"If we have not experienced something ourselves, it does not mean it doesn't exist."

The Jackson Lees Group is currently revelling in the firm’s first Culture Week; a week created by the Diversity Committee to celebrate one another’s differences and raise awareness of the challenges that society still faces in respect of those differences.

A few weeks ago I reached out to the fabulous Rachel Boyle, knowing that whatever she delivered to our people would be a valuable addition to Culture Week. Today, we were lucky enough to host Rachel, who served up a captivating talk covering the ethnic makeup of the country, racism and perceptions. And girl, she did not disappoint!

Rachel spoke of her own experiences, ones that I could draw upon being bi-racial like her. Rachel explained that she was the only brown child in primary and secondary school and would often have people make assumptions of her heritage, based on her appearance.

There really is nothing more belittling or frustrating than someone categorising you, incorrectly or not, due to your physical characteristics.

Rachel has completed extensive research on people’s perceptions and why they can be so dismissive of other people’s experiences.

She explained that she has often thought of Evertonians as “bitter blues”, simply because she was influenced by her father’s love of Liverpool FC growing up. Rachel recognises that she does not know a lot about football and so statements such as those are not based on evidence. Similarly, those raised in an environment surrounded by racist notions will also likely have certain perceptions that have become embedded, without any real evidence supporting those ill-founded views. Having said this, Rachel acknowledges that people’s positions can change based on their experiences and so education and opening the channels for helpful discussion is key. Rather than racism being the being the end of the conversation, Rachel described it as the starting point to conversations and dialogue.

Thanks to Brexit, a right-leaning government and media rhetoric, Rachel says that Britain is the “perfect storm for racism”. It is not difficult to see how, over the years, BAME people have been demonised and scapegoated by politicians and “news” outlets.  Divisive language and the negative portrayal of certain communities has normalised micro-aggression and racist attitudes in modern day Britain.

It seems that it is now more offensive to call a racist out for what they are, than racism itself is.

Leading on from this,Rachel touched upon her viral appearance on BBC Question Time, in which she called out white privilege. White privilege is such a hot topic at the moment, but many people do not know what it truly means and so naturally react in a defensive way (Mr Fox being the perfect example) Rachel is a firm believer that if one feels uncomfortable when confronted by subjects such as white privilege, one should take some time to reflect and ask themselves “why?”.

The Diversity Committee is committed to starting conversations around taboo topics such as white privilege in order to create a more understanding and forward thinking working environment.

There is still work that needs to be done to redress the balance, and I know that the work of the Committee will help in that process.