It’s hard to know where to start when reviewing the events that transpired in the UK last week.
Diane Abbot the longest service black and female MP in politics was in the news after a very emotive statement from Frank Hester, a major Conservative donor came out. In it he allegedly said that Diane Abbot made him “ want to hate all black women” and that she needed “to be shot”.
Now if that was not bad enough, the response to it from the Conservative party was even more concerning. At first many said that these comments were not racist, or declined to comment. Only after pressure did the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak concede that they were. See the BBC coverage here.
One observer wrote “It is tiring to even have to reiterate the obvious: this statement is racist. … Hester couldn’t help bringing Abbott up in a conversation she had no relevance to, then broadening out his sentiment to every woman of her ethnic demographic.” See full article here
Yet the treatment of Diane Abbot by both the Conservatives and her own party, from which she is currently suspended for sharing an opinion that was much less incendiary, is instructive of how power structures can uphold Sexism and Racism.
A couple of days after the story broke there was a parliamentary debate about the race row. Even more telling was seeing Diane Abbot ignored by the House of Commons Speaker 46 times effectively tuning her out of the debate that had occurred due to the very comments against her.
I don’t think this is unusual for Diane Abbot, or for many women who are simply ignored. See my early article on #manterruptions. Yet it is a very dismal view of how far we have not come as a nation when we see these events unfold.
Why does this matter?
Women still have an authority gap in public life. Women of colour (or any intersectionality) have an even harder job getting their voice heard. Yet the very institutions (& organisations) that create this gap are woefully bad at addressing it.
That we deny bias exists is obvious. That so many have denied that the comments against Diane Abbot were both sexist and racist is a sad fact of how the power structures stay in denial.
This very visual demonstration of her being ignored is how we try to stifle the voice of truth coming out. Women and those with additional intersectionlaity such as women of colour or LGBTQ+ experience these put downs, sleights, micro (sometimes not so micro) aggressions every day.
Where were the allies?
One thing that stood out for me as the Diane Abbot situation unfolded was the lack of allies around her. Her response to the comments made by the Conservative donor were not immediately supported and backed-up by the leader of her own party. When she was in the commons trying to get attention to have her say, no member of her own bench intervened on her behalf.
Ally-ship is one of the ways we can break down these power structures that seek to maintain power by the select few. We need allies who are part of those power structures (even if they don’t realise it) to step in and help change the status quo. This has been the same throughout history.
We can all look for opportunities to support our colleagues who may be in a minority or feel isolated. Perhaps if you can see something that is not going well for a colleague and they seem to be left to deal with it themselves, you can be the helping hand (or voice) that they need.
We need more allies if we are ever to break down these barriers.
Download this guide on how to find and nurture your ally network HERE.