Racism: ‘we are not as good as we ought to be’
NOW is the time to stamp out discrimination of all kinds, islanders were told at Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest which saw more than 1,000 people congregate at the seafront in St Peter Port.
Organisers arranged for speakers to use their voices to explain how Guernsey is not immune to racism, racial profiling and discrimination and to share some of their own experiences.
‘By listening to black people, educating ourselves and offering our support, we can do the real work needed to stop racism in ourselves and in our communities,’ the MC said as she thanked the crowd for showing solidarity for the movement.
‘As a white person, it would be all too easy for me to ignore the harmful effects of racism on the lives of black people.
‘White people have the privilege to decide we won’t engage, to say it’s too difficult to think about our part in the system that disadvantages and discriminates against black people and other people of colour on a daily basis.’
Speaking about his own experience of moving to Guernsey 13 years ago, Shekoubah Sesay said some people in Guernsey might not think racism is a big problem on the island, but he reminded them that one instance of racism is one too many.
‘As a community we are better than we used to be, but we are not as good as we ought to be and that is simply not good enough.
‘Why are we still having to fight for anti-discrimination legislation?
‘Why are employers not doing more to stamp out racist structures in the work place?
‘And why, when people arrive in the island, are people of colour pulled over by border control more than white people?’
Throughout his and other speakers’ speeches, the crowd cheered and clapped, showing their support and showing that their voices were being heard and the messages received.
Charlotte Parkes and Paige Williams, from Guerns Against Discrimination, spoke about the need for politicians to prioritise anti-discrimination legislation and called on Education to teach children about black history and injustices.
‘Wake up Guernsey’, is the group’s motto and Miss Williams said: ‘The first step to eliminating the imbalance is acknowledging it, which is what so many of us are doing here today.’
Another member of the group, Josh Macksoni, spoke about his own experience of growing up in Guernsey and read a poem he had written, a poignant line in which said: ‘The pages I learned from had my people’s chapters burned.’
Another young adult speaker was Ziggy Mbongo who described the ways in which he experienced racism growing up.
‘At school the kids would make me play the villain because I was darker, they would ask me where I was from and when I said Guernsey they would say, “no, where are you really from”.’
‘It is not good enough to be not racist, you have to be anti-racist,’ he said.
Deputy Emilie McSwiggan spoke about the anti-discrimination work she has been doing for the last 10 years and urged islanders to continue the conversation and continue pushing their politicians to pass the anti-discrimination law that will be debated by the States on 15 July.
‘There will be people who say the proposals do not go far enough, and they will use this an excuse to send us back to the drawing board, to push us back, but we much not let them,’ she said.
‘We have made a moment here today, but we need to turn this into a movement – with Guernsey Together.’
