Thread by @jurassicg1rl

Do you want the reality for POC in our sector?
Lets get down to some details. All based on my own observations:
"Look at how bad you made us all feel!" bunch of white people in response to my thread discussing my lived experiences of rural racism. 🧵
#AzeemRafiq

"People like you don't move to places like this" when I mused over why the sector is still so white & why after 15 years I was still the only Brown face in the room. No recognition or understanding of a sectoral wide problem.

"You don't need to explain the words (hostility, isolation, otherness) to me, I understand what they mean", white person in response to my attempt to explain my lived experiences of rural racism.

"If you go to London the others will see it as a treat" when I explained how I was off to a meeting to discuss measures to examine and tackle the lack of diversity in geoscience.

"You must be stupid to think that I would allow you to go to that conference now!" white person in relation to a conference I had specifically been invited to - to discuss my experience as a POC in natural heritage sector. Oh the irony!

Assumptions made abt me that I was neither qualified nor interested in taking on a more senior role involved in heritage & conservation. A white man was promoted to that role without wider consultation.

When I asked for greater support to champion me as a WOC, I was told that this would put the other people at a disadvantage. They are all white.

When I questioned the commitment to EDI, I was told that it was exemplary as women were in leadership positions. They were all white and there was no understanding of intersectional approaches towards leadership. That their experiences & achievements did not reflect my own.

And the nuclear bomb: I was suspended over a twitter thread I wrote which was catalysed by findings in the Glover Review. This report described how white orgs were not doing enough to engage diverse communities with nature.

My thread was intended to generate a conversation, to shine a light & trigger meaningful work on the issue. I had coped & lived with the microaggressions for so long, like #AzeemRafiq I collapsed into darkness once I was suspended.

In legal letters, they stated that the racism I claimed to have experienced did not exist, it simply never happened. This opinion coming from white ppl who never engaged with EDI professionals as I advised them to do, later claiming to be "not experts" in the field.

My report to a Grievance appeal (after I left) with all this evidence was shelved because the perpetrator was not named in the original document. They said no further action or investigations would be taken forward.

Now I am sure they are reading this carefully. I know my legal rights here. Everything is based on my observations, it is factual & not conjecture. I did not sign an NDA but agreed not to mention their name. I have not accused them of anything. Their actions speak volumes though.

The irony is that this org wants to know abt the barriers ppl like me face when entering natural spaces. They wanted to lead on a EDI partnership! If they listened to me wirh humility, they would have learnt & grown. Become allies.

Now they may be preparing a legal letter or comms which I will openly publish here to demonstrate the hypocrisy of such virtue signalling. If you enter this EDI space, ensure you have the receipts to show for it.

Tagging @BameFor just in case I need them, but I think they would be foolish to challenge me in light of #AzeemRafiq and the evidence I have presented here.

FYI @Halima_Begum @CharitySoWhite @RunnymedeTrust @DorsetCouncilUK We need a detailed independent enquiry into my experiences with POC/EDI experts on that board. Please get in touch.