June Sarpong - Diversify

• Twice as likely: the Pew Research Center finds that, in the USA, blacks are twice as likely to be in poverty as whites.

• 50%: the percentage of Muslim households in poverty in the UK, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, compared to the national average of 18%

THE FIRST DEGREE OF INTEGRATION

Challenge Your Ism

‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’

James Baldwin

We all have so many ‘isms’ that keep us apart; isms that are buried so deeply within us that we are unaware of them and their ramifications on ourselves and others: race-ism, sex-ism, class-ism, sectarian-ism, age-ism … the list is endless. And all of us are guilty, myself included (mine, of course, being tattoo-ism).

If you had asked me five years ago to name my ism, I would genuinely have told you I didn’t have one. This, in fact, was one of the things I prided myself on the most: my self-perceived ‘open-mindedness’. For most of my life, I have happily revelled in this bubble of self-satisfaction, and never felt the need to partake in an inventory of my own limiting beliefs.

How many of us question our beliefs and the way we see the world, and whether or not these beliefs prevent us from being the best we can be? Are these beliefs even our own, or have they been passed down to us by our parents and our surroundings? Are they logical? And, most importantly, do they best serve us, society, and humanity? How often do we ask ourselves, ‘Should I hold these beliefs? If not, do I want to do anything about it?’ These questions are much deeper than surface prejudices – they go to the core of the way we think.

Having said that, isms are a two-way street, and the responsibility for change does not solely lie at the door of the instigator. Isms require both parties to subscribe to the stereotype. It takes one party to apply the label, but it can only hold relevance if the other side accepts the label. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.’

Recognizing half-truths and our role in perpetuating them is at the core of Degree One in the Six Degrees of Integration. Accepting our individual responsibility for stereotypes gives us the power to challenge them. So, what are your isms? Are you sexist? Are you class-ist? Do you have a race-ism? A gay-ism? The Ism Questionnaire below has been put together by the Centre for Social Investigation at Nuffield College, Oxford, to get to the heart of your beliefs. *

So take five minutes to reflect – and be honest in how you answer the questions, no matter how uncomfortable or embarrassing it may be. Only by identifying our prejudices can we confront them. If you turn to page 381 you’ll see that, whatever your view, you are not alone. Absolute honesty is the only way to begin the process of change.

The Ism Questionnaire

Attitudes towards other political views

1. As far as you are concerned personally, how important is it to try to understand the reasoning of people with other opinions?

Choose a number between 1 and 7, where 1 is ‘Not at all important’ and 7 is ‘Very important’ .

2. How would you feel if you had a son or daughter who married a Conservative?

Not upset at all

Somewhat upset

Very upset

Not sure

3. How would you feel if you had a son or daughter who married someone who was Labour?

Not upset at all

Somewhat upset

Very upset

Not sure

Attitudes towards ethnicity and race

4. Do you think some races or ethnic groups are born less intelligent than others?

Yes/No

5. Do you think some races or ethnic groups are born harder working than others?

Yes/No

6. Would you say that some cultures are much better than others, or that all cultures are equal?

Some cultures are much better than others

All cultures are equal

7. How much would you mind or not mind if a person from another country who is of a different race or ethnic group was appointed as your boss?

Choose a number between 0 and 10, where 0 is ‘I wouldn’t mind at all’ and 10 is ‘I would mind a lot’

8. How much would you mind or not mind if a person from another country who is of a different race or ethnic group married a close relative of yours?

Choose a number between 0 and 10, where 0 is ‘I wouldn’t mind at all’ and 10 is ‘I would mind a lot’

Attitudes towards gender, family life, and sexuality

9. All in all, family life suffers when the woman has a full-time job?

Disagree

Agree

10. A man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and family.

Disagree

Agree

11. A working mother can establish just as warm and secure a relationship with her children as a mother who does not work.

Disagree

Agree

12. One parent can bring up a child as well as two parents together.

Disagree

Agree

13. A same-sex female couple can bring up a child as well as a male-female couple.

Disagree

Agree

General ism questions

14. Do you think your opinion of people might be swayed by social class, even if in subtle ways (style of dress, way of talking)?

Yes/No

15. Would you have concerns if a girlfriend of yours starting dating a Muslim man?

Yes/No

16. Imagine you are a businessperson about to negotiate a deal with a company: would you rather deal with a businessman or a businesswoman in your negotiations? If you have a preference, why?

Businessman/Businesswoman

Reason:

17. Would you want to make friends with someone with different political beliefs to you? If not, why not?

Yes/No

Reason:

18. Can you remember any moments in life that changed your worldview? Were you influenced by someone ‘other’ from outside your social circle?

Yes/No

Details:

19. Imagine you meet a friend’s 3-year-old daughter for the first time: would you compliment her for wearing something pretty? Is there something better to say?

Yes/No

Details:

20. Have you ever made a judgement about someone based on their appearance and been really wrong?

Yes/No

Additional questions can also be found at our website: www.Diversify.org

PART TWO

THE OTHER WOMAN

‘Stereotype of females begins when the doctor says: ‘It’s a girl’.’

Shirley Chrisholm

The Old Way

In 1969, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm delivered a powerfully emotive speech to the House of Representatives demanding ‘Equal Rights for Women’. She remarked:

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: ‘It’s a girl.’ At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else . *

Heeding her own advice, three years later Chisholm would become the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, and the first African-American to run as a major party’s nomination for President of the United States.

It was 1972 and, alas, America was not yet ready for a woman, let alone a black woman as bold as she; her presidential bid was ridiculed, laughed at, and met with cynicism and disdain by most of the elite. But even so, Chisholm still managed to secure 151 delegates in the Democratic primaries. As a prominent member of both the civil rights and women’s movements, her courage and belief in the possibility of change helped pave the way for a Barack Obama and a Hillary Rodham Clinton. She most certainly lived up to her gutsy tagline of ‘Unbought and Unbossed’ – she famously espoused that ‘if they don’t give you a seat at the table then bring a folding chair’ – but Chisholm was the exception and, unfortunately, her remarks are still as relevant today as they were in 1969. Because it’s true that when a child is born and the doctor says, ‘It’s a girl’, that tiny, innocent miracle already has the odds stacked against her and will have to play on a field that most certainly isn’t level.