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I can’t remember a time when so many housing associations promoted Black History Month – but now it’s over, will they genuinely address racism?
Many social landlords spent October talking about Black History Month. But I worry that many will forget the issue for another year now it is over, writes Tom Murtha
I can’t remember a time when so many housing associations have promoted Black History Month. But I wonder now that the month is over how many will genuinely try and address the issues of racism and discrimination in their organisations? Or will they just put the material back into the ‘too difficult’ drawer to be pulled out as another business promotion next year?
I am sorry to be cynical but the real story of Black history as far as social housing is concerned is one of failure to act and deliver true diversity at all levels. I have seen too many examples of this over the past 40 years. Warm words followed by no action.
You don’t need an in-depth statistical analysis to see that there has been little or no progress on race and diversity in the past 20 years. In fact, those who experience the issues daily have argued elsewhere that the sector is going backwards.
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Even when some try to bring about change they concentrate on those applying for senior positions rather than their own organisations, which are really at fault. Development programmes are established to prepare people for leadership, which is fine if you need developing. But most of the Black and Asian aspiring leaders I know are better qualified on all levels than I ever was at any time in my career. It is not them who need ‘fixing’ – it is the system.
“The real story of Black history as far as social housing is concerned is one of failure to act and deliver true diversity at all levels”
I was reminded of this when reading an article by a colleague at Mayday Trust on why he had failed as a commissioner working with people experiencing homelessness and tough times in Westminster.
He said: “We are constantly trying to solve the wrong thing. We blame the people rather than the system, which is at fault.”
I know that there is not a direct comparison between homelessness and race and diversity. But I do believe that the failures of the past 40 years are caused by continually trying to fix the wrong problem.
Why? Because we fail to address the issues of racism and white privilege, which are at the heart of the broken system.
It is too difficult. It is too confrontational. It is too uncomfortable. You can choose your own excuse. I have heard them all.
And the reality is, it is all of these things and it is more. That is how real change happens. To put it bluntly, it is not those Black and Asian people who are applying or not applying for senior roles who are at fault, it is those who make the decisions to appoint and the organisations they work for. Unless we change them, we will continue to fail. If we continue to address the wrong problem we will continue to fail.
“My experience tells me that you need to work with those who you are failing and open yourself up to some uncomfortable truths before you can even begin on the journey to change”
It is not for me to say how you do this. But my experience at Mayday, and throughout my career, tells me that you need to work with those who you are failing and open yourself up to some uncomfortable truths before you can even begin on the journey to change.
Eventually the whole sector needs to do this. A piecemeal approach will not work.
If social housing really believed in the positive messages of Black History Month, it would start this process today. But I suspect that many will now forget the issue for another year, or continue to try to fix the wrong problem.
I hope I am wrong. But history, especially Black history, suggests that I am not.
Tom Murtha, founder member, Social Housing Under Threat (SHOUT), and former housing association chief executive
