Guest Blog by Nafisa Nathani, Chair of Cultural Fusion at Network Rail
Having a strong grounding in our own history can be an engine for social change
Last week we celebrated Race Equality Week with its theme #ListenActChange and it really got me thinking about how this theme translates into my reality in modern day Britain. We are in a time as a society where we are all battling against a tidal wave of populism within a poisonous culture war fuelled by the echo chambers of social media. All of this is taking place in our workplaces, a melting pot of employees of different ages, faiths and cultures, who have vastly different expectations about their workplaces and its role in society.
Having a strong grounding in our own history can be an engine of social change. An unexplored dimension of uprooting bias in our society and workplaces, is through the role of understanding history. The past is not necessarily a guide to the future, but it does partly explain the present. Therefore, unexamined biases about who we are, where we come from, who does and does not deserve safety, comfort, opportunity and care is connected to this. To get to a place of progress, we need to desperately close the gap between a fictionalized version of history rife with emotion to one based on cold hard facts. This is incredibly difficult I know. Particularly so in the post-truth world we find ourselves in, in which information and misinformation seem to flow at the same rate. We each however do have a duty to unwind harmful and unexamined patterns of thinking, some of which have been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years very often through our own history books. This not only requires great effort but the will to change.
I have always been fascinated with the role that history plays in society and how our interpretation of the past impacts our understanding of ourselves and others. What really intrigues me during this week, is the impact of these historical interpretations on our national identity and its repercussions on someone like me. Disclaimer alert, I did study history at university, which may explain my fascination! I grew up learning very compartmentalised versions of history: a British version at school, Indian version at home and a Muslim version in our equivalent of Sunday school. These versions never completely connected with each other. The British empire as an example, was one of the biggest things we did as a nation, yet we know very little about it. The truth is the past is incredibly complicated and to boil it down to binary categories of ‘good’ vs ‘bad’, ‘evil’ vs ‘hero’ through the prism of feeling of ‘pride’ and ‘shame’ is intellectually dishonest. This is perfectly reflected in conversations around the railway in which its construction is frequently cited by the imperially nostalgic as an example of one of many benevolent acts by Britain in extending a ‘helping hand’ to its colonies. What seems to be omitted though was that it was also a way through which to transport precious resources out of the colonies to British factories, a means of economic exploitation and dispossession. Both of these statements are true at exactly the same time. This complexity is perfectly encapsulated in my Nanima’s (maternal grandmother) story.
My Nanima came into this country with her husband and 6 children during the expulsion of Indians from East Africa. She learnt English through watching Countdown, absolutely loves and reveres the British royal family, is critical of the role Empire played in the partition of her homeland India while simultaneously being incredibly grateful the UK opened its borders when her and her family needed safety. People, just like our history can be incredibly complicated, nuanced and at times even contradictory. Being critical and asking questions about your history does not make you unpatriotic. It is a manifestation of how deeply you care that you are willing to probe, understand and appreciate the complexity of this country – warts and all. Very often in the UK our telling of history, is a combination of selective amnesia and patriotism and doesn’t include the experiences of ordinary people like my Nanima.
I am a child of Empire
Empire explains so much about modern day Britain that is conveniently erased from our national discourse. Our history lessons in the UK leave out a long history of ethnic diversity in Britain; they erase the exploitative nature of British colonialism, and they lead us to believe that triumph in the second world war was because of Britain alone not allied cooperation and manpower from the commonwealth. I remember feeling Remembrance Day celebrations were not part of my history. Then, I found out approximately 5 million Indian soldiers fought in the two world wars – a million of which were Muslim. The way we fail to acknowledge we are a multicultural society because we had a multicultural empire makes our national conversations around race absurd and tragic.
A teaching of history that is inclusive, honest and not compartmentalised as ‘our’ version and ’their’ version but a truly shared discourse with different perspectives woven through, would help so many more people to feel a sense of belonging and connection to this country. For us to move forward as a society, we need to start telling the history of our British empire in an honest fashion. I am a child of Empire. I am a child of the NHS. I am a child of New Labour. I am a child of the War on Terror. I am also a child of Britain. All these things have shaped me profoundly in different ways.
Chronic stress is the perfect storm for biases to take hold
When examining our biases this can be difficult to do in a fast-paced sector like transport when it feels like we are constantly reeling from one crisis to the next. With stress levels at an all-time high, this is fertile ground for biases to take hold. When we are stressed and our mind is overloaded and drained, it is entirely natural for us to rely on mental shortcuts like stereotypes. Research shows how people with stronger cognitive control are better able to interrupt biases better but when the brain is stressed out, our mental resources and ability to catch them are depleted and decimated. Let’s not forget, stereotypes exist for a reason. They are culturally useful because they legitimise the status quo and require great effort to disentangle. Internal practices of mindfulness and compassion have been proven tools to help people tackle biases. We all exist in an echo chamber of our own thoughts but when we make authentic connections, we have an opportunity to build structured decision making into our institutions to reduce the role bias in everyday practices. While I am not completely convinced the cream always rises to the top of organisations, what I do know is that we each have the influence to ask each other questions about why we feel or think certain things, and this is the surest way of moving the needle on the dial on some opinions. If someone is willing to have a conversation about their thoughts this at least in part presumes a desire on some level to examine their thinking.
All societies, workplaces and communities are basically a network of conversations. The ability for us all to converse with each other respectfully is important. What I believe will stand our industry apart, will be its from each other, is our ability to facilitate strong, meaningful, authentic and trusting conversations across hierarchies. This means moving beyond the binary roles we may find ourselves in, one group being defensive and the other taking on the position of justifiably angry victim. These insights are critical in giving leader’s the humility to realise that no one at any level has a monopoly on the truth while identifying pain points within the organisation. If our industry wants to be a place that attracts the best talent, I do believe we we need to commit to having a conversation internally that is of a similar quality to the ones we aspire to have externally and employee networks like Cultural Fusion are key in facilitating this. By putting human beings front and centre of everything we do, we aim to explain divides and widen perspectives within the sector in order to cultivate a positive workplace culture for everyone. To facilitate this, we have platformed thought leaders and change makers like Nimco Ali, Professor Jason Arday, Sathnam Sanghera and Azeem Rafiq and hosted intelligent conversations, away from the angry voices of identity-based politics. Having the humility to listen to voices that may otherwise be hidden within the organisational framework is an absolute bare minimum for leaders in today’s workforce. The reality is our workplaces have fundamentally changed post covid with boundaries between the public and private all but completely dissolved. We cannot turn the clock back. Individual behaviours and organisational values are now intrinsically linked to the development of a healthy workplace culture in which colleagues need to disagree well, make concessions, compromise and ultimately work together towards a common goal. The dangers of organisational siloes, entrenched thinking, untapped potential and the importance of diversity – that goes beyond the colour of someone’s skin is key to achieving this. Diverse minds are important, not just diverse faces. Diversity is not a fairy dust that unleashes magic when sprinkled but what it does do is create is a sense of safety that allows people to take risks, absorb new information and grow.
At a time of great division and anxiety, it truly is an expression of love towards our country to have an honest account of our nation’s history and its legacy across the globe. I wholeheartedly believe, the more we understand history, the greater our grasp of present-day prejudice. From very early on, we have all been the recruits into one version of history, into one version of politics with such a deeply engrained identity. The forces of polarising political and social issues swirl around us every day. Conversations can help to alleviate some of this pain and can increase levels of harmony that is fundamental for the building of trust and empathy. Employee networks are key to facilitating this exchange. The most valuable conversations are spaces where we each give over a part of ourselves to each other to explore, illuminate and connect. So often social media is two monologies rather than real engagement. Within workplaces this can translate into a wielding of power which consciously or unconsciously stifles, censors, drowns out or suffocates diverse voices. Doing so has been proven to lead to institutional complacency, and as Aristotle warns a death sentence in the pursuit of excellence. If we learn the truth about our past, we truly can work together to make better sense of the present and future, as well as fight for a kinder and fairer world for everybody and our workplaces are crucial in this endeavour.
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