At Grampian Regional Equality Council, we work to tackle discrimination and promote positive community relations in North East Scotland. It’s a big job.
I was planning to tell you about all the positive contributions immigrants make in the North East. Maybe give you some stats and numbers about the role of immigrants in the economy, how our NHS and universities are totally reliant on immigrants.
But then I remembered who I’m talking to. We’ve all just been on a march against racism and fascism, so I think everyone is aware that immigrants are not the bad guys.
We’re all aware that the problems with housing and jobs and public services are not the fault of a few dozen people seeking asylum, or a few hundred international students. They’re the result of political choices, and austerity, and a very small group of people hoarding wealth and power.
So, things are pretty bleak at the moment. I’d like to focus on what we can do about it.
Obviously, coming out today is really important – so thank you for being here, showing solidarity and standing up for basic human decency.
But what about tomorrow, and next week, and next year?
When we think about the struggles of the past, we often think in pictures. We often think about the big, memorable images that leave their mark on history.
Danuta Danielsson bashing a neo-Nazi with her handbag in the 80s.
Blanche Edwards being arrested at the Battle of Cable Street.
Six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted into her desegregated school by US Marshals in 1960, and civil rights campaigners of the same era being attacked with clubs and firehoses and National Guard rifles.
Ethel MacDonald with her radio microphone and Sophie Scholl going to her death with dignity.
But here’s the thing. We can’t all join the International Brigades, or go to Rojava to fight Isis. But we don’t have to.
It’s not all about the grand gestures or the headline moments. Most of the efforts that change the world happen quietly, far from the flashbulbs.
I’m sorry to say it’s not glamorous or complicated, and you won’t get a Wikipedia page.
You can talk to people.
Talking to people is more powerful than it seems at first glance, in two ways.
First, you can talk to people you don’t know. I’m aware it can be uncomfortable for Aberdonians, but stick with me here. When you reach out to strangers, you may find they’re not so strange after all.
Maybe their skin is a different colour, or they speak with a different accent, but fundamentally we’re all human, and we all care about the same things. We all want to be treated like we matter.
You can start small. Smile at someone on the bus. A moment of eye contact on the street. Small talk with a shop assistant. Show people you see them as a fellow human being.
I know it seems tiny. But it matters.
People targeted by racism experience microaggressions all the time. We can all practice micro acts of solidarity.
It doesn’t just help ethnic minority people – it gives other Scottish people a reminder, that people deserve respect and kindness, wherever they were born and whatever they look like.
At GREC, when we do trainings on unconscious bias, we talk about expanding our circles. Talking to someone from another culture can show us new perspectives and challenge our assumptions. Even reading more diverse novels or watching more diverse films can expand our horizons.
So start a conversation with someone at the park or the school gate or the corner shop. I promise it won’t be as awkward as you think, and I promise it’ll be worth it.
The other thing is talking to people you DO know.
Yes, we can all feel good denouncing racism with like-minded people – that’s ok too. But think about your slightly dodgy uncle. Think about the work colleague whose ‘jokes’ make you uncomfortable. Think about your neighbour who peddles conspiracy theories – “just asking questions.”
It’s so much easier to cringe and grit your teeth and ignore their ‘alternative facts.’ But this is where the real work comes in.
You don’t need to get into massive philosophical debates with your uncle or colleague or neighbour. It’s perfectly possible to be polite and firm when you say, “actually, I disagree with what you’re saying.”
Or: “I don’t think we should talk that way about our fellow human beings.”
Or we can lighten the mood. “Wow, that’s a bit racist!”
You don’t need to convince them, and you don’t need to have all the answers to hand. It’s about breaking the illusion of consensus around racism.
There’s a whole body of research in psychology and neuroscience showing that we’re more receptive to ideas from people we already have a relationship with.
So a comment to your uncle at the Christmas table is a thousand times more powerful than a leaflet through his door.
And even if his opinions don’t shift, you’re giving everyone else in the room permission to disagree. Not everyone has the wherewithal to stand up to their dodgy uncle. Someone needs to start.
And it’s not about shaming them or proving they’re wrong (even though they’re definitely wrong). In recent years, a lot of people have spent a lot of time in some very dark corners of the internet. And the algorithm will always give them more of the same.
I think a lot of politicians have fallen into this trap, and now they’re trying to out-Reform Reform.
The algorithm isn’t going to challenge them, so it’s up to us. Every one of us can start challenging racism where we see it, with the people we know. Every one of us can shine some light, even for a moment.
Of course, one comment, one joke, isn’t going to shift someone’s reality distortion field. But over time, those little interactions build up, until they start to get a sense that maybe bigotry is not the way to gain social status.
Maybe there are social consequences for being a bully who likes to punch down.
At the same time, you’re lending some courage to others to speak up. You’re showing solidarity with whoever’s being targeted by your uncle or colleague or neighbour.
I’m not going to lie, these kinds of conversations can be a bit of a slog. They’re not always fun, and they’re definitely not glamorous.
This is not exceptional work – it’s not the exception. But it’s absolutely vital, and everyone can take part.
So when we remember all the big headline heroes, we can take a moment to remember as well – behind every famous image are thousands of heroic everyday efforts that build a world where those moments can happen.
Thank you.