To think Nihal Arthanayake is being ridiculous

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He lives in a country where the majority of the population is white, but says it has mental health problems from a workplace which is mainly, yes, white. However does he deal with everyday life?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/bbc-diveristy-nihal-arthanayake-radio-5-journalism-diversity-fund-b1123658.html

@TizerorFizz But he was ASKED to talk about it. That's why he was there!!

Asked by whom? The BBC? You can say “no thanks!”

I agree people talk at conferences in my experience, by running it past their employer if they are speaking about the employer. Employees don’t say what he said about his colleagues! How will they really feel about this? Most people who talk at conferences have something positive to say about who they work for. What was wrong and how they are improving. What did they do that delegates can copy? They don’t say they look around and it harms their mental health. Other brown people are saying he’s not speaking for them and has weaponised his colour. He has immense privilege and chose to use it against the organisation that gave it to him.

I listen to him regularly. Especially when Martin Lewis is on but I’m swerving his programme now. The BBC cannot do anything because he’ll play the race card. I would also bet his mental health is ok. At least he can afford private help if it’s not. Hasn’t been absent from work as far as I know. Very many more people have much worse issues with MH and this belittles them too.

@TizerorFizz the BBC has policies on what their employees can talk about in public, what other programmes they are allowed to appear on, what they can advertise and even what protests they can go to.

So he is clearly allowed to talk about how he feels as a ethnic minority moving around BBC offices in this country in a conference on ethnic diversity in the media.

Oh and what is this 'race card"?

And btw Gary Linekar isn't a BBC employee.

All of these people have a platform given to them by the BBC. Gary Lineker has not talked about his colleagues. Whatever contract he has, he’s not complained about them. If you don’t know what “race card” is, how long have you been in the uk? It’s a standard phrase.

He has immense privilege and chose to use it against the organisation that gave it to him.

I really hope this thread is kept in some sort of archive for Black people to see in the year 4023 that absolutely nothing has changed.

Mind you the people who hold and espouse these views are just people you come across everyday, not the 'get em all out o'ere' types. These are the same people who sit on interview panels, make health care decisions, teach kids and so forth who have these views. It's absolutely terrifying.

It's a standard phrase used by racists. Ffs.

Also I suggest you read the article because Nihal was not complaining about his colleagues.

Here's what the BBC have said in response:

Events like this one are instrumental in bringing new talent in as we work towards making our organisation as inclusive as possible.

“We want everyone who works at the BBC – and those considering a career with us – to know we are focused on creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong.

“We believe we should be setting the highest standards on diversity and we recognise that there is still more we could do, therefore we have clear plans in place to improve the diversity of our workforce.”

Doesn't sound like they have any beef at all with him being at the conference or what he said.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/30/bbc-diversity-admission-nihal-arthanayake/

Racial essentialism is so depressing. Where do we go as a society if we all silo off into identity/ colour groups? With the belief that we’re all like different species, in that someone can only be like you, relate to you, if they have the same skin tone?

Seriously depressing. We used to focus on people’s characters and personalities before CRT and identity politics.

Of course no one sensible would deny that racism exists. But as per Heather MacDonald’s latest book, most companies are gagging to employ poc for their diversity quotas. If there is an equally qualified white and black candidate, especially somewhere in the city, or the BBC, the white person will lose out every time. Inconvenient truth, but truth all the same. In the West End nearly every major show has a black star (MASSIVE over-representation), and no one complains about lack of diversity. Same as football and athletics, I guess. It’s all so incoherent.

Classism is the true barrier these days.

Factual accuracy isn't a priority when jumping in to accuse minorities or women of not sufficiently tugging the forlock. We should all bow down to those hard done by UC/MC white men who are are forced to run every major organisation.

Did someone actually say "race card"?🤣🤣🤣

I think that's a personal attack on other posters who don't share your point of view.

Where do you even start with this post!? I really really feel particularly for young PoC because the people that will really have a hand in shaping the course of their lives really do think believe the bile in this post and consider themselves to be 'post race' too. It's staggeringly terrifying.

This thread in a different format would be a fantastic illustration on 'post-race' racism in 2023 and beyond. I wonder if anyone's mentioned they went to the BLM marches but it's all become a bit too much now.

@DojaPhat I'm waiting for "all lives matter".....

If all his friends and family and neighbourhood have south Asian heritage working at the BBC will be a shock to the system. The same as black and Asian students who go to university outside the big cities. In the same way those with British heritage can have a shock visiting the big cities and see so few people who look like them.

The BBC are hiring more ethnic groups just adapting to future demographics as the proportion of white British heritage will shrink further as having fewer or no children as can't afford them due to voting in Conservative government who have cut state support. Also white British heritage are more likely to be atheists who have fewer children and less community support (to make up for reduced state support) as don't have social support from religious groups.

As the cities become unaffordable for people without family living there it will become harder for those with white British heritage to access careers in top institutions. But it was the white British who voted in thatcher and praised the right to buy scheme which has made the cities unaffordable to children and grandchildren.

If there is an equally qualified white and black candidate, especially somewhere in the city, or the BBC, the white person will lose out every time. Inconvenient truth, but truth all the same.

Let's assume this is true. It would actually be an improvement in equality to the historic position where people of colour had to be better qualified than white people to be considered for jobs.

But it's not true. I can't be true, if you think about it for more than a second or two. How would you know? How do you determine "equally qualified"? Are you present at every interview in the city and the BBC to see it happen? How is this policy enacted?

It's a lazy racist stereotype. "You can't even employ white people these days." "There are people of colour on all the TV ads."

@MasterBeth How do
you, by the same token, know black
peoole had to be more qualified if you don’t know what the qualification is? Who has made this judgement? For talent it’s a portfolio of work. For other jobs it’s not purely degree obtained. It’s lots of things that go into a person spec. Not just a measurable qualification or you would just have firsts from Oxbridge at the BBC. These days you don’t.

It’s also interesting to me that people live here but then complain about us being a majority. How would white person get on saying that in Dubai? Or Pakistan? Surely you accept a country for its ethos and history? We have been wonderfully liberal here and have benefitted from it but listening to privileged people (latest reported earnings circa £160,000 from the bbc) insulting colleagues is a bit rich.

He didn't insult his colleagues.
The fact you and others percieve what he reported as an insult is giving me a very good insight into "white fragility" (I am white).

There has been lots of research into this over many years. Here is some:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038520966947

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f81c6ed915d74e33f6dc4/race-in-workplace-mcgregor-smith-review.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/17/minority-ethnic-britons-face-shocking-job-discrimination

I know of no research which substantiates the claim that, at the BBC and in the City, where candiadates have the same qualifications, the black or ethnic monority candiadte is always hired. Do you?

Why would they always be hired? Employers don’t just look at qualifications so they?

I don't think they are. It was a claim in a previous post which I quoted and you replied to. I thought it was a stupid and substantially racist claim.

Good to know that this is what some people think of brown or black people in the workplace.

PoC regularly outperform white people in schools and unis on academic performance, but of course they are hired because of PC gone mad and " inconvenient truths". My DH is a brown immigrant with 2 degrees from one of the most difficult to crack unis in the world. He works with people who have passed their A levels..Probably because he has a long and "funny" name, not unlike Nihal.

MN never ceases to surprise me these days, but as I said, good to know.

I don't recognise your characterisation of Britain either and I agree with @RosaGallica regarding how the country has changed.