Comedian Russell Howard has been criticised after mocking a new leaflet aimed at helping white people interact with their black and Asian colleagues.
The leaflet included advice such as not asking to touch a black woman’s hair, and not asking women what they have on underneath religious dress.
During an episode of his Sky One show, Russell Howard said there was no need for the advice.
The leaflet said: ‘If you missed the opportunity in primary school to touch a black girl’s hair, it’s a bit too late now,’ to which Howard reacted: ‘Who is doing that at work? Also who was doing that at school? There were no black girls at my school going, “Come on, rub away,” he said, while bending over in what looked like an attempt at a twerk.
The issue here is threefold.
Firstly, such a leaflet is absolutely necessary. Women of colour are regularly subject to micro aggressions at work which include but are not limited to: people asking to touch their hair, people asking where they are ‘really from’, people assuming they know every other person of colour in the company, being complimented on their ability to speak English fluently, being told they ‘sound white’ or that they are not like other people from their country of origin, being mistaken for another person of colour in the company and being described as wild, sassy, feisty, exotic and fiery.
Contrary to what Howard believes, these micro aggressions did indeed take place at school too, as well as overt racism, fetishisation and abuse. It’s unlikely there were any black girls at Howard’s school inviting people to ‘rub away’ – but people likely touched their hair anyway.
Secondly the leaflet itself is well-intentioned but a little problematic. ‘Let’s Talk About Race: A pocket guide to getting conversations started’ was created by Business in the Community, a non-profit organisation, and produced by Race Equality Director Sandra Kerr OBE.
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The leaflet includes advice such as;
'Don’t expect people to be an expert on world events just because they reveal that their cultural heritage is linked in some way'
'Individuals can only speak from their own experience. It’s important to not think they are speaking for everyone from a similar ethnic origin in the UK.'
'If you missed the opportunity in primary school to touch a black girl’s hair, it’s a bit late to do it now. There are of course exceptions to the above for hairdressers, or asking a friend for permission to do so (with the understanding that ‘no’ is an acceptable response).'
'"I don’t see colour, I just see character, skills, talent...." If you can see what the colours are in the Union Jack, you can see colour. So, don’t bother to say that – it’s not true and adds nothing to a conversation about race.'
These are valid points and do go some way towards helping people understand what’s acceptable when it comes to conversations around race, but the point about missing the opportunity to touch black girl’s hair in school is clearly supposed to be a joke, but it still gives the wrong impression– let’s be clear it’s not OK in school, outside school or at work.
Thirdly the continuous and systematic trivialisation of issues affecting women of colour is the only absurd thing here, not the leaflet. Every person should be able to go to work or any other space for that matter without the fear of racism, inane questions or unwanted physical contact.
If Russell Howard had only asked someone affected by these micro aggressions, or read the leaflet with an open mind before he went on stage, he could’ve learned something valuable.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.