Exclusive: Labour promotes discussion of anti-Black racism with new video

Labour has encouraged conversation around anti-Black racism and representation in politics with the release of a new video featuring women and equalities spokesperson Marsha de Cordova this morning.

Filmed at a gym in de Cordova’s Battersea constituency in London, the clip shows the Labour frontbencher and people involved with local youth charity Carney’s Community share their experiences of racism.

In the four-and-a-half-minute documentary, the Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary tells the group: “I recognise and know the challenges that we have to overcome because I’ve had to overcome them.”

One contributor describes being the only Black person in a construction workplace as “very awkward”. He says: “It came to a point where a colleague of mine told me that my supervisor was calling me n****r.”

Another discusses growing up as a mixed-race girl: “I never saw anyone beautiful who looked like me, I never saw any princesses who looked like me, any models on the TV who looked like me, or anyone who even just had my hair.”

She adds: “I just wanted to be white my whole life. And it’s not fair for children to want to be a whole different race because they’re made to feel that it’s ugly. And it needs to change now.”

One participant talks about people who abstain from voting “because their perception of the state is so negative”, and how this can be attributed to videos such as the police killing of George Floyd that sparked global protests.

Labour called for the suspension of riot gear exports to the US amid the Black Lives Matter protests, and Keir Starmer urged the Prime Minister to tell President Trump to “respect human rights” in response to violent police responses.

But the new leader was criticised by some activists and Labour MPs after Starmer described BLM as a “moment” rather than a movement, in comments that he later told UK Black journalists he regretted.

There has also been concern over anti-Black racism within the Labour Party after the leaked report on internal complaints alleged racist attitudes by staffers towards Black MPs, particularly Diane Abbott.

Labour’s focus on anti-Black racism, engagement with Black communities and issues around representation in the short documentary film today will likely be seen as partly an attempt to reach out to people with such concerns.

The participating charity, Carney’s Community, works with disadvantaged and excluded young people in Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark to reduce offending and anti-social behaviour while improving social mobility.

It pursues these aims through mentoring and activities, from encouraging participation in boxing programmes to offering bike workshops. The centre has recently been visited by rapper Stormzy.

Having been a fan of their work for some time, de Cordova went to meet some of those at the centre to hear their stories. She said: “Carney’s Community is a great example of how to bring people together for positive change.

“I am a huge supporter of theirs: it is always a pleasure and educational to visit and work with them. To be able to speak up and be a voice for people, we have to first listen to what they have to say.

“What I heard loud and clear is that business as usual in our political system is not working. To end racism, inequality and injustice we have to change, and look and act like the communities we represent.”

Commenting on the video, a Labour source told LabourList: “This is a great example of the kind of thing we want to do more of. The Tories are leaving too many of our communities behind – we want to show people we’re listening and that we’ll speak up for them.”