I recently returned home to the UK from an overseas work trip. And my goodness it felt like I’d stepped off the plane and back into the 1970s.
I couldn’t believe the headlines that greeted me after such a short space of time away.
First the story about police seizing a collection of golliwog dolls from a pub in Essex. One of the furious landlords said she couldn’t “see the harm” and within days had replaced the collection that was taken away. It later emerged that her partner, “Mr It’s Only A Toy”, had allegedly spouted racist views online.
Then came the revelation that the Ritz hotel in London, synonymous with five-star glamour, had a policy that banned employees with afro hair. Their stance, written in their own employee grooming policy, basically said anyone with an afro isn’t welcome to work there.
It only came to light when job applicant Jerelle Jules checked out the documents himself. The Ritz said it “does not condone discrimination of any form” and claims to be “committed to fostering an inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for all of our colleagues and guests”. That policy seems to suggest otherwise.
How many people like Jerelle have lost out on jobs at the hotel due to discriminatory policies we’ll never know. This just weeks after an independent report judged the Met Police to be, among other things, institutionally racist.
This is just the stuff we hear about. There are so many incidents of everyday racism that go unreported or are swept under the carpet.
The only consolation about living now, rather than the 70s, is that people are able to call out racism where they find it – and are increasingly being listened to. Yet it’s maddening that some are still labelled woke snowflakes.
I applaud the pubgoer who reported the display as a hate crime and take my hat off to Jerelle for shining a light on the racist policies of the Ritz and even going so far as to want to offer to help them improve their recruitment process.
Hopefully customers will vote with their feet and boycott these despicable places and any others that espouse racist views. For some, it’s the only language they understand.
