October marks Black History Month in the UK. This year more than ever, organisations and individuals had the responsibility to truly educate themselves not only on Black British history but how Black British history is British history.
With that in mind, October’s Diversity Dictionary offerings are words and concepts that shed some light on global experiences of Black people and people of colour. These are experiences that are directly impacted by colonialism.
And of course, Black history should never be contained just to one month. We urge everyone reading to continue their education beyond October, and through every month of the year.
diaspora
Tokenism is when a company hires just enough people from marginalised backgrounds so that the company can avoid criticism, tick boxes and make up ‘diversity’ numbers.
Humans have moved across countries and continents for millennia. But Western colonialism brought about a historical change in the way we move and settle. In a modern context, ‘diaspora’ is used to describe populations or groups of people who have migrated and settled away from their ancestral homeland, either by choice or involuntarily.
For the language enthusiasts here, the word ‘Diaspora’ has Greek roots: ‘dia’ means 'through', and ‘speirein’ means 'to scatter'. It is pronounced dye-A-spur-rah, with a stress on the ‘A’ (like the ‘a’ in ‘apple’).
Here are some examples of diasporas: Black people around the world, whether in Europe, the Americas, Asia, or elsewhere, can be said to be part of the African diaspora, even if they would not describe themselves as ‘African’. Our founders Roshni and Leyya are from the South Asian diaspora. Even if their families have not lived there for some generations they have all descended from the Indian subcontinent.
There are hundreds of diasporic populations around the world, identified by country and continent (such as the African and Indian examples given above), but also by religion, such as the Jewish diaspora, or by different cultural markers, such as the Persion diaspora.
Given the multi-layered and multi-directional nature of culture and human migration in modern history, someone could be part of multiple diasporas. For example, Black people in the Caribbean could be part of the Caribbean diaspora, as well as African diaspora.
People within a diaspora, no matter where they are in the world, may be tied together by their religion, food, wellness, language, dress and many other cultural practices. They may also have very little in common other than their ancestral roots.
It is worth considering the many reasons why diasporas exist. The Transatlantic slave trade and following use of indentured (forced and unfree) labourers during colonialism meant that many African, Asian and Middle Eastern people were taken involuntarily from their countries of birth to forcibly settle in Western colonies and countries. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, people have moved, settled and resettled in different parts of the world for economic, social and political reasons - and again, this can be by choice or because there is no other choice.
windrush generation
The Windrush Generation is the name given in the UK to a generation of people who immigrated to Britain from the Caribbean between 1948-1973. The name comes from the Empire Windrush ship, which came to Tilbury Docks in Essex in 1948 carrying hundreds of people, invited from the Caribbean.
After World War II, large parts of Britain were in desperate need of rebuilding, so the UK actively invited immigration from Commonwealth nations. Industries such as the National Rail, the NHS, and public transport were in need of workers and recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica and Barbados.
Despite the invitation, Caribbean people were often met with intolerance and racism from large parts of the white population, as well as institutions such as schools, the police and employers. The first Windrush arrivals were often denied accommodation and access to shops, pubs, clubs and even churches.
While this may seem like a slice of UK’s immigration history, it is very much part of our present-day - in the 2018 Windrush Scandal hundreds from the Windrush Generation were wrongfully targeted for deportation by racist government policies.
The Windrush Generation has contributed not only to the UK’s economy, but continues to contribute to every corner of British culture from music, fashion, art and literature to science, tech and academia.
coolurism
Colourism is specific form of discrimination, bias or prejudice faced by people with darker skin tones, often from within their own community. It can be seen as a type of ‘internalised’ racism, where people within one community give favourable treatment to those with lighter skin, and people with darker skin may develop a dislike for their own skin and features.
While it is often seen as a ‘Black problem’ or ‘Asian problem’ internal to those communities, modern forms of colourism have roots in Western colonialism, where European standards of beauty became the most desirable, aspirational way to be.
As colourism activist, Dr Sarah L Webb has explained, “Colourism is a manifestation of the idea that even if one isn’t white, their worth may be determined by how close they are to being white”.
This has continued well into the twenty-first century, with colourism showing up in many overt and covert ways. For example, skin lightening or skin bleaching products are openly sold around the world, including in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
Another recent example is the way in which AI technology is unable to detect darker skin. In the UK, women with darker skin are more than twice as likely to be told their photos fail UK passport rules when they submit them online, compared to lighter-skinned men. One Black student, Elaine Owusu, says she was wrongly told her mouth looked open each time she uploaded five different photos to the government website.
intersectionality
As a theory or lens, intersectionality allows us to see the intersecting and interconnected nature of different social identities and their related systems of oppression, domination, and discrimination.
The term ‘intersectionality' was coined in 1989 by legal professor and civil rights activist Kimberlé Crenshaw. Crenshaw observed that the law, which protected white women for their gender and Black men for their race, was failing to protect Black women, who faced unique forms of discrimination along the lines of both race and gender.
The term gained popularity in 2017 during the Women’s Marches that took place around the world, and today goes beyond the barriers of race and gender to also include disability, socioeconomic status, citizenship status and many other social identities.
An image that went viral from the 2017 Women’s March in Washington DC is of activists and educators @rachel.cargle and @danasuchow holding posters that read: “Protect Black, Asian, Muslim, Latinx, Disabled, Trans, Fat, Poor women. If you don’t fight for all women, you fight for no women”
Another way to understand it is: “Intersectionality is about fighting discrimination within discrimination, tackling inequalities within inequalities, and protecting minorities within minorities“ (via @CIJBerlin)
Intersectionality is one of the reasons why @_TheOtherBox exists. As a framework, it allowed founders Leyya and Roshni to see that the diversity and inclusion conversation mostly centred gender – so while white middle class women were speaking up, many other identities were being left out of the conversation.
As we near the end of Black History Month in the UK and continue our education of Black history beyond October, intersectionality is a useful framework to encourage us to consider ALL Black voices, including those who are disabled, in the LGBTQIA+ community, and from working class backgrounds.
Part of our mission at The Other Box is to educate as many people as possible in the language of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). On all our social channels, we share weekly words and their definitions, with a different theme each month.
These terms are a taster and have been taken from our Diversity Dictionary™ module in our Know Your Bias™ course. If you'd like to learn more, check out our courses page and fill in the contact form.
Is there a theme you’d like to see covered in Diversity Dictionary? Let us know! Our work is co-created by our community to work towards creating a world that is more inclusive and safe for everyone.
Words by Roshni Goyate
Header image by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash