June Sarpong - Diversify - A fierce, accessible, empowering guide to why a more open society means a more successful one

‘In this engaging and informative book, June Sarpong examines the research behind diversity and discrimination while grounding them in personal narratives, highlighting our common humanity.’

Kofi Annan

‘As a survivor of Auschwitz, I sadly lost my father and brother to the brutality of the Holocaust. As a child I unfortunately witnessed first-hand how quickly diverse cities can be hijacked by dangerous demagogues and unravel in the process.

‘My experiences during the Holocaust have led me on a lifetime mission to promote the benefits of diversity by travelling the world, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together, telling my story and that of my stepsister Anne Frank, and why civil society must do all it can to protect and celebrate our diversity.

‘ Diversify lays out a practical framework about how we best achieve this and helps us take the first steps on the journey to tolerance.’

Eva Schloss

JUNE SARPONGMBE is one of the most recognizable faces of British television. A media phenomenon, she has interviewed hundreds of people, from politicians to celebrities and members of the public.

In addition to twenty years of television work, June has hosted a wealth of events, including Make Poverty History in London’s Trafalgar Square and Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations alongside Will Smith in London’s Hyde Park.

June has worked extensively with HRH Prince Charles for ten years as an ambassador for his charity the Prince’s Trust. She is the co-founder of WIE UK (Women: Inspiration & Enterprise) and, in 2007, was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting and charity.

A former board member of Stronger IN, the official campaign to keep Britain in the EU, June is now a board member of the pro-EU think-tank Open Britain.

She is co-host of The Pledge , Sky News’ flagship weekly political discussion show.

To Sammy – love you to the moon and back.

See you next lifetime

Contents

Cover

Praise ‘In this engaging and informative book, June Sarpong examines the research behind diversity and discrimination while grounding them in personal narratives, highlighting our common humanity.’ Kofi Annan ‘As a survivor of Auschwitz, I sadly lost my father and brother to the brutality of the Holocaust. As a child I unfortunately witnessed first-hand how quickly diverse cities can be hijacked by dangerous demagogues and unravel in the process. ‘My experiences during the Holocaust have led me on a lifetime mission to promote the benefits of diversity by travelling the world, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together, telling my story and that of my stepsister Anne Frank, and why civil society must do all it can to protect and celebrate our diversity. ‘ Diversify lays out a practical framework about how we best achieve this and helps us take the first steps on the journey to tolerance.’ Eva Schloss

Title Page

Dedication To Sammy – love you to the moon and back. See you next lifetime

Introduction – The ‘Other’ Side of the Story INTRODUCTION THE ‘OTHER’ SIDE OF THE STORY ‘ Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without .’ William Sloane Coffin

Only Connect

Part 1 – The Other Man

The Old Way

Chapter 1: Colour Is Only Skin Deep

Chapter 2: Brown Is the New Black

Chapter 3: Whitewashed Out

The Other Way

The First Degree of Integration: Challenge Your Ism

Part 2 – The Other Woman

The Old Way

Chapter 1: In the Boardroom

Chapter 2: In the Media

Chapter 3: In the World

The Other Way

The Second Degree of Integration: Check Your Circle

Part 3 – The Other Class

The Old Way

Chapter 1: Poverty

Chapter 2: Power

Chapter 3: Opportunity

The Other Way

The Third Degree of Integration: Connect with the Other

Part 4 – The Other Body

The Old Way

Chapter 1: Pigeonholing

Chapter 2: Invisibility

Chapter 3: The Lost Workforce

The Other Way

The Fourth Degree of Integration: Change Your Mind

Part 5 – The Other Sex

The Old Way

Chapter 1: Old Views

Chapter 2: New Opportunities

Chapter 3: The Cost of the Closet

The Other Way

The Fifth Degree of Integration: Celebrate Difference

Part 6 – The Other Age

The Old Way

Chapter 1: Generation Y

Chapter 2: Agents of Change

Chapter 3: Intergenerational Living

The Other Way

The Sixth Degree of Integration: Champion the Cause

Part 7 – The Other View

The Old Way

Chapter 1: The Argument for Debate

Chapter 2: Burst the Bubble

Chapter 3: Doing the Interfaith Work

The Other Way

Part 8 – The Other Way in Action

Chapter 1: FAQs

Chapter 2: The Three Ps – Personal, Private, and Public

Chapter 3: A Timeline of Progress

Conclusion

Be the Change

The Final Number

Acknowledgements

The Ism Questionnaire: How the Nation Responded

Bibliography

Searchable Terms

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

THE ‘OTHER’ SIDE OF THE STORY

‘ Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without .’

William Sloane Coffin

Only Connect

The British humanist and novelist E. M. Forster famously wrote ‘Only connect’. *And he was absolutely right. While the Earth is vast, we live in a small world full of opportunities to connect with each other, and it’s only when we do this that the walls between us come down. Yet the majority of us seem to find this incredibly difficult, caught up as we are in the things that divide us.

In one sense, of course, we are more connected than we’ve ever been before. Whether we live in the remotest parts of the world or in great international cities such as London or New York, we can connect across the globe at the click of a button. So it’s a great irony that the economic gap between those at the centre of society and those at the periphery is ever-growing. Our great cities of culture and commerce are in fact cities of strangers, where individuals have rejected relationships with neighbours in favour of superficial relationships with an online community. We often ignore passersby as we get on with our lives. We may SMH (Shake My Head) at news-feeds that show injustice at home and abroad, yet somehow we continue on, unaffected by what happens to ‘others’.

And yet, as the MP Jo Cox argued so passionately before she was murdered in 2016, we have far more in common than that which divides us. This isn’t head-in-the-clouds liberalism speaking; this is scientific fact. Genetically, human beings are 99.9 per cent identical. *Our bodies perform in the same way – we breathe the same, we eat the same, we sleep the same – and yet we choose to focus so much on the 0.1 per cent that makes us different – the 0.1 that determines external physical attributes such as hair, eye and skin colour. This focus has been the cause of so much tension and strife in the world, yet by re-evaluating the importance we place on it, we have the power to change how it affects our future. What if we celebrated that 0.1 per cent rather than feared it? What amazing things might follow for our society? The need to do this has never been so urgent – thanks to the recent political upheavals of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the rise of extremism and economic instability, we are now more divided than ever before – but the ability to change this is firmly within our grasp. To heal the wounds that have been exposed, we need to diversify, and we need to do it now. This is an issue I’ve felt passionate about for a long time: it informs my work, my relationships and my everyday life. And it’s more than a question of encouraging human kindness; I’ve long suspected that there is a hidden financial cost to our lack of diversity. The research that I have undertaken for this book has confirmed that.