To think skin colour matters WAY more than people like to admit

[daysayso]

I am involved in marketing campaigns - I won't say what because it's outing but let's say I recently worked on a campaign where the service being provided had absolutely nothing to do with race (so it wasn't makeup or hair for example).

Yet the vast majority that responded were people of colour (Same as the person featured in the ad) and it made me think how much your life chances are still dictated by your skin colour.

People like to consider race more than they like to admit even in spaces where it has nothing to do with anything, people just seem to feel more 'comfortable' with their own.

I felt for the first time in a long time my success will in part depend on my skin colour because for whatever reason the majority of white people that saw this ad decided it wasn't for them on the basis I'm someone of colour.

Please no arguments I'm looking for a mature conversation and if you find the topic sensitive you need not respond

Just looking for others experiences really

My best friend of over twenty years is mixed race, and I do see her colour. Its beautiful. I also see her children’s and grandchildren’s too, the product of different ethnicities and their varying skin tones and hair colour.

I’ve been with her on one or two occasions when she’s been treated less favourably than me.

I am sorry but I am less interested in what a government sponsored report suggests and more interested in actual people telling us how they wish to be addressed, and what is acceptable...

It was a survey. That the govt commissioned.

it’s not perfect but I hate being referred to as BAME.

Ok it says research so I presumed survey or focus groups.

its here if anyone interested

www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity

@Flammkuchen you asked: Would you have preferred that people in England acknowledged and paid attention to what religion/cultural background you were (as they do in NI) or ignored it?

I'm not a good person to answer that I think. It's never had an impact on me, since I've always been in a majority. (like a lot of people from NI) I went to Uni in England, probably have an English accent, English name. Nobody in places I lived in England ever seemed to be interested in my background/religion/culture and I had no issues with that. Same when I live/worked in Dublin for 10 years.

Today I live back home in NI, in strongly (90%+) Unionist area, and am in a majority again. So people here know/assume my religion/cultural background.

Discrimination is typically against minorities, people different from "normal", those with little power, and I've been fortunate to not experience it myself, but many many many many people do.

Thank you for at least replying - no one else has.
I am worried anything concocted by the government will still be offensive to some, so I thought I would ask the question - what IS comfortable/acceptable?

The problem with this recommendation is that you may not know where someone's heritage. Second guessing is very rude and inappropriate, so a more general term would be helpful that is acceptable to most people.

Obviously in this day and age no one should be defined by their race or ethnicity but on the rare occasions when it is needed, some guidance would be extremely helpful - beyond what we have at the moment.

No of course I see colour and we are living in a world where certain races are told they are down trodden when they clearly have equal abilities and chance as the next person, actually they have an advantage but that's not what this is about. My view is skin colour shouldn't matter but in fact it seems to an awful lot

No one is white and no one is black. We are all people of colour. As soon as we (i.e. society) phase out this ridiculous dichotomous terminology, the better.

My point was they'll know we are both humans and what will it matter then

Actually I think minorities have an advantage over white people, especially in jobs etc. Why should this be the case because of the colour of your skin? It should be on achievement and merit

I think you are my right. We all have unconscious bias which is why I think training to recognise unconscious bias is so important. We can only tackle it if we know it is there.

@Aretheyhavingalaugh

You are having a laugh!
Every ethicnic minority I know has had to fight hard for their job.

at a guess, I'm going to say something like 50% or less have white people appearing in adverts on the normal TV channels in the UK.

I am.pretty sure there is a much higher % of white people featured in adverts. They are more diverse than they were but the vast majority Stull feature white people.

The powers at be want white people to feel sorry that they are white, like its not OK. There of course used to be white privelege in more primitive times but that is certainly not the case anymore. Achievement should be based on merit ONLY, there shouldn't be a quota to fill to represent every race. Asian people are academically gifted and work extremely hard, so therefore if they are the best, the colour of thier skin doesn't matter. In the premier league, footballers play for team and are successful because of thier skills not thier skin colour. This is how it should be. 3% of the UK are black but they make up over 50% of advertising campaigns. If you go to Nigeria, do you think they'll have 50% white people in thier adverts? Not a chance.

@Aretheyhavingalaugh do you think you might be racist? It’s just that you tick quite a few boxes.

Next time you watch TV, take notice of the adverts, you hardly ever see white males represented these days

I'm not racist but I potentially could be made to be in the future if things continue in the direction they are especially if it's no longer OK to be my own skin colour

Goodness me. I think white people are doing a pretty good job of making themselves feel guilty TBH.

You mentioned football but anyone who's remotely interested in football will know there's still a huge racism issue, hence taking the knee. White privilege alive and well, as evidenced.

Then you talk about Nigeria. Words fail me and I'm not even black.

@Aretheyhavingalaugh ah ok so it’s something you are working towards. Wonderful.

🤦

So you're saying that the powers that be (predominantly white people) are making you feel guilty for being white.

So in response to this you're suddenly going to become racist?

Unbelievable. I think @Daydreamsinsantafe was correct with her initial conclusion!

Yes agreed, racism in other countries, international games, not in the UK hence taking the knee. Other countries are inheritanly racist to each other, black to white, white to black, Asians to black but actually not in the UK. That's the point, we had a good balance but not thing are swinging in the wrong direction.

I've not read the whole thread, but to be fair to @Aretheyhavingalaugh I don't get why the UK population is 3% black, but at least 50% of adverts feature black people either. Or mixed race couples. All advert couples now have to be mixed race. I'm not saying it offends me I just find it weird as it's so obviously not representative of the population.

And why do Chinese people never feature in adverts or Sikhs?

it does matter and it’s part of being human from what I can see. We do naturally associate with people who we perceive are the same as us and skin colour is one of those visual clues. I am unaware of any human society that we have moved on from this.
I know from meeting people from all different cultures and ethnicities that in some cultures it’s seen as preferable to be lighter skin tone. One of my friends was forever getting marriage proposals in her parents home country because she was seen as a good match due to being paler then average from that area. Or I have observed over the years in places with a mixture of races that people still mainly seem to socialise with those of similar race/ethnic background. Obviously there are exceptions.
I do think it’s unfair to blame only white people for this which at times appears to be the trendy thing to do. However, if living in a white majority country it’s important to highlight to everyone that this ‘bias’ occurs.
I don’t know if there is anyway of completely moving past the phenomenon you observed in your campaign OP.