Urgh.. here we go again.
Previously we had West Yorkshire Police being accused of having a “racist” recruitment policy for putting a temporary block on the hiring of white candidates.
Now we have the Metropolitan Police offering bespoke workshops to ethnic minority and female candidates to help them gain promotions.
Why? A former officer who served in the Met for three decades told The Telegraph: “Ethnic and female officers are individually selected and given additional workshops, coaching and access to professional coaches to make sure they are better prepared for the final promotion exam.
“White males are excluded from these workshops simply because of their biological sex and colour of their skin.”
Nana Akua delivers her verdict on Met Police coaching for ethnic minority staff
GB News
Apparently eligible ethnic minorities candidates are sent an email that reads: “You have been selected to attend this workshop as the Met has a series of People Priorities, which underpin the organisation’s overall strategy, one of which is to improve black and minority ethnic and female representation at all police officer ranks.
"As part of the approach to achieving this, frameworks for focused support are provided for both BME and female candidates to nurture and develop their talents, including provisions to support preparation for assessment – this workshop is one such provision.
“Therefore we ask that you do not share this email with your colleagues as all eligible candidates have been invited individually.”
Yes - of course they don’t want you to share this, they know it’s wrong. The fact that you think that because I’m black, I will need bespoke coaching to get a promotion tells me that either you don’t think black people are good enough because of the colour of their skin or it’s an admission that those controlling the hiring are racist.
It’s not institutional or structural racism at play as to why ethic candidates may not be getting promotions here because there’s no such thing really, it’s just individuals being racist who are enabled by a culture of fear, so nobody does anything about it.
Instead a structure or an institution is blamed rather that the individuals perpetrating it, which means they can carry on with it blaming everything else but themselves. Or perhaps the ethnic candidates simply aren't good enough. It’s not my fault gov, it’s the structure. Ridiculous.
Why doesn’t the Met just fix that and target these individuals and tackle racism head on, instead of giving perks to people of colour which will ultimately create even more racism, when white people rightly get annoyed watching others get special help based on the colour of their skin. That is racist. And it’s not helpful either to ethnic minorities who are seen as victims, in need of help, not clever enough to get the job without assistance.
I’ve lost count of the number of times when I started at GB News of people telling me 'oh you’re the diversity hire, you only got the job because you’re black, you’re being used'.
So my three decades in broadcasting, the sacrifices and my hard work dismissed as a diversity hire, even though that kind of stuff didn’t exist when I started out yet I still managed to get top jobs at blue chip media companies in TV and radio. They’re not saying that now mind, but I had to prove my worth against that backlash.
Unless individuals are called out for their racism, no amount of favouritism to their victims will stamp it out. Rather than turning ethnic minorities into victims, no doubt this plan was created by white middle class elites who see ethnic minorities as victims and for some odd reason want to perpetuate this narrative, perhaps it’s to ensure they the elites stay on top.
In a statement the Met said: “We want a workforce that looks and feels like the capital – allowing us to most effectively engage with Londoners, gain their trust and cut crime. This policy is a step towards achieving that.”
I’m bored of this, as are the British public, the majority of whom are not racist. So I’ll spell it out just as Martin Luther King did - I want to live in a world where I am judged not on the colour of my skin, but on the content of my character, do that and racism is over.
