Charities must keep their commitments to anti-racism at the top of their agenda if they wish to deliver services equitably, the chief executive of the equality charity Brap has stressed.
Speaking on the Third Sector Podcast, Joy Warmington said the opportunity for organisations working across different cause areas to promote equity in their work “is not as difficult as we might think”, adding that adopting an anti-racist lens was “like [using] a muscle we haven’t exercised”.
She said: “We find it challenging because we’ve never really practised that inclusion. We’ve not really thought, hang on a minute, when we’re talking about [tackling] issues, how do we make sure that certain people don’t get dropped off?
“And taking an anti-discrimination lens, an anti-oppressive lens, and an anti-racist lens doesn’t mean that you are making things harder.
“It’s actually making things a bit easier: who is less likely to benefit from this stuff? How can I make sure that the things we do don’t exclude or turn people off?
“There are opportunities for greater equity when you begin to ask yourself those questions, but it’s trying to work the muscle of asking those questions that I think is the bit that we find difficult to do.”
Warmington added: “ If you are trying to deliver greater equity and less harm then it’s really challenging not to keep [anti-racism] at the top of your agenda.
“And I talk about harm deliberately because most people think of racism as this thing out there that just happens occasionally by a bus stop or in a park or if there’s a mob.
“What we don’t realise is that a little bit like a dripping tap, there’s ongoing harm of racism, which falls unevenly on people who racialise as black or brown within your organisation, and other groups with racialised protected characteristics.”
Listen to the full conversation with Joy Warmington on the Third Sector Podcast.