1st October marked the commencement of Black History Month (“BHM”), and at Ultimate Finance, as part of our EDI commitments (which are outlined in our Responsible Business Report), we are taking the opportunity to celebrate, expand our knowledge and create space for conversations about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Throughout October we’ll be putting on a range of EDI initiatives for our staff, to drive these conversations and increase our awareness. These include activities such as; an Afro-Caribbean lunch, a dedicated “Coffee-Roulette” session where individuals are randomly grouped with each other for a casual conversation and cuppa and a Black History Month themed EDI quiz.
To kick us off, our very own Jennifer Mordi, Legal Onboarding Team Manager, shares her views on the idea of race as a social construct and the significance of Black History Month.
The significance of BHM and its celebration
Whilst we cannot erase the past, we can learn from and try to evolve past the fundamental flawed beliefs that were seeped into society.
In a world where the promotion of EDI policies is on the agenda for a large proportion of businesses and here within Ultimate Finance where we’re committed to a continued approach of expanding our knowledge when it comes to EDI topics, BHM provides a wonderful opportunity to revisit beliefs and evaluate their place in the modern world.
How far businesses go to celebrate BHM can be likened to peeling the layers of an onion the “layer effect”. Some employers choose to peel back just the first layer by marking the occasion internally in some way. Other employers peel back further layers and delve deeper by encouraging their staff to have discussions about race and racism, in an effort to create space where colleagues can talk openly and honestly about related topics and even the very concept of BHM.
I do not believe that the value is in how many layers employers choose to pull back in their celebration of BHM but rather the real value is in acknowledging BHM in their workspaces. By recognising the value in BHM and why it exists, we create an opportunity to learn from each other and evolve.
In essence BHM celebrates the accomplishments of, contributions to society made by and the struggles endured and overcome by black people throughout history. The blueprint for BHM was created in 1926 by American historian Carter G Woodson. In the years that followed, it developed into a month-long celebration in many universities across America culminating in 1976 when President Gerald Ford officially recognised BHM as a country wide, month-long celebration.
The United Kingdom followed suit and in 1987 launched its own month-long celebration resulting in BHM being celebrated in Britain every October ever since. This year however, juxtaposed with this diverse and highly evolved Britain is the memory of the recent racially charged riots that took place on our streets just a few months ago across the UK. The riots were a brutal and bleak reminder that the primitive mindset held by those who continue to perpetuate the narrative that there should be a correlation between the colour of one’s skin and how society should respond to them – still continues to lurk within the underbelly of modern-day Britain.
But what is racism? One cannot truly understand what racism is without first understanding what “race” is and more importantly what it is not.
Race and Biology
In 2003, the Human Genome Project (“HGP”) established that humans are 99.9% identical at the DNA level. The other 0.1% is responsible for all variations in humans. These variations include physical traits such as height, hair colour and texture and eye colour.
HGP’s findings that humans are 99.9% genetically identical renders the ideology of categorising humans into separate races redundant and confirms that there is simply no genetic basis for race. Moreover, they recognised that biology is simply not structured enough to justify race classification. In other words, there is no distinguished biological pattern that can sub divide humans into various racial groups.
A practical example of this is demonstrated in the case of Sandra Laing. Sandra, a black woman, was born in 1955 in South Africa to white parents (yes, her biological parents were white and she was black). Furthermore, both sets of grandparents and great grandparents were all white. The pigment of an unknown black ancestor from Sandra’s all-white family had activated itself in Sandra.
Let’s talk about skin tone
It has already been proven through scientific studies that homo sapiens or “modern humans” first evolved in Africa. The Hereditas journal asserts that when modern humans first ventured out of Africa approximately 100,000 years ago, they spread across continents, ranging from tropical zones to the arctic, and from lowlands to highlands. As a direct consequence of the migration, pressures in local environments resulted in population-specific genetic variants such as variations in skin colour. In other words, the local environment directly influenced how genes of inhabitants varied to suit their outer surroundings.
The skin is the largest organ of the human body and also the most visible to the naked eye. Skin colour is highly correlated with latitude (distance from the equator) and the distribution of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Consequently, people whose locations were close to the equator developed dark skin for protection against UV radiation. Conversely, populations that migrated to areas further away from the equator with low distribution of UV radiation, developed lighter skin due to the absence of the natural selective pressure to develop darker skin. This meant that, the inhabitants’ genes, although capable of variation to develop darker skin, this variation was not activated because the necessary conditions were not present. Skin colour was determined by nothing more than choosing a place to live.
So, now that we have determined that there is in fact no biological basis for dividing humans into “races” what is the basis of race?
Race is a social construction NOT biological
The term “race” was first introduced into the English language in the 16th century to categorise human beings into distinct groups. When first introduced, this type of classification was somewhat sporadic and was an innocuous categorisation system employed to describe “types” and “kinds” of people. Literature published during that time, for example used terminology such as a “Race of Bishops” or “Race of Saints”. Unfortunately, as time cantered on, so too did the connotations attached to race.
It was during the 18th century that racial classifications largely evolved. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus was a notable contributor to the hierarchical division of humans into distinct race groups. Linnaeus published several editions of his works Systema Naturae. In the first 9 editions he divided humans into 4 categories (1) Europeans, (2) Americans (3) Asians and (4) Africans. However, in his 10th edition, published in 1758 Linnaeus expanded on his categorisation by assigning certain attributes to each group based on, skin colour, manner of clothing and behaviour. Whilst over the years, Linnaeus changed his ranking of each group, one consistency remained which was his depiction of Africans being at the bottom of the hierarchy.
Linnaeus was a central figure in natural science, and his work held considerable weight to other scholars at the time. The effect of this being that his opinion, however flawed, was accepted and unchallenged. Linnaeus created stereotyped personality traits for entire populations which inevitably impacted both the understanding of and interactions with each of the 4 groups.
The combination of dividing humans into racial groups and the hierarchical structure imposed on these racial groups resulted in people of colour conceptually being placed at the bottom of this structure. As such, the misguided connection between colour and societal standing has filtered its way to the present day.
Remember… Race is an optical illusion
A rainbow appears when rays of sunlight hit water droplets. When the light passes from the air into the droplets of water, it splits into a spectrum of colours based on their frequency. This causes the optical illusion of a rainbow.
The appearance of a rainbow can be likened to humans. We are all part of the same whole but appear to be different because of how, over many centuries, numerous factors, including our environments have caused variations to our genes that create an optical illusion that we are all far more different than we really are.
A glance at a person’s physical appearance tells you nothing about that person’s medical history, strength of character, or any other information that really matters. At its heart BHM is an invaluable opportunity to remind all groups in society that we are all capable of greatness, irrespective of the colour of our skin.
