To BME or not to BAME?
The psychological impact of one story for all has been very simply highlighted in the following story by Chimamnda Adichie.
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I watched with interest an interview involving the UK famous Black comedian Lenny Henry. This involved his calls for UK law to boost low numbers of black people in the TV industry. He used the terminology BAME during his interview – British Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (used to refer to members of non-white communities in the UK).
This inspired me to write this blog on a subject which is very personal to me.
Throughout my professional career a large part of reports, media and other tools have involved using the terminology BME and more recently BAME, a la Lenny Henry. My personal reflections have told me that the usage of such acronyms used to shorten and collectively place a whole group of people with different hues under one umbrella, to determine one experience in many cases, can have a possible negative impact. Certainly it has for one who has been determined as a member of the BME/BAME community over the years with my own story.
LGBT
I could argue that a similar thought process may be had by my colleagues who have been collectively identified over the years through various media, studies and research as LGBT. This has become apparent through my recent research studies and interviews with members of this community during my critical analysis and research of the Trans experience when accessing healthcare within the NHS. This link from the Guardian discusses a matter relating to an experiences within this community.
What Impact?
These terms have been embedded into the fabric of social policy in the UK and beyond and are now common parlance. For me, the impact of being lumped into one group has been a feeling of further marginalisation and a generalisation of my own personal experience. We are all unique with our own stories. For many who have taken part in my organisational/leadership development over the years, many have found the use of such terminology a difficult concept to grasp. How is it that the many media forms, studies or organizational developments haven’t adopted a collective acronym which denotes the white heterosexual male/female experience? (WASP). Surely such a group of people have their own history and experiences and like minority groups should be grouped to reflect inclusivity and consistency in awareness raising and such like.
The psychological impact of one story for all has been very simply highlighted by Chimamnda Adichie.
Beverley Powell is a Leadership Associate: Organisational development, Inclusion, Coach and Mentor, UK certified Life Coach and Educator, and nationally recognised by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) 2014 as a BME Pioneer for her work around strategic inclusion within the National Health Service (NHS). You can see more about Beverley’s work on her website and you can also follow her on Twitter – @UKCoachLeader
Beverley hosts a region wide networking event for a group of NHS staff. Watch RADAR Networking for Success: Overview
