You are reading a single comment by @itsbruce and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
Alf0nse
@itsbruce
Back in the early 80s, there was some stir in the press about a black British soldier who'd had an exemplary career and was a cornet in one of the Guards regiments, but who was barred from ceremonies like the changing of the guard because black (the Guards had a colour bar until the late 60s and even after that operated a strict and small cap on the percentage of non-white soldiers). Apparently the British public wasn't ready to see a black face in ceremonial uniform guarding Buckingham palace. He was eventually included in those public ceremonies, later in the decade, but left shortly after because of constant racist abuse from within and without the regiment.
Pretty simple example of systemic racism, with the official system being blatantly racist by policy (and very tolerant of the racism suffered by one soldier at the hands of his "comrades"). But it's only half the story.
One reason I remember this story is because when it hit the news, somebody I was at school with at that time and who had ambitions to join the forces was very agitated about it - on the side of the racist regiment and the racist public. If the public didn't want to see a black face in front of the palace, then the regiment was doing the right thing, blah, blah, blah. It's quite possible that he wouldn't have barred a black trooper from ceremonial duty (if he'd had that authority) if there weren't objections from other Guards and the public, but since there were objections he clearly felt he was being patriotic by supporting the system.
He did go on to join the forces (not the Guards, but that doesn't matter), which slowly changed around him as British society changed and dragged the forces along (very grudgingly). I still hear from him occasionally and he seems to have adjusted to those advances. But if you ask him if his own career benefited at all from privilege and preferential treatment, he's outraged. The fact I pointed out that he had supported a system that was explicitly prepared to give him better opportunities than non-white soldiers, well, that's one of the reasons we don't talk much.
Which is the other half of systemic racism - people conniving in it while refusing to acknowledge that it exists. Often even when they don't directly benefit, but have pegged their sense of identity to the system and won't hear it criticised.