Laboni Paul，数据和性能主管、DfE数码
我是一名英国女性，出生于伯明翰的孟加拉国学生家庭. 对我来说，很容易同情身为少数群体的挣扎. I’m familiar with racist slurs and I’ve missed opportunities simply because my name was too difficult to pronounce.
然而，我并不是处于经济阶梯的最底层. 我不是黑人，也没有黑人的经历. 但作为同事，我有责任, 我的一个朋友, 作为南亚社区的代表, 向黑人举起麦克风.
In the weeks following George Floyd's death I asked my Black friends how they felt, 以及他们的雇主的反应. I also looked across DfE Digital and Transformation to see what work had been kick-started to address the issue of racism.
黑人精疲力尽
我问我的黑人同伴，针对黑人的暴力有多长时间, 再加上最近的悲剧事件, 影响了他们. 以下是他们中的一些人说的话.
“这让人筋疲力尽。. 人们对这个问题太不敏感了.”
“我们正在失去生命，但改变似乎几乎是不可能的.”
“我哭得太厉害了，眼泪都干了.”
“我决定休息一下. 任何事情都会让我哭泣.”
Black people in the UK are overwhelmed with the news of Black people’s deaths and the resulting protests. They are mentally drained by having to absorb the news while simultaneously explaining to their peers why change is so important.
这也是一种终生的压力
这种程度的疲惫并不新鲜. It comes on top of challenges, indignities and injustices experienced from a young age. Here are just some of the common experiences that a Black person faces in the UK:
- 小时候被拦下搜身
- 找不到适合自己皮肤、身体和头发的产品或服务
- 在预订度假之前，需要检查一下一个国家的种族主义程度
- 被一些政客忽视了
- 在餐馆吃饭前被要求付钱
- needing to put more effort into a job application which is likely to be discriminated against
- being wrongfully arrested and possibly killed for looking like society’s portrait of a criminal
名单还在继续，这是一种负担.
各组织的回应方式各不相同
As the world’s two biggest media stories - coronavirus and the protests that followed George Floyd’s death - coincided, 我问了黑人朋友(他们在教育部以外工作), 如果这一点在他们的工作场所得到认可.
“Maybe three people reached out, and there was a company-wide message - but I don’t feel the support.”
“联系领导团队很尴尬. 我知道，光是说出来，就可能毁掉我的事业，让人觉得我是个问题. 事实上，工作岗位正在被削减. I have to choose between my career and representing my own people - that’s an impossible task, 这是双输.”
“I asked my Chief Executive Officer if they’d write a message to address Black people in the company, 但他们说，他们希望保持‘政治中立’。”
“当经理雇用我们时，他们也会承担我们的困难和包袱. They want the benefits of a diverse workforce, but are not prepared to do the work.”
“我给老板发邮件，询问公司会给我什么样的支持. 他们的回答只是照搬了他们的多元化政策.”
People who have experienced a lifetime of discrimination have learned to live with their anger. 它经常被埋没. 当一名黑人男子被杀的视频传遍全世界, 人们又一次受到了深深的伤害.
The protests allowed people to express their anger but in the aftermath they need time to recover and encouragement from leadership to do so.
黑人需要组织做出真正的改变
There are so many ways organisations can show their support for their Black staff and the wider Black community. This could range from offering mental health support and funding initiatives that support ethnic communities, 更上一层楼, 协调一致解决系统性种族主义问题.
DfE Digital在做什么
Since I started drafting this post in response to the protests, a lot has happened in DfE Digital. Colleagues immediately made the time and space to acknowledge and hear how their Black colleagues felt, 他们经历了什么，他们需要从别人那里得到什么.
以下是目前正在发生的一些事情. 有些是小规模的，有些是更具战略性的. It’s early days but it’s an authentic start to getting to grips with the problem of racism and making deep-rooted change.
仔细倾听和学习
All of us have listened to Black colleagues share their personal stories of the impact of racism on them and their families, 以及冠状病毒如何影响他们的生活.
Everyone took part in a session to explore ‘whiteness’ to help recognise the advantages that come with being white. Black people and people of colour have been leading on most awareness sessions but we’re aiming for White colleagues to take on more of this type of work.
Teams are revisiting the issue of bias and unconscious bias, particularly within the context of race.
There are awaydays planned for everyone to discuss race and how to combat racism in depth. The difficult conversions we need to have in order to move forward are taking place.
出版 内容
我们发表了Kelsey Williams的精彩博客文章 “黑人生命危在旦夕”. 这也是 在政府推荐.UK.
To keep the conversations going our Community team share topical and useful links to podcasts, 文章, 电视节目和YouTube视频在我们的数字笔记和通讯.
Using our social media channels, we’re asking our audiences to give us their thoughts and views.
改善我们的招聘流程
在DfE数字招聘团队中，我们现在非常关注种族问题.
We're exploring how to better support Black colleagues to get promotions in DfE.
Black and BAME interview panellists often have to give up disproportionate amounts of their time to make panels more diverse. We’ve set up focus groups to explore the impact of this on those individuals and to think about how we can do this differently.
We want to hear from Black and BAME colleagues what it was like recruiting people to their teams in the past. 焦点小组正在进行，以收集见解，以帮助改进这一过程.
我们现在使用 Textio 帮助我们撰写没有行话的面试问题和招聘广告. (公务员词汇和短语很容易让人们不去申请职位.)
In interviews we’re asking questions that evoke a more natural response and offer people the opportunity to talk authentically and in a less rehearsed way about their motivations.
提前计划并采取行动
在DfE数字化与转型课程中，我们举办了一场竞赛 工作小组.
We’re strengthening the links we’ve already made with Black and BAME digital and tech groups. 我们不希望这些关系只是象征性的. We want a genuinely effective pipeline through which Black people can successfully apply for positions in DfE Digital.
这些举措只是一个开始. Collectively we still have a lot to learn about how best to address race, minorities and majorities.
If you’d like to hear more about any of the things we’re doing in DfE Digital to address racism, 请与我们联系
