Thread by @sahdyadarr

#NotJustNCVO OK, here goes! Imagine, during the first week in your new job, your boss, a white middle-class man insinuates that your bf at the time should be working for the cause, not in the City, because he's Black & then a couple of months into
thirdsector.co.uk/bullying-haras…

the job whilst you're telling him how you're finding it, he says "You know what your problem is, you take up too much space." Later, when you tell him that some of your family lived in Dudley when they first came over from Pakistan he responds mockingly "Ooh, have they moved up-

market now!"
He decides to leave & you consider applying for his job. In a team meeting he says "we all know it should go to a Quaker." You don't apply because you believe your application won't be treated fairly. He leaves & is replaced by another white middle-class man who

tries to force his vegan beliefs on you. He explains to you what your religion says about how you should treat animals. He compares the treatment of animals to slavery. You call him out & he responds with "But my gf is Black." He then goes on to tell you he's an ally & tries

to prove he's one by telling you about the time he defended a Muslim classmate. You speak to his boss but nothing really changes. In an email to the only other PoC in the team, he writes that Black & Brown people need to be more reflective about their own speciesist privilege &

also their unhelpful & oppress attitudes towards animals.
You raise a grievance. He retaliates by also raising a grievance accusing you-the only Muslim on the team-of supporting Hamas based on an article you retweeted. He writes that your values are not in line with that of the

programme you work on or the workplace. He also accuses you of supporting Barack Obama & discriminating against white men, providing a huge pile of printouts of your tweets about white supremacy including one re the Christchurch attacks.
A senior member of staff tells you it was

antagonistic to raise a grievance & in an exchange with the Deputy CEO, when you tell her you feel you have no option but to leave, she replies that sometimes that's the best option. You raise another grievance & are told that you raised that grievance to deflect what would

otherwise have been an inevitable disciplinary process.
In addition, during the course of the two & a half years you're at the org, you're told by the partner of a former staff member whilst having a conversation about climate change that "Your people have too many children."

One morning when you're speaking to a colleague about Ramadan & explain that it's your fav month because you get to really think about your relationship with God, the CEO interjects saying "Well that's the thing about Quakers, we think about God all the time." When you try to

speak to two of the trustees of the org about racism, one says "Well, you were hired."
Your first boss is now CEO of a small charity. Your second boss continues to work at the org. Surprise, surprise!
NCVO's toxic culture exists in so many other charities & thanks to the hash-

tag created by @MsSMoreau we've been allowed to show just how pervasive & entrenched it is.
Also, thanks to @CharitySoWhite who not only work to hold the sector to account but also provide Black & non-Black PoC with the support we don't receive from the orgs we work for.

*oppressive

One of the recommendations from the first grievance is not to talk about race at work. You wonder how you're supposed to work on social justice issues without looking at them through the lens of race?!