The C word: Conversations about class and race

The ‘ism’ that remains unturned. Class and Revolution.

I was meant to join the live TV debate on ‘Race and Revolution’ yesterday. Unfortunately, I reneged on the invitation at the 11th hour as I realised that my question was far too long to condense in a succinct way. My thoughts were also way too long to condense in a 40-character tweet. I woke up at 3.45am last night troubled by some of the conversations I witnessed, primarily the lack of representation of certain voices in these spaces. This prompted me to write the piece below which is wholly seasoned with frustration and anger at the current state of race relations. When I feel heavy; I write. This was my way of channelling what was pressing on my heart at wee hours of the morning. I read it out to my partner this morning and he encouraged me to publish it. Here’s to me taking me plunge. Please excuse my lack of eloquence or expansion on certain points and find a moment to lean into healthy (dis)agreement and debate if necessary.

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The common denominator between the George Floyd’s, Jacob Blake’s and the victims of stop and search in this world is that they tend to be poor and Black. That intersection is so determinant of the outcomes that they’ll have in their life and what is more, the lack of economic power will continue to perpetuate the vicious cycle of deprivation, racism and disenfranchisement.

In George Orwell’s Animal farm, an allegorical text warning of the dangers of romanticising socialism, we learn about the role of societal hierarchies in determining those who benefit from the system. The book perfectly foreshadows the social malaise in our society today; where the social contract to create an equitable world is constantly violated.

A lot of interventions and recommendations from countless reports (cc. Black people, race, human rights) often fail to interpret the disparities in health and social care from the lens of classism. Classism has been historically the bedrock of the unfair structures we witness in society today. Before the mass arrival of Black and Brown people in the 1970s, poor White families and women often battled with negotiating their position in society and accessing basic human rights and commodities. The hierarchy of power quickly shifted when immigrants arrived with very little in their pockets; they found themselves at the receiving end of poverty coupled with racism and exclusion. They also took up the positions of the previously disenfranchised groups as the new ‘underclass.’

Instead of over-focusing on changing attitudes to race, efforts should be equally, if not more, assigned to dismantling class inequalities which have perpetuated the grave disparities in outcomes we see today. There are actual practical solutions that can be meted out to cultivate a more equal society which would directly or indirectly improve the experiences of Black people in the UK. Race is an “immutable” social construct premised on reifying pseudo-scientific notions of White racial superiority. The commonality between those who sit at the upper stratum of society is that they tend to be White, male and rich. Any indications to threaten their privilege or power will be met with a belligerent force. When institutions resist change on the grounds recognising race inequality, it is often based on their natural proclivity to defend their wealth. Improving the conditions of Black people comes at a huge cost; it would lead to seismic shifts in the economic structures of this country and potentially threaten the wealth that certain groups have legitimately and/or illegitimately accumulated.

Race and capitalism are conjoined twins; one can’t do away without the other.

Take, for example, my home continent Africa. Though racism has historically and currently defines the plight of the continent, the main contributor of ongoing poverty is the hogging of resources by the wealthy few who are also racially similar to their citizenry. My point here is that the over-focus on race or lack of intersectional thinking means that class inequalities continue to fester under the radar. Actual meaningful, systemic change that would impact the outcomes of Black people and arguably society at large (underprivileged groups) could include:

The race debate often platforms panellists who tend to also occupy a subsection of the economically ‘privileged’ within minoritised communities. Yesterday’s example, a Criminal Barrister, a Lord, CEO of an Orchestra company and Patrick Hutchinson (the so-called symbol of tolerance and humanity). I was left wondering about the voices that were absent in the panel but also in the audience. Where were the African aunties working night shifts as care workers? The Bangladeshi drivers working tirelessly under the gig economy? What about the voices of single mothers struggling to raise their families, the bus drivers, the nurses and the shop workers? In our quest to be more inclusive, the narratives of those who often experience the harshest end of racism and classism are often marginalised. These individuals also tend to occupy the lower points of the socioeconomic ladder, yet panels and debates overwhelmingly represent the Shola Mos-Bogmamimu’s and John Barnes of the world who also exude some level of privilege, by way of their profession and status but rarely acknowledge their positionality. Even in a system that is designed to disadvantage Black people, there are beneficiaries of this system who have somewhat been shielded from the ground reality of the race and class intersection. Social mobility can, in some ways inoculate people from the juggernaut of racism. The more money you have, the better your life outcomes. Take for example, Indians are the wealthiest ‘minoritised’ group second to White people, yet Bangladeshi’s (also categorised as South Asian are among the poorest).

This is not to minimise the deleterious effects of everyday racism on the individual, but it would also be disingenuous to claim that racism is the single causal explanation of the inequality we’ve witnessed in society. If you ask the aforementioned group of low skilled workforce what the best single intervention would be to improve their life opportunities, I bet they’d ask for better jobs and opportunities to improve their financial situations!

1. Increasing the living wage

2. Funding for small businesses (mainly those owned by Black entrepreneurs)

3. Jobs and training opportunities

4. Better housing and homeownership schemes to improve generational wealth

5. Fairer asylum laws

6. Funding mentoring schemes that encourage social mobility

From an individual level this would mean:

1. Being intentional is supporting small local business, including black owned business that often start from scratch

2. Mentoring and supporting young people in your respective fields.

3. Lobbying for better housing

4. Think intersectionality: Who are most vulnerable here?

5. How can I use my limited power and resources to support the underprivileged?

We can work tirelessly to transform social attitudes towards racism, foster tolerance, have more inclusive adverts, increase diversity but as long as we don’t spotlight the class issues, we are burying our head in the sand and shying away from real solutions. Certain groups will continue to suffer. Take for example affirmative action schemes which do not target the most deprived communities but instead benefit certain members of minoritised groups who would have got there anyway because of their class privilege. The problem here is that the proposed solutions above require morality, ethics, intentionally and money; someone has to pay! Governmental choices are value-laden and not neutral; the interests of the rich are often protected over the furtherance of society as a whole.

The interventions mentioned above would also benefit people racialised as White who are also disadvantaged by class inequality. The sooner we realise this, we will wake up to the fact that 90% of the world’s richest people are White men, we would stand more strongly together to uprise and revolt against classism, no matter the colour or creed, uniting in our collective anger at a self-serving system for the few and not the many.

Ok, I’ll stop here. I fear I am starting to sound like a radical socialist in my reflections but I hope the point is well made that we need to start looking at things from an intersectional lens as this will help direct interventions. It will help us hold those in positions of power to account to ensure that public funds (our money) is used re-balance power structures.