Belonging: Fate and Changing Realities BY HERMAN OUSELEY The past fifteen years have been frustrating for most people involved in the struggle to see genuine equality, non-discriminatory and inclusive policies in everyday activities. But, unaccountable and shameless leadership without personal and corporate responsibility for collective failure has remained a dominant feature in institutional culture. It was, therefore, a welcome surprise during 2020 when there was an apparent upsurge in acknowledging the existence of widespread institutional, organisational and individual racial discrimination. This all emerged as a result of substantial media coverage of the many acts of police brutality and killings of Black people in the United States. Yet again, it signalled the possibility of a new dawn for equality, inclusion and justice. The emergent optimism was largely due to the fact that people from all backgrounds were clearly expressing their support for actions to end all forms of discrimination and unfair treatment. People were taking to the streets to protest
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about the lack of action and demanding justice, and there were expressions of support for movements such as Black Lives Matter. This memoir is being published at a time when Britain and the rest of the world continue to grapple with the challenges of the global pandemic. Many people from all backgrounds, but especially from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, have been on the frontline, particularly in working tirelessly for the NHS. This public health emergency triggered the optimistic political refrain of, “We are all in this together.” This provided a timely opportunity for the country to embrace the collective virtues of people from all backgrounds, in pursuance of solutions to this crisis as well as for equality and social cohesion. However, the Covid-19 pandemic also created new urgent priorities for government to deal with. Inevitably, the virus was not going to discriminate in its attacks on people but, equally inevitably, disparities emerged in how it impacted
on the lives of people from different backgrounds, the aged and those with underlying health problems. Not surprisingly, the emerging new enthusiasm promised for action to change society for the benefit of everyone, had to fade into the background. But, even in such unique circumstances, it was the same familiar pattern of unfulfilled hopes and promises being repeated. The opportunity for sustainable change did not appear as a priority for action by those with the power to do so. Instead, the promises and hopes for the emergence of sustainable race equality and justice for all would become an even lower priority. The most recent promises to provide levelling-up for disadvantaged communities had to go by the wayside, at least until the health emergency had ended. The post-pandemic priorities would, rightly, have to address the crises in the economy, health and social care services, unemployment and the national debt, all of which have an equality dimension to be considered.
