A review of the health inequalities faced by black, Asian, and minority ethnic people across West Yorkshire and Harrogate in October 2020 produced a recommendation that an anti-racism campaign “recognising and appreciating that the black, Asian, and minority ethnic people are not one homogenous population” should be created. With the stipulation that “communication messages should be amplified at a local level to consider the impact of racism and digital exclusion.”
The team at West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (WY&H HCP) have done exactly that and have created the campaign Root Out Racism to get organisations to recognise that racism, whether structural or overtly, exists, and that they are committed to becoming active allies instead of remaining passive or ignoring the issue completely.
Evidence shows that people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities continue to face health inequalities, discrimination in the workplace and are more likely to develop and die because of a plethora of diseases, most recently Covid-19.
Health inequalities that previously existed have been further exacerbated by recent events, namely the pandemic and economic recession.
The movement that has been created by WY&H HCP has been rumbling for a few weeks already, with the official launch in Leeds and Bradford scheduled for today, Monday, 23 August. The launch will see a digital campaign across social media with organisations using #RootOutRacism to show their support and encourage other organisations and businesses to also take part. The campaign also features a pin-badge initiative – every person from organisations who pledge to root out racism will receive a pin badge to “wear with pride”.
The campaign which has £60,000 worth of funding, with £20,00 coming from the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has the backing of over 500 organisations, mainly healthcare settings such as GPs, pharmacies, sexual healthcare settings, as well as sports teams, charities, and religious groups.
These organisations play vital roles in the community, providing healthcare, shelter, and support to people, but why now? Structural inequality in wider society and in healthcare specifically coupled with institutional racism in West Yorkshire has been a known issue for decades.
Arguably, this report and the recommendations that come with it have been produced because of the disproportionate impact that Covid-19 has had on people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities.
It could also be considered a knee-jerk reaction to the murder of George Floyd, a Black American that was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin and the Black Lives Matter Movement protests that exploded around the world following Mr Floyd’s death.
Additionally, without additional funding or hard policy changes within healthcare settings and other institutions, this anti-racism campaign could be viewed as a sticking plaster, with glossy posters and hashtags on Twitter not doing much to eradicate hundreds of years’ worth of racism.
However, the aim of the campaign is not to create an immediate change, the organisers of the movement recognise that this is unrealistic and instead the culture within these institutions needs to gradually adapt through changing attitudes and making informed decisions.
Thea Stein, CEO of Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, defends the campaign by saying: “Unfortunately, you can never expect, with a movement like this, you will see immediate change because you don’t see that. This is cultural change. Cultural change takes time.
“I have been leading my organisation for six years and I know that, and I’ve had colleagues with me today, that people from Black and ethnic minority communities feel safe within my organisation, they feel more positive, and they feel more included and listed too. That doesn’t happen overnight and as a society, and a wider community, that takes time.
“So instant change? I think nobody is going to see instant change, but slow sustained change which means that it is absolutely clear that no organisation across West Yorkshire and Harrogate will tolerate racism of any sort, you will see that coming through.”
The movement also has the backing of council leaders, including leader of Kirklees Council Councillor Shabir Pandor and leader of Leeds City Council James Lewis. The leaders collectively pledged to “Work together to root out racism in all its forms across our organisations and our city. Eradicating racism is everybody’s business, and we all have a role to play in challenging racism wherever we find it.
“Leeds is richly diverse and a multicultural city, something that we all consider to be one of our key strengths. We are proud of our fantastic individuals, communities and organisations that work tirelessly to create a fairer city for everybody and will continue to support and work with them.
“We are committed to building a city in which everyone feels safe, values and that they belong. At the core of this commitment, is that we stand up to racism in all its forms. While we are proud of the progress we have made across Leeds, we recognise that racism and discrimination still exist and there is more work to be done.
We are committed to having challenging conversations about how we can do more to eradicate racism and discrimination and to support those who have experienced it.”
Councillor Jonathan Pryor, deputy leader of the council and executive member for Economy, Culture, and Education said: “I welcome the widespread support across Leeds for such an important movement. We all have an important role to play to ensure racism has no place in our city or society. This message serves as an important reminder to us all of the hard work needed to ensure we create a fairer and more equal city for us all”.
With good intentions from WY& HCP who aim to create an equal, anti-racist society across West Yorkshire, Harrogate and beyond, time will only tell whether this movement will contribute to positive change or whether it was solely a superficial tick-box exercise by the organisation in response to the highly politicised Black Lives Matter and Covid-19 aftermath.
