Preventing Racial Battle Fatigue

In the immediate aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, there was a heightened momentum that gathered on the topic of racial injustice across the globe. Some businesses spoke out and vowed to take action. Others donated and pledged millions to tackle racial injustice.

Ten months later, it seems that the conversation has become a little quieter. A recent piece of research done by People Like Us showed that almost 3 in 5 Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) working professionals believe the momentum of diversity has fizzled out in their workplace since the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement last year. This is double compared to only 3 in 10 white working professionals who feel this way.

Leaders might be surprised that voices of their Black, Asian and people of Colour (BAPOC) employees seem quieter on the issue of racism, given its profound impact on their lives, but at Utopia we have seen how many BAPOC employees are suffering from Racial Battle Fatigue.

William Smith, a critical race theorist, coined the term Racial Battle Fatigue which he described as the ‘cumulative result of a natural race-related stress response to distressing mental and emotional conditions. These conditions emerged from constantly facing racially dismissive, demeaning, insensitive and/or hostile racial environments and individuals.’

The murder of George Floyd triggered the first realisation for many white people that BAPOC across the globe experience racism everyday. And although this was a novel revelation for some, BAPOC people were well aware of this reality and were constantly taking the brunt of it.

The UK ‘Race Report’

The government's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report released in March 2021 suggested that the UK was not institutionally racist; this was gaslighting in its highest form. 

The report was offensive, cherry picked data to confirm the narrative it wanted to push and minimised centuries of systemic racism felt by the African-Carribean heritage community then and now. It referred to the enslavement of Caribbean people and the horrific treatment of the Windrush generation as the “Caribbean experience” and stated that “the UK should be the model of race equality for other white majority countries” despite the overwhelming objective evidence to the contrary. 

Once again, BAPOC are now being forced to justify their personal experience of institutional racism whilst being told simultaneously that it does not exist.

Despite the widespread controversy generated by the report, those businesses who committed to create racial justice less than a year ago have been notably silent. All this serves to increase the severity of Racial Battle Fatigue on BAPOC staff 

The onus should be on leaders to address these challenges and make good on the promises made in the wake of the George Floyd Murder. This starts with the creation of a strategy to address the barriers BAPOC people face in the workplace. The creation of the strategy will enable leaders to be accountable and identify a roadmap for concrete change.

5 Top Tips For Supporting BAPOC Employees 

Although McKinsey, Deloitte and co have long established the business case for diversity and how it impacts innovation, creativity and business performance, there is little to no change, in fact in some cases we have gone backwards. Research compiled by recruitment agency Green Park shows that for the first time since the firm started its analysis back in 2014, there’re no Black chairs, CEOs or CFOs in the FTSE100.

Furthermore, Green Park anticipates that the chances of future increases in the number of Black senior executives are “slim” as the number of Black executives in the “pipeline” at these firms has dropped from 1.4% to 0.9% over the past year.

Here our our top tips for supporting your BAPOC employees: 

1. Check in with your BAPOC colleagues and provide a space for them to be open about their experiences. Knowing how to create that space can be tricky and many of our clients have found our Listening Sessions to be a fantastic way of providing an open space where BAPOC staff feel truly heard. 

2. Be vulnerable about what you don't know, but show up as an ally anyway. It’s important to realise that you are not going to know everything and even when you commit to educating yourself, you will make mistakes. 

3. Communicate that you are still committed to anti-racism and let your staff know how you intend to do this. This might include developing and implementing specific policies, educating and training staff at all levels.

4. Ensure that your senior leadership and managers have an understanding of the barriers your BAPOC face in your organisation as it is vital that as they will role model change for the whole company. At Utopia, this is a key principle embedded into our Utopia Equity Programme that works with leadership to affect change. 

5. Hold yourselves accountable for change. Whilst strategy is key, it is also redundant if it is not implemented, evaluated and updated accordingly. Create regular check-ins to evaluate the success of the strategy and adjust. Keep an eye out also for any areas where the strategy isn’t being fully implemented and step in as needed.