• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Mike Chitty

Helping realise development since 1986

  • About Mike
  • Products and Services
    • Online Coaching
    • How to be an Outstanding Manager
    • Progress School
      • Join Progress School
  • Diversity, Inclusion and Power
    • Favourite Things – Power, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Reading Circles
    • Intelligent Kindness – Rehabilitating the Welfare State
  • Be A Better Leader Podcast
    • Be A Better Leader V-logs
    • Be A Better Leader
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Blog

Me and White Supremacy – Part 3 – Tone Policing

Mike Chitty · June 9, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Police - taking the knee? Or preparing  for conflict?
Taking the knee? Preparing for conflict? Setting the Tone?

Tone policing is the subject of ‘Day 3’ of Layla F Saad’s “Me and White Supremacy”. The book is designed to be read, by white people, one section a day, but I am progressing at less than a section a week. There is not that much to read, but there is lots to think about – especially when I have over 50 years of ‘lived experience’ of my own ‘whiteness’ to reflect on. Also, times are so ‘heightened’ with C19, and the statue of Colston having just been deposited into the harbour where his slave ships used to dock.

There was a lot of anger and violence on display this weekend – at least – a lot compared to the usual reserved ‘Britishness’. We usually prefer our violence to take place on foreign shores or sports fields and to be state sanctioned and ‘lawful’ rather than ‘civil unrest’. There was the anger on the streets and the anger in the media that it provoked in response. Accusations of ‘criminal damage’ as graffiti on his statue labelled Churchill a racist and Colston was ‘got in the sea’.

We had discussed whether to join the protests in Leeds and decided on balance that we wouldn’t. Partly because we don’t want to risk contributing to a second C19 wave, but also partly because after many years of marching and protesting and so little to see for it I wondered if my energy and experience might not be put to better effect? To work on changing me rather than raging at the machine – again. And as I watched the news coverage of the protests unfold I do remember hoping that things remained ‘dignified’ and ‘lawful’. Tone policing in my own head? Yes. But also hoping for the promised land of a peaceful protest that leads to lasting change.

About as likely as hen’s teeth and unicorn poop.

For several years I had watched the campaigns in Bristol to rename Colston Hall and remove his statue, or least add a plaque to it describing the role of slavery in enabling his commercial and philanthropic largesse. But, as I understand it, a form of words could not be agreed. So nothing happened. Until this weekend, when neither tone nor direct action were policed.

I have not been comfortable with conflict. I avoid it. I minimise it. I believe it does not ‘help’. As a physicist I learned that every force is met by an equal and opposite force. Anger and hatred from one side induces anger and hatred from the other. No matter how righteous or justified the emotion is, it is unlikely to be helpful. That was perhaps the nature of my inner ‘tone police’.

And perhaps I am uncomfortable with conflict because I never really had to engage in it? Home was generally a calm and non-violent place. It wasn’t until I was well into my 20s that I witnessed police brutality at first hand and saw in the coal fields of Yorkshire what conflict really looked like. And this perhaps is a part of white privilege. For many of us, most of the time, not having to fight to be heard? To be fed. To be housed. Being ‘reasonable’ was enough. We had to work hard. But for black, asian and other minority ethnic communities working hard and being reasonable was nowhere near enough.

Much of my work these days, especially in the Reciprocal Mentoring for Inclusion Programme is about discomfort. The discomfort of learning things about the impacts of our white British history. Who paid the price for our libraries and concert halls. And who continue to pay the price.

Over the last couple of weeks I have listened to the horrific stories of three muslims and a Sikh. All work in the NHS. All with awful experiences of racism in the NHS and in the communities where they live. These stories were difficult to hear – because I too want to Love the NHS – and hearing how ill it makes some of those who work for it is tough. I came away from the first two of those conversations feeling ashamed, powerless, unclear about what to do next. Not knowing how to help. The privilege of thinking I might be able to help…

As the third story came to a close I shared how I was feeling and how I had felt after the other two conversations. The shame, the powerlessness, the helplessness. And I was told that I would never understand how much it helped just to listen to these stories. To let them be told and to hear them without judging or denying – just accepting. Can that really be enough?

And I took that into my fourth conversation…

What would it take for Leeds to delight you?

Mike Chitty · June 2, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Delightful Leeds?

This is the question set by Emma Bearman as the topic to be explored in a partnership between two cities, Liverpool and Leeds, over a two-part series of one hour online conversations.

Each city will host one conversation. The provisional plan is that Liverpool will start us off on June 20th, and Leeds will host on June 27th. Sessions will start at 7pm and be done by 8pm. Further details, including how to book to take part in the events will be published soon.

There will be a a panel drawn from Liverpool and Leeds who will comment on what they have heard and explore it further. The online audience will be able to submit questions through a ‘chat’ service.

The whole thing will be done in an hour.

Would You Like to Be Heard?

Whether or not you are interested in being in the online conversations we would love to hear your thoughts on what it would take for Leeds to delight you. Please do get in touch – we don’t just want to hear from those looking to be on the ‘big stage’… You can also use the form below to tell us what it would take for Leeds to delight you…

Who Would You Like to Hear From?

We want to hear some voices that are not usually heard from, with perspectives and experiences that are not those of the usual ‘Leeds’ voices. Three people will get to speak uninterrupted for 5-8 minutes about what it would take for Leeds to delight them.

Want to know more?

Then join us in a Zoom conversation on Wednesday June 10th at 10am. Fill in the form below and we will send you out joining details…

Making a Nomination

If you would like to nominate someone that you think would provide an interesting and seldom heard perspective, or nominate yourself, here is what to do:

  • Talk to them about why you think it would be good to hear from them and see if they agree to find out more before committing
  • If they agree to consider it ask them to get in touch with me using the contact form below

We will then be in touch. Many thanks!

    Leadership Dialogue #3 – On Listening

    Mike Chitty · May 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment

    John Varney, from the Centre for Management Creativity, read this to start off our third dialogue on Leadership Development and how we might transform it for a better future…

    “So I’m quoting from Isaac’s book Dialogue.

    “To listen, is to develop an inner silence. This is not a familiar habit for most of us. Emerson once joked that 95% of what goes on in our minds is none of our business”.

    William Isaacs – Dialogue

    Then there is a quote,

    “I do not know if you’ve ever examined how you listen, it doesn’t matter to what, whether to a bird, to the wind in the leaves to the rushing waters, or how you listen in a dialogue with yourself, to your conversation in various relationships with your intimate friends, your wife, or husband. If we try to listen, we find it extraordinarily difficult, because we’re always projecting our opinions and ideas, prejudices, our backgrounds our inclinations, our impulses. When they dominate, we hardly listen at all to what is being said. In that state, there is no value at all. One listens and therefore learns only in a state of attention. The state of silence in which this whole background is in abeyance, is quiet. Only then it seems to me is it possible to communicate”.

    William Isaacs – Dialogue

    So the other bit I want you to read from the same book was about respect.

    “To be able to see a person as a whole being we must learn another element in the practice of dialogue. Respect. Respect is not a passive act. To respect someone is to look for the spring that feeds the pool of their experience. The world word comes from the re-specsere, which means to look again, its most ancient roots mean to observe. It involves a sense of honouring or deferring to someone. Where once we saw one aspect of person, we look again and realise how much of them we had missed? This second look can let us take in more fully, the fact that here before me is a living, breathing being”.

    William Isaacs – Dialogue

    So, there are various other principles that Isaacs’ goes on to spell out in dialogue, but we’re trying to get past just conversation. If you look at the people present in this dialogue, there is an extraordinary spread of expertise of life experience of knowledge, that we can pool, we can bring that into relationship, if we, if we listen and if we respect.”

    And one of the things that I have learned recently about the etymology of leadership is that it shares the same roots as regard and respect…

    If you would like to book a place on a future Leadership Dialogue to help us explore how we can transform the business of leadership development to shape a better world you can book on here…

    Me and White Supremacy – part 1 – White Privilege

    Mike Chitty · May 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment

    The Basics – White Privilege

    In what ways do I hold white privilege?

    In many ways. If I am at a meeting, especially of senior leaders, then most of them will share my gender and ethnicity. When I see role models in the media many of them will be white. If I apply for a job or bid for work it is highly likely that those selecting will be from my ethnic groups. Since childhood to be white was to be ‘the norm’.

    Growing up in the 60s in the rural home counties any skin colour but white was seen as a rarity. I had to choose whether to be racist or anti-racist. Arthur Ashe or Buster Mottram? National Front or Anti Nazi League and Rock against Racism? It was not a choice my black school mates had.

    When I go through Peggy Macintosh’s list of the items that structure white privilege in a day to day and very practical way – yes they all apply. All the time. And they work differently in different contexts and at different times. Even when I lived in a rural village in The Gambia in sub-saharan Africa my white privilege was still with me.

    The fact that I can afford to take my own skin colour for granted is an enormous white privilege. It was never a source of worry or fear. Or pride for that matter. I could safely ignore it. However by ignoring my skin colour I was also blinded to the power of whiteness. To my own white power.

    I thought white power was a ridiculous, white supremacists’ chant rather than something that directly and unfairly benefitted me.

    What negative experiences has white privilege protected me from throughout my life?

    I have always had easy access to the culture of my own ethnic group. Even when I lived in sub-saharan Africa, while I physically did not see many white people in the village I could easily tune the radio to access my own culture. So I never felt that my culture was denied or absent in my life. It was always the dominant culture. The successful culture. It has only been in recent years that China has emerged as a global power to seriously threaten the dominance of Caucasians.

    I was in The Gambia for just over a year, and for much of that time it was quite difficult to meet another white person. There were a couple of Peace Corps in the village and generally The Gambia was full of ex-pats, but generally I lived and socialised with Gambians; Mandinka, Wolof, Jola, Serahule and Fula. And I learned that Gambia is the shape it is because of the way Africa was divided post war, largely using rulers and compasses, ands how the imposition of borders in the Sahara had made apparently made very little difference to the day to day life in tribal West Africa. I remember walking one day up to the border with Senegal. Just sand. But even here my whiteness protected me from some of the racism that black Africans from other countries received from Gambians. I remember one teacher had walked from Cameroon to the The Gambia to take up a teaching post and he got a hard time because he was not of the Gambia or from one of the local tribes. I was protected from all that because of my association with power and money that came with my skin colour.

    I don’t think I have ever been discriminated against unfairly because of my ethnicity – again even in West Africa to be white was seen to bestow power; education and access to networks and resources.

    I have never been subjected to violence because of my skin colour. For my politics and football allegiances yes – but never skin colour.

    In what ways have I wielded my white privilege over black, indigenous and people of colour?

    I find this question hard to answer. I know I have often been invited to speak with BAME networks and feel guilty when I am the white man at the front of the room teaching the BAME networks about power and empowerment. I always feel conflicted in this work as historical power structures are re-created. I have always tried to name it and to talk about it – but even my choice to do that is an exercise in white privilege.

    I don't like the acronym BAME but don't know what else might work.
    Layla F Saad uses BIPOC meaning Black, indigenous and people of colour but again that does not feel appropriate for me to use.  Getting used to the inadequacy of words, their clumsiness and the vulnerability they bestow on the user who as at the edge is another thing that those of with white privilege, using our first language to explore our concepts of race,  perhaps don't experience that often.

    In political processes I have always supported the candidates who most closely fit with my political beliefs rather than perhaps vote for the person or party most likely to pursue racial justice. I wold NEVER vote or someone who was overtly racist – but I perhaps have never gone deeply enough into the record of politicians on anti-racism.

    I have competed with BAME people for jobs and tenders without ever really considering the privileges I enjoy in that competition.

    What have I learned about my white privilege that makes me uncomfortable?

    I think the thing that makes me most uncomfortable about it is that it is slippery, evasive, structural as well as personal and difficult for me to see. Whiteness is like an invisible superpower. I feel like a fish coming to terms with water.

    I was involved to small degree back in the late 70s and early 80s with movements like Rock against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League. However I realise now that while that was helpful in uncovering and combatting overt racism it did little to explore and reveal the more subtle and structural racism that patterns our society. That pattern me. It was as simple as ‘good white people and their black allies’ against the ‘bad white people’.

    Whenever I try to work in a way that I hope is ‘anti-racist’ it feels like an expression of privilege and hubris. Even writing as honestly as I can about the reflections prompted by the book I have this nagging sense of doubt. Doubting my own intentions in this exercise of privilege.

    Who am I to think I can help? Especially uninvited…

    But then who would I be to do nothing?

    Me and White Supremacy

    Mike Chitty · May 20, 2020 · Leave a Comment

    Introduction

    I first got involved in issues around the politics of race back in the late 70s when I was a teenager. Back then we were faced with a number of stark choices about how to fit in.

    I wasn’t especially informed but choices had to be made. Choosing football teams, musical genres and orientation towards or away from skin colour felt compulsory. So Rock against Racism and Anti Nazi League badges joined the Chelsea scarf and the Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Pink Floyd albums in defining me as a teenager. It wasn’t until Sandinista that I really got into The Clash and worked my way back through time into punk…

    Those early choices have stayed with me. It might have been so very easy for me to choose differently because they were not especially well informed by inquiries into morality, ethics and human rights. They more informed by my own survival instincts…

    I can see now having that choice was an example of white privilege.

    My current development around the issue of racial justice is to work through Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad. The title alone grabbed me gently by the throat. No weasel words of inclusion and diversity – but a very direct naming of a power dynamic.

    The book offers, after a short introduction, 28 prompts for reflection through a brief introduction to some key concepts and then some questions that invite you to reflect personally on how the concept has played out in your life as a white person. The book is written for white people.

    I decided that I would journal some of my reflections for several reasons:

    • it would create some sort of accountability – I won’t do something every day – but I will work my way through the book
    • it will make me externalise my thinking. Writing stuff down allows me to re-visit, re-think and explore further – and sometimes see, with hindsight, how shallow my thinking can sometimes be. How it can lack awareness. Indeed as I write this my mind is racing around in circles – is this an honest attempt at reflection and learning?
    • Layla F Saad recommends journalling as a way through the book
    • Working out loud, usually helps, for me at least – it gets the chance for feedback, guidance and fresh ideas to be offered

    So over the next few weeks and months as I work through the book I will be as open and honest as I can in sharing reflections. I am sure that some days they might be pretty shallow and rushed – but I can always go back and develop further.

    I am also worried about language. Im sure it will be clumsy, perhaps at times ignorant as I try to find the right words to express reflections and partly formed thoughts. If they ever trigger offence, anger or any other emotion or though tin you please do find a way to let me know. You can use the comments on a post or through the contact form

    • « Go to Previous Page
    • Go to page 1
    • Go to page 2
    • Go to page 3
    • Go to page 4
    • Go to page 5
    • Interim pages omitted …
    • Go to page 12
    • Go to Next Page »

    Mike Chitty

    Copyright © 2022 · Monochrome Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in