As Membership Secretary for LDCRE, it’s my job to get you to join LDCRE. If you just needed that reminder then click here – and welcome to the campaign!
I should write something more.
As Roderick Lynch, first Chair of LDCRE and a key driver behind the campaign, is prone to saying – the clue is in the name. We are not simply an SAO for members from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds – we are the SAO for members that want to Campaign for Race Equality. Of ALL creeds and colours, and every background.
But I look at the membership of the party, and I look at the membership of the campaign – and I see a big gap. This is a problem: yes, people of all ethnicities should be able to find a home in the LDCRE community, but we need the white majority in the Liberal Democrats to join us in demanding racial justice – to signal to the party that this is a priority, that the membership cares about it, and that we want to see action.
As part of that, I ask if maybe a lot of white members are experiencing the same apprehension I did before clicking that button (this button here). Maybe we’re in the wrong place – is it right for me to join LDCRE? Isn’t it for BAME people (can I use BAME still?) – should I be signing up as a member, with voting rights and equal status with the people the campaign is “meant” to be for?
I remember, back from my very first conference in 2018, standing near the LDCRE booth – knowing I wanted to do something about racism (no clue what to do, mind) but feeling like I shouldn’t be.. bothering them? Surely LDCRE membership would be reserved for those with brown skin – right?
I raised this with Janice Turner, who has been a tireless campaigner for race equality in the party, the first time I spoke to her (after joining – I was brave). She was kind, but it was as if I’d told her I couldn’t add numbers together. “How could you justify leaving the fight for racial justice to just the victims of racism?” she said (well, I’m paraphrasing, I don’t remember exactly what she said).
But that was me told.
That’s one of the great things about LDCRE – if you don’t know what you should be doing, just muck in – and listen. For example, while helping with the website, Nadya Fadih-Phoenix’s article taught me about intersectionality and the importance of visibility; by doing some video editing of Cllr Rabina Khan’s radio interview I got to learn about the whitewashing of our history.
(oh, and if you have any skills to offer, please do!)
But none of this answers the question – why did I want to get involved, to join LDCRE? Okay, one last story.
One of my best friends growing up was also my neighbour; he had an NES, and I always wanted to play on it. We played “kerbie” in the street, and came up with mad schemes for things we were going to build when we were older.
I introduced him to one of my other best friends, who lived around the corner. He had a SNES, and I always wanted to play on it. But he never wanted to play with me and my neighbour – and he was clearly conflicted about me wanting to. Probably had something to do with video games.
It took me years to piece together the link between the racist jokes that second, white, friend often told me (apparently learned from his family), and the fact that my neighbour was black. That my white friend didn’t want to play with him because he was black. In my young naivety (and enabled by my white privilege) I didn’t put the two together at the time.
Racism is entwined in our everyday; it’s subtle, not something most white people notice unless they’re listening for it. But once you hear it, you notice it. Realisation by horrible realisation, you can piece together a crescendo of injustice – and you realise just how long it’s been going on for. You are awakened to it, and it’s deafening.
I’m no longer in touch with either of those friends – the latter moved away, and the former.. just drifted away. Probably mostly life stuff. But from that memory I know that racism isn’t innate – it’s taught, it’s passed around, it’s reinforced. It’s a horrendous heirloom. It must be eradicated.
Do you agree? Then join LDCRE today.
Welcome to the campaign.
* James Belchamber is a member from Birmingham. He runs the justLiberals Discord, a social space for Liberals inside and outside of the party.
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20 Comments
Something I forgot to note: you can join LDCRE from £1/year.
We’ve done this because it’s so much more important that you join us if you agree with our aims, than how much you can afford.
I believe that there should be no racial discrimination and that no one should be disadvantaged or denied opportunities due to their race. Unfortunately, it appears that the BBC is allowed to offer positions for which white people are barred from applying. I do not believe we will ever succeed in achieving racial equality if we use racial discrimination as one of the tools in the attempt to achieve it.
Good article James.
Sadly the point that Brad Barrows makes mirrors the injustice of allocating jobs based on the sex of the applicant rather than their ability.
We should be campaigning to ensure that people, regardless of their colour, sex or creed are all treated equally. Anything less is replacing one injustice with another.
It might be worth saying what LDCRE is at the top of the article. Having to follow a link to find out what you are talking about isn’t great.
Graham Jeff’s. Is your response to the century old problem of racism to say simply that we should all be non-racist or ‘colour blind’? Surely that would allow historical inequalities to continue into the future without attempting to rebalance the system and deny people there daily lived experiences of covert racism? To address racism you need anti-racist policies do you not?
As a white man who sees racism, and would like to help stop it, but doesn’t know how to help, this message is helpful to me. It’s good to hear that I can sign up to CRE and have the opportunity to respectfully listen and learn, and that my action will be interpreted in the spirit it’s intended.
Whether well-founded or not, there’s a fear that joining as a non-minority will stomp on minority voices, or be seen as such. The risk is that this denies building allies – surely I should be using my privilege for some good? This message helps counter that fear of getting involved.
Anyway, now that I’ve said “thank you” for the post, I’ll be signing up for CRE and hopefully start listening and learning.
LDCRE is at the forefront of trying to achieve race equality within the party. The piece James has written is credible. A lot of white people want to help in the struggle to achieve race equality inside and outside of the party. Information advice and guidance is available from LDCRE in abundance. A lot of our valuable work found it’s way in to the General Election Review 2019.
We offer a open hand not a clench fist to all who want to give up their time to help with the heavy lifting in reaching out to the local parties.
LDCRE are currently looking at how the Rooney Rule can be implemented by the party. There is a lot of legal hoops to go through to make sure the proposal is legal. We can only do the above in partnership with the party and the federal apparatus.
The story James Belchamber has written is a true one. I remember him approaching us back then I am glad he joined up, he has added value to our work and the vision of LDCRE.
Under the chairmanship of Dr Khan we have a lot of work still to do. Janice Turner & Myself are the two Vice-Chairs we have a fully functional experienced and inclusive executive committee who work 24/7 to further the work and reach of LDCRE.
The race equality agenda is not for the swift. It’s for those that can endure it.
Thank you to all the members and outside partners who donate funds to make our work possible. Your generosity is truly appreciated…
Is it racist to assume that racism only exists in white people?
James is absolutely right to encourage all Party members to back LDCRE. It is doing a good job.
Hello I’m a white woman, not strictly white but my skin is sort of a pink colour, disabled, and I practise the Jewish religion.
My main issue is the disability, not well received in most needs.
All diverse groups are essential, but tribalism is not a great look. I also, as a White person, think diverse groups need to be led by Diverse voices with the support of White allies. Not the other way around.
Us, Whites, need to sit back and listen.
If you’re interested in reading about underlying bias in English/British history, Sathnam Sanghera’s recent book, ‘Empireland’, is excellent: a British-born Sikh, discovering how little he has taught in school about the Indian dimension (and other imperial aspects) of our history, and how wee need to include these.
Well, this is a disappointing thread of comments to wake up to.
I was co-opted to the executive to fill a vacant position. I run everything I say and do past either prominent individuals or the Executive Committee at large, and I take the collective responsibility of the Executive Committee seriously. I am not infallible – I know that, and I make myself available for anyone to talk to if they think I’ve taken a wrong path. With this article specifically, I both solicited advice and feedback generally from the whole committee and specifically from some members over the course of a week, before submission to Lib Dem Voice. I do this in my capacity as membership officer, to work towards increasing the membership of the organisation (which is one of my responsibilities).
More broadly, the campaign needs racial justice campaigners of all ethnicities to feel that LDCRE is their home in the Liberal Democrats. Most party members stand against more injustice, but not all of us stand for LESS injustice – fewer still are prepared to prioritise eradicating racial injustice entirely. We do support ethnic minority representatives in the party – in fact, this is why we asked for a reference back on the Vice President motion at Conference, where we argued that the VP (previously VP BAME) shouldn’t be elected by an overwhelmingly white caucus. But where’s the value of restricting LDCRE membership to ethnic minorities? We’re a campaign, we need activists that believe in our aims to work towards them. There’s no value to barring white people from membership.
With all that in mind, I am proud to work with and alongside some of the most effective race equality campaigners in the party; I look to them for advice and guidance, and I deeply respect their knowledge and experience. If you too want to work alongside them, join us.
Our team have been working hard on multiple avenues in trying to progress the Rooney Rule, including at the time of BLAC’s appeal but also ongoing to the present day. Through our work I am pleased that we have had multiple Parliamentarians backing the Rooney Rule in principle, and we are now hard at work with many others on how to implement this legally. We are also pushing hard on our wider strategy and the ten point pledge being implemented. There’s much to do but we are continuing to work at it, time and time again.
James in his article above has powerfully demonstrated how the fight for race equality is everyone’s fight. It must be. It shows how we need to engage pragmatically with many groups (but not blindly with all and sundry) to achieve race equality. We cannot embed race equality in a sustainable, long-term footing otherwise.
You can read what we are fighting for here – https://ldcre.org.uk/en/article/2020/1372493/ldcre-launches-10-anti-racism-pledges-for-party-leadership-candidates – and what we’ve already achieved – https://ldcre.org.uk/en/page/ldcre-s-achievements
We have been working hard and constructively with multiple other groups in the party, as well as a Parliamentarians and key officials and officers in the various parts of the Party. There’s a wealth of experience and expertise in the Party, that I’m grateful (and often humbled by) to be able to work with. We welcome more members and supporters to join us in this, and to continue to help us refine our work going forwards. Do get in touch with us: https://ldcre.org.uk/en/page/join
As a member (directly elected) of the Federal Board as well as (ex officio) of the English Candidates Committee I have been ploughing what felt like a lonely furrow attempting to get the Federal and English Parties to implement the Rooney Rule. So far the controversy has been mainly behind the scenes with claim and counterclaim about what the law allows and what the law actually is. Undoubtedly a wing of the party does not want the Rooney Rule implemented. LDCRE can hardly claim to have noisily championed the Rooney Rule cause: if it has actively supported implementation it is a well kept secret. By contrast the grassroots Black Lives Action Committee (BLAC) has been enthusiastic: it has organised an appeal on the issue by no fewer than 18 appellants. So I am intrigued by Roderick Lynch’s claim that LDCRE “are currently looking at how the Rooney Rule can be implemented by the party” and “we can only do the above in partnership with the party and the federal apparatus”. What is LDCRE doing in partnership with the party and Federal apparatus about the Rooney Rule? Why can’t it act as an independent body?
Jo, I am grateful for your considerable work on this issue over such a long time, against much opposition. No one is saying LDCRE alone has worked on this – you have been doing a tremendous amount.
LDCRE called on both leadership candidates last year to back the Rooney Rule – you can see this in our candidates pledge list from last August that both candidates backed: “We call on both candidates to adopt the three following feasible solutions: […] Implement a ‘Rooney Rule’ for all parliamentary shortlists by reforming the candidate’s selection procedures sections in the party’s constitutions.”
We grilled candidates on this in hustings. We have submitted multiple detailed documents and responses on this issue with Party officers – but you will appreciate as a fellow member of a Federal committee that we cannot always be public on this in the early stages, though we have kept our members aware of this in our newsletters. We are independent on this, however, even as we work with parts of the Party. This year, in our open speaker and Q&A events with Parliamentarians (as recently as last week on Zoom) with many Lib Dems members watching and sending in questions, we repeatedly grilled MPs on this.
We have more such events for Lib Dem members planned to further push this and spread awareness with Party members – watch this space.
Jo Hayes, I was first approached about the Rooney Rule by a young Oxford Graduate who happens to sit on the LDCRE executive. Chris Annous. He was passionate about the rule and thought it could be used to diversify the party at all levels. During our discussions we decided to put it on the agenda for our leadership hustings
That is when the party first became aware of such a rule. Since that day the party sought legal opinion to see if implementation was legal. The advice from their counsel was that it was not. We worked with the party to understand the guidance they had been given. After much email tennis We did not concur with the guidance and asked to review internal communications.. To be in a position to even look in to implementation of the Rooney Rule we have sought advice and guidance from third parties outside of the federal party. We have attempted to raise funds to get a robust legal opinion.
I understand that you have done some investigations on the implementation of the Rooney Rule yourself. When Chris Annous raised this with me during my time as chair of LDCRE he would never have thought so many people would be there to try and get his project over the line.
Although we plough our furrow as an SAO. Our work benefits the party we all belong to. To implement the Rooney rule we need to work as a partnership with the federal committees (apparatus) we can’t do it alone.
From where I sit it takes two hands to clap we wish to bring the party along with us.
We can achieve a lot by dialogue and sitting round the table.. LDCRE has achieved so much by offering an open hand not a clench fist. As I say the race equality agenda is not for the swift but for those than can endure it.
If people have so much time on their hands to take pot shots at each other. Let’s go down to Fortune Green to try and get the wonderful Nancy elected or if your looking for a day out let’s go to Batley & Spenborough to help Tom.
God bless friends let’s see you on the diversified campaign trail soon. 🙏🏿🙏🏿
@James Perharps you ought to reflect why issues of inclusion have had poor performance in our Party. In doing so you will be able to understand many issues.
Our work in Blac Lib dem voice should never be mixed up with what our focus is or your focus. Help understand our work and you will soon realise what our focus draws us upon.
In other areas , on diversity and inclusion issues your work is well captured within the process we have in Lib Dems and as the Lead diversity and inclusion champion for London efforts are being made within London Region Executive to support every area of development needed.
The issues are known and identified upon John Alderdice reports and Dorothy Thornhill and Lib -dems want good solutions. Lack of working with any groups because of any kind of Biasness is unacceptable and needs good training and even for leaders elected. If speaking on issues of inclusion and diversity that responsibility needs to reflect on any Microagression that any ethnic minorities Communities and anyone has had over the years and lived experiences stories. As we reflect on way forward and narture solutions for the Party , help to support all the party groups and understand the issues. Am sure ethnic minorities can account for there experiences and your focus should be on helping etc . Within the Blac Group we will highlight barriers faced by Africans and Caribeans. Can we also again thank any support that comes forward to enhance the issues of inclusion and diversity.
EDITORIAL NOTE – it is seldom that I have to “read the Riot Act” to a number of participants in a thread, but I am afraid to note that I just have. It seems that a simple article seeking to recruit members to an SAO has become a substitute venue for behaviour that is wholly in breach of our comments policy.
I have, as a result, been obliged to take a hatchet to the comments thread and apologise to readers who may find what is left somewhat disjointed.
Accordingly, I am closing the comments thread with immediate effect, as the effort required to moderate it simply isn’t worthwhile.