Monday 25-10-2021 - 10:48

Covert Racism and Black Erasure in the UK

 

Written By Letitia Jones, President 

Being black seems to pit you against the world from birth. We are born with the trauma of our ancestors encoded into our DNA. We are children that have to make sure we aren’t too threatening, we are young adults that have to be well-spoken, we are adults that have to shrink ourselves and we don’t do these things to be Jeff Bezos or Beyonce. We do these things so that when we walk out of our doors in the morning we will walk back through them at night.

This video isn’t just for Black people. It’s actually for non-Black people. To support us you have to understand the racism and the white supremacy that we suffer under on a daily basis. Yes everyone knows not to use the N-word, and to not touch our hair but do you know that to hold your arm up to us and exclaim ‘I’m getting as dark as you’ is not something we want to hear.

I want every student that watches this to walk away first with an understanding. Understand that this is just the start. Understand that Black people suffer every day in every conceivable way from racism and white supremacy and colourism. Understand what we are not asking for an apology or to make anyone feel bad. Understand that it is going to take all of us working together to tear white supremacy down. And secondly, I want every student to walk away from this with a sense of purpose. A feeling of knowing that you can help to change the direction of MMU, Manchester, and even the United Kingdom. You can be on the right side of history and stand with Black people as we start to draw the battle lines that will change the course of human history for the better.

Making sure black voices are heard and given equity at the table is important to me as an African-American woman and as a human being. When everyone has a voice and every voice is heard the world is a better place. Our Education Officer is making sure our Muslim students have comfortable spaces to pray, our Wellbeing Officer wants to make sure our male students know they can reach out for help and someone will answer, our Sports Officer wants to make MMU Sports accessible for every student that wants to become an athlete, our Societies and Development Officer is ensuring that our cultural societies are supported and nurtured by The Union in any way they need. This Officer Team’s number one priority is supporting all students that choose to make Man Met their educational home for the next year, and that means that we are prioritizing those voiceless among the student population.

There is no British history without Black history. You cannot have a conversation about history and ignore the contribution of Black people. The British Empire was responsible for colonizing over 90% of the world and the mainstream culture is still a very white and very homogeneous society, and we are tired of not seeing ourselves reflected back to us. So I’m here to give a voice to the voiceless. I’m here to be the banner bearer for the Black students at MMU who don’t think anyone cares or that nothing will change. I am the change I want to see in the world. I will pick up the torch and carry it as far to the finish line as my life will allow, and then I will pass it on.