During Friday's ELLE Weekender talk, titled, 'Race, Identity and Belonging', Black Girl Fest co-founder Nicole Crentsil questioned a brilliant panel of prominent women - Chidera Eggerue (a.k.a. The Slumflower), musician Nao and writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch.
Hirsch, famous for her ground-breaking book, Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, spoke honestly about the racism she has encountered as a talking head on the world's televised debating stage.
A regular on British and US news stations, Hirsch explained that, as the 'token black person in the current affairs debate', she is often torn as to whether she should accept the invitations to appear.
'It's lots of white men, in suits, talking about Brexit, essentially', The writer told the ELLE crowd, 'It's often really problematic, and I say no to a lot of stuff, and I'm always assessing what I do.
'Because, these are not spaces that are set up for you to have a substantive conversation, it's a set-up. It's four white men, with right-wing views and you. And you are the voice of the left, the voice of women, the voice of people of colour.'
'The dilemma that I have is - does it help the younger generation to see that a black woman enter that space and be confident and strong, or, am I legitimising something that's bogus? Am I giving credibility to this thing that is not fair, that is not representative?'
Hirsch then explained that, not only are these spaces implicitly difficult for her to work in, but explicitly too. The lawyer told a stunned crowd that her gender and race have often been policed on these shows. She gave the example of one instance of someone asking her to lower her voice in case listeners found it 'grating'.
'There are white men employed to analyse your appearance and give you feedback. I've been told, "I'm not being racist, but", a great way to start a sentence, "It's just that your hair, your afro, takes up too much of the TV."
'I've been told that my legs are too muscular for TV. And, though this has not been said to me directly, I've heard women be told they're "eating themselves off the TV".'
'We have a long way to go', Hirsch told the audience, and we totally agree.
ELLE Weekender Highlights - Pictures From The Event
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
