Representation - No Matter Who or What?
Being obsessed with proportional representation can lead to the recruitment of ethnic minorities whose policies can oppress other ethnic minorities. In these cases, representation becomes a masquerade: a way for the powerful to perpetuate the racist status quo whilst presenting themselves as fighting against it.
The perfect example of this is the appointment of arguably the two most powerful people of colour in the history of the UK: Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Priti Patel, the Home Secretary. The approach of the BAME population that ‘any person of colour will do’ means that by simply being on the cabinet, Patel and Sunak become beacons of progressivism to the wider public. Our indulgence makes Health Secretary Matt Hancock seem credible when he appears on Sky News and praises the cabinet’s diversity whilst ignoring the fact that Patel has implemented an immigration policy which - by her own admission - would have prevented her own parents from entering the country.
Therefore, the recruitment of minorities with no strings attached is, and will remain, a smokescreen until we impose terms and conditions of this hiring, and until we tackle the causes of this under-representation. We must expect more.
B, and A, and ME.
At university I am one of two Black people on my course, out of roughly 105 students. This represents 1.9% of the course. In comparison, the 2011 Census shows that Black and Mixed raced people (White/Black African, White/Black Caribbean) between the ages of 18 and 24 make up approximately 6.9% of the general population. In other words, there are 3.6 times fewer Black people on my course than there should be.
However, those who see BAME as one entity would argue the contrary because my course contains more than 15 East Asian students. This is true – however, these students are International students, not British Asians, meaning that they pay international fees of over £30,000. They are de facto members of their respective countries’ elites: not the product of pure, utopian meritocracy. Moreover, as Universities become increasingly marketized, the ability of a student to pay high tuition fees and therefore maximise the profit of the university is bound to affect admission decisions. This is not a case of diversity for diversity’s sake.
This also highlights how problematic the term Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) is. It lumps together vastly different groups of people, ignoring that within all of these groups the socioeconomic conditions in which individuals evolve can be vastly different. In addition, the term inherently embodies the othering of people of colour.
Degrees are created equal, but are not equally valued.
Wanting to be fairly represented at University is not simply about equality. It is not just about inspiring younger generations of people of colour to follow our example. Higher Education is understood as being the key to success and means of social mobility within the capitalist system. Increasing diversity in Higher Education is therefore perceived as a way for minorities to attain economic power.
However, this premise is not entirely accurate – it omits the fact that the ease with which the door is opened depends largely on the institution, and the degree.
Therefore, we must ask: representation in which universities? Representation in which faculties and departments? In the US, one year after graduating, those who earn degrees in Maths, Physics or Computer Science in the most selective universities can earn close to 4 times more what Liberal Arts students earn with degrees from equally selective universities. If salary and the accumulation of capital are intricately linked to university and choice of studies, making sure that Black representation increases in the best universities and in STEM/Economic subjects becomes critical to ensure the economic emancipation of our people.
Why are there so few of us?
Nevertheless, here I am: one of two Black engineering students on a course in one of the best universities in the country. The reason for this painful absence is complex and multi-faceted, but I would like to examine one systemic cause of this problem.
Choosing to focus exclusively on systemic racism stems forms my main source of frustration with the Black Lives Matter movement. With the resurgence of BLM, Black voices were encouraged to share their experiences. However, even as we express our plight to mainstream audiences, we struggle to expose systemically racist policies and attitudes, and tend to mention instances of overt racism instead. Naturally, the latter is always more personal and often more painful, but is never more pervasive and stifling than the former.
The experiences of Black people vary in form depending on the country and region, but not necessarily in substance. This is the case for education. In UK High Schools, Black students have the highest rate of A Level under-prediction – meaning that teachers predict lower grades than those actually achieved by students at A Levels. In French High Schools, school counsellors have the tendency to steer struggling Black students away from the A Level equivalent – the ‘Baccalauréat Général’ - towards vocational qualifications and BTECs which, in both France and the UK, are incredibly undervalued. As a result, tens of thousands of Black French High School students each year end up on career paths where opportunities for proper remuneration and attaining leadership positions are very limited.
I recently heard of one such example in the documentary Ouvrir la voix by Amandine Gay, a collection of interviews of Black French Women who share their experiences of racism and sexism in France. The following is an extract from one of these interviews.
Note that ‘Prépas’ are similar to Foundation years in English. The difference is that ‘prépas’ are incredibly intense and selective courses which are necessary preparation for entrance exams to equally selective/prestigious French Universities, called ‘Grandes Ecoles’. ‘BTS’ is a French equivalent of a BTEC.
‘I wanted to go to study Economics and Finance at a Grande École. At the time, I was a good high school student, the 3rd best in my class, and arrived at a meeting with the school counsellor of my Private Catholic High School. During the meeting, the counsellor told me that I was not good enough to get into a Prépa of any kind, and that I should instead do a BTS. I explained to her that I did not want to do a BTS. She insisted that I simply wasn’t good enough to gain admission into a Prépa. I came out of the meeting feeling very sad. However, later on in the day I realised a small problem: one of my white friends, who wasn’t 3rd best in the class, but rather 10th best, went to see the same counsellor. My friend managed to come out of that meeting with a list of Prépas to which she could apply. I cried a lot that day and went to see someone more senior in the school who ended up helping me make my own lists of Prépas to which I could apply’.
Most of us are not so lucky. Most of us don’t think that we can find better advice within a system in which so many people seem intent on keeping us down. For instance, when the interviewee’s younger brother had the same ambitions as his older sister the counsellor matched it with the exact same oppressive ‘advice’. Unfortunately this brother gave in to the counsellor’s racism and pressure - he enrolled for a BTS.
This is the stifling racist environment which Black students have to deal with. We are encouraged to give up, not to persevere. When we do succeed, our success is explicitly frowned upon or begrudgingly acknowledged so that the lack of encouragement drains and stifles us into failure. It has been so for friends, for family, for acquaintances, and for me. It has been so because our success is seen as a threat to their preconceived ideas: their worldview, their power.
Do everything that they do not want you to do.
Last week, my father made the hilarious but insightful admission that during my time in high school he never listened to the opinions of my teachers at parent-teacher meetings. His justification was that teachers would make some recommendations to him, then proceed to make the exact opposite ones to White parents of students with similar grades.
My father understood that some White teachers are at the frontline of the war on Black academic success. As I approach my 3rd year of Engineering, I can only say that I am so thankful that he told me to persevere when they suggested that I give up.
Written by Tsiresy Tembwa
Tsiresy is a French/British Civil Engineering student. Although politics and activism are the key elements of his life, he is most passionate about the social responsibility of Civil Engineers to design sustainable and affordable housing, limit gentrification, and to more broadly apply their radical beliefs to their work. He is currently working on a Research Project which focuses on The Future of Social Housing