on small acts of kindness that can go a long way in supporting someone.
At the risk of cheaply evoking parts of my identity, I am a Muslim cis-straight guy with a thick beard who is quite evidently a working-class immigrant based on my mannerisms from East London. These are all parts of my identity that I tried to wash away as I entered the working world post-university in 2014. I was soon about to realise that no amount of beard trimming, cute suits from Topman or forcing a drink or two on team nights out would ever allow me to briskly ‘integrate’ without experiencing racism in the workplace. Having been on this merry-go-round more than I would like, here are a few tips that would have helped at the time, especially from a colleague's or management's perspective.
Check-in:
When a racist comment is made for the first time in the workplace, it’s safe to say it can feel like a punch to the stomach. One, because you’re not expecting it. Two, because we are told fallacies, the workplace is a neutral space where no one brings their prejudices and biases (lol I know). Three, because no one calls it out for the most part. I remember when an ex-colleague made a racist remark about Black children while I was showing him some design work I had made. At the time it threw me, I went into a freeze response. All of which was followed by questioning myself as to what just happened - recounting each word. Maybe I didn’t hear him correctly?
In a moment like that, my colleagues, who also witnessed this comment, should have stepped forward to check in on me whether it’s in the moment or after, privately - ultimately to serve as allies. Checking in with a colleague after a racist remark is made is so integral for a racialised person because it means you can serve the one person who honours their truth of how they saw and experienced it. Because otherwise, what ends up happening if the individual experience is not validated is that it results in racial gaslighting. Which is a ‘psychological manipulation that makes racialised people question their own experiences of racism.’
Show up and support
In the event of racism in the workplace, as an ally, it’s integral for the racialised person to feel supported. Generally speaking, when a complaint is made through HR, I’ve historically seen secondary school playground behaviours play out where folks are made to feel isolated for disturbing the group/company dynamics. In order to show up for the individual who is experiencing marginalisation and feeling isolated, on a very basic human level, show up and support as an ally.
Showing and supporting looks different in each case, however, this could range from:
Serving as a witness in conversations with HR (if allowed)
General human kindness (being empathetic and considerate)
General check-in (maybe just a morning ‘Hey how are you doing?’
Speak up for the person with their permission
Keep learning
One of the best ways to show up for a racialised colleague, or anyone else experiencing marginalisation and ultimately yourself, is to keep learning. And when I say keep learning, I don’t mean being hyper-focused on learning about all possible identities that experience marginalisation as though it’s some kind of game to be won.
When I say ‘keep learning’, what I mean is honouring yourself and the people around you from a place of ‘I have so much to learn, and I’ll keep trying my best’. One of the best sayings I’ve ever heard is ‘We can be oppressed and be oppressors at the same time’. What this statement means, for me, is that at any given moment, depending on the context, our positionality or circumstance can mean that we easily experience privilege or oppression or both.
This is why it’s so important to retain and develop our sense of self-identity based on key identity markers so that we’re aware of our impact on ourselves and others around us. A great tool that I use in my workshops is the self-identity wheel, which helps me understand where I’m coming from and how that paints my worldview.
What it is: The ‘Social Identity Wheel’ is an activity that encourages people to identify social identities and how those identities shape our worldview.
- Why we use it:
To encourage folks to consider their identities critically and how identities are more or less keenly felt in different social contexts.
To understand how privilege operates to normalise some identities over others.
To sensitise folks to their shared identities with their peers as well as the diversity of identities in the space, building community and encouraging empathy.
How to use it: Answer the questions below to complete the exercise:
Write down the identities you think about most often.
Write down the identities you think about least often.
Write down your own identities that you would like to learn more about.
Write down the identities that strongly affect how you perceive yourself.
Write down the identities that greatly affect how others perceive you.
If you would like to work with us and learn more about how to make your workplace more inclusive, get in touch with Taimour at taimour@sparkinsights.co.uk today, and if you would like access to more resources like this, sign up to our newsletter now.
In this article, Taimour, He/Him, (Project Management Lead, Spark Insights) provides advice on how to respond to racism in the workplace, using his own experience as a basis.