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Discussing white privilege during Black History Month

Dorothy Smith has been running a series of short Zoom calls for colleagues about white privilege, as one part of PA Housing’s activities for Black History Month. Here, she explains why and what impact it’s been having

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The Zoom calls are the latest events PA has organised for Black History Month every October (Picture: Getty)
The Zoom calls are the latest events PA has organised for Black History Month every October (Picture: Getty)
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Discussing white privilege during #BlackHistoryMonth – @DorothyVS29 talks about the Zoom calls she’s been running for @pa_housing #UKHousing

“In addition to all of the things we usually do to celebrate Black History Month, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk to colleagues about white privilege,” says @DorothyVS29 from @pa_housing #BlackHistoryMonth #UKHousing

At PA Housing, we habitually take part in celebrations of diversity, such as Pride, Hijab Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, Eid, Christmas and Diwali. Along with these religious festivals and other national and international awareness campaigns, we always mark Black History Month (BHM) in some way in October.

We’ve showcased the work of Black poets, inventors and architects through our intranet and website. We’ve hosted African and Caribbean cooking workshops, enabling team members to learn how to make dishes including ackee and salt fish – Jamaica’s national dish. Whatever we do, we try to bring Black history to life for all our colleagues.

“For me, the past few months have been painful at times – but they’ve also made me more determined to do whatever I can to make the situation better”

However, October has taken on even greater significance this year. As the official BHM website states: “2020 has held a mirror up to the world and forced many to see the reality of racism in all its guises. From Black people dying disproportionately in the pandemic to the horrific murder of George Floyd and no justice for Breonna Taylor – the 26-year-old emergency medical worker killed by police in her own home.”

For me, the past few months have been painful at times – but they’ve also made me more determined to do whatever I can to make the situation better, starting by talking more openly with my colleagues about issues surrounding race.


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I’m chair of PA’s internal equality, diversity and inclusivity advisory group, which steers the organisation’s approach. As a group, we recently took part in a training session with the Housing Diversity Network and the discussions we had revealed that PA needs to better equip its managers with a greater understanding of racial inequality.

Conversations about white privilege are gradually becoming more commonplace and in addition to all the things we usually do to celebrate BHM, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk to colleagues about white privilege – what it is and why it matters.

That’s why, every Monday since the beginning of October, I’ve been holding 15-minute Zoom sessions with diverse groups of colleagues in order to address the subject.

“We talk about how, when outcomes benefit people, this is what we mean by privilege”

The white privilege sessions are open to all colleagues and are interactive workshops. Everyone is asked to hold up their hands and is then given a series of everyday scenarios – for example, being verbally abused because of their race, or stopped or detained by the police for no clear reason.

If they have experienced the scenario, they put down one of their fingers. The skin colours of the participants with the least fingers still in the air at the end of the scenarios demonstrate how different the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people often are to those of their white colleagues.

We then listen to people’s stories and discuss how situations are often completely outside their control and did not result from any decisions they made. We talk about how, when outcomes benefit people, this is what we mean by privilege.

PA has a mantra: “Everybody is unique” – we celebrate everyone’s differences. Having this approach to equality, diversity and inclusion makes discussions easier, as they include each and every one of us. Colleagues tend to be open to finding out more about one another’s backgrounds and cultures, and to learning more about issues concerning sexuality, disability and race.

The Zoom sessions are truly inclusive – they’re mature, honest discussions about an important subject, and because they’re in the mix with so much other equalities work going on at PA, white colleagues realise that they are in no way an attack on them.

“Being bold enough to be open about potentially uncomfortable subjects is helping us to continue to develop a culture of inclusivity at PA Housing”

For PA, BHM is still a celebration, but it’s also about taking the opportunity to educate ourselves a little bit more. On a personal level, this month is the first time I’ve felt comfortable enough to talk about my own experiences of racism and that’s felt empowering.

Being bold enough to be open about potentially uncomfortable subjects is helping us to continue to develop a culture of inclusivity at PA Housing – and this involves us all working that bit harder to see the world through one another’s eyes.

Dorothy Smith, neighbourhood team manager, PA Housing, and chair of PA’s internal equality, diversity and inclusivity advisory group

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