Our Story
In August 2019 #CharitySoWhite sparked a conversation about racism in the charity sector. The hashtag was born following the discovery of training materials by Citizens Advice titled ‘Barriers to working with BAME communities. A slide included deeply concerning racist stereotypes about communities of colour, reducing diverse groups to generalisations about ‘low levels of literacy’ and ‘intrinsically cash-centred cultures.’
This racist training slide was not an isolated incident, but symptomatic of widespread institutional racism in the third sector. This was an opportunity to have a candid public conversation about racism and urge leaders to take action in dismantling the kind of racist structures that allow incidents like the Citizen’s Advice training to happen far too frequently.
People of colour were encouraged to tweet about their experiences of racism in the third sector using the #CharitySoWhite hashtag and the campaign came to life. Thousands of people began to share their experiences, from interns to board members. If it wasn’t clear that the third sector had racism problem, it was now undeniable:
“I turned one guy down for funding. Not convinced his org was benefitting all communities equally. His response: ‘do you know research shows that black people were happier when they were in subordinate positions”
“I once ran the digital and comms part of a programme for a charity for 4+ years. At an event, a senior rep from a partner of the programme assumed I was a waiter and asked me to bring her drinks - twice.”
“When I was promoted to a senior management position, I was offered a salary less than a quarter of my younger, whiter, less experienced predecessor.”
“At criminal justice networking events, when everyone of colour are asked when they left prison.”
Since then #CharitySoWhite’s organising committee has grown to 10 people and we have been mobilising the power of people of colour and gaining momentum in the sector. We are demanding a seat at the table after years of complacency and inaction from leaders. Our call to action is simple: have candid and critical conversations about racism, rooted in honesty, humility and hope; publicly acknowledge that institutional racism exists in their organisations; prioritise anti-racist work, embedding it into whatever institutional mechanisms are at their disposal and dismantling the ones that are preventing change.
We have seen the needle move with public statements being made by the Institute of Fundraising and NCVO, invitations to speak at Civil Society: Race to the top, NPC Thinks and IoF Convention 2019, face to face meetings with sector leaders and collaboration with organisations and individuals who are doing incredible anti-racist work in the sector.
However, there is still a long way to go to transform the charity sector and we will continue to hold leaders to account. #CharitySoWhite are here to stay and here to win because we know the kind of sector we could be. We shouldn’t be afraid of this challenge. We should be leading the way and showing the rest of the country what is possible.
Image description: Black text on a white background, text reads “#CharitySoWhite is when you can’t even tweet about your horrific experience because of fear of backlash and bullying.