We’re all very white!
And straight.
And pretty much middle class…
I’ve been in a number of discussions recently about inclusion, ethnicity and gender identity.
Because we who advocate and campaign for better dementia support and care are largely white, straight and middle class.
Of course, as we know, non white British people don’t get dementia. Just indigenous us. The majority. So we can ignore the rest.
Who are we anyway? Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Flemish…Germanic then.
Who rules Britannia? Yep. We Germanics. We straights?
Hang on, I cannot keep this up. It has to stop.
Surrounded by stereotypes as we are, none more so than the historic images of demented madmen in straitjackets and locked up, images that are perpetuated in much of the media, we must break free from them.
What are the proportions of ethnic minorities in Britain?
How many people identify as LGBTQ?
“An estimated 1.4 million people aged 16 and over in the UK identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) in 2019 – a statistically significant increase from 1.2 million in 2018 – continuing the trend we have seen over recent years.”
(HMGovt)
There are a lot of people in Britain who do not conform to the white British stereotype. Why don’t we see many of them in research, and advocacy, and dementia cafes…?
Why are most campaigners white? And straight?
Perhaps because others live fearful lives, fearful of the reactions they are too used to getting from us whitey straights?
Perhaps because they have known persecution ever since coming out, and probably before.
Perhaps because their experience of health and care has been of assumptions, prejudice and even hatred? (fear?)
Come on, let’s get it out there…there’s plenty of this around. Much of it indirect and unconscious, which needs real effort to redress.
So what is going on?
Language and culture can prevent openness about, or even recognition of, dementia. And those used to prejudice, direct or indirect, tend not to go where prejudice is expected. Health care. Social care. Society. Shops. Jobs.
The LGBTQ community often lives separate parallel life, keeping within their groups and communities where they feel safe. Why would they not?
Are ethnic and gender identity groups ‘hard to reach’? God, I’ve heard that so often for so many years. These people are not hard to reach, but it does take a bit of effort and an open mind. They are indeed seldom heard, and seldom given the empathic understanding they deserve.
Minorities are often (though history) blamed for the ills of societies. They are easy targets when those in government or in the social majority face hardship and challenges which they really do not want to acknowledge as their own responsibility.
LGBTQ people living with dementia in care often hide their sexuality in order to avoid aggression and/or being told to leave. Think about this. Your memory and cognition falters and you have to remember to not say or do anything that might reveal who you are. You cannot have photos of your loved ones on display. You have to join in the banter directed against your own kind.
Or your family refuses to accept your dementia, and may be too proud to let anyone outside the home find out. You are stuck, imprisoned, without help or understanding.
We don’t do anything to change this horrid situation by continuing to just be white middle class advocates and groups and researchers. We don’t change anything when we specify that those who take part in research must speak fluent English.
Perhaps in my Shropshire bubble we are the exception? Perhaps in writing this I am demonstrating my own unconscious prejudice? (I hope not.)
My experience on Zoom over two and a bit years, and in my ‘work’ in earlier years, suggests that I am not wrong.
george rook 