Global Majority: self-identification and how mindset shifts can start with terminology
The term “Global Majority” started with educators in the UK and has now found its way into government protocol, marking a shift toward self-identified terminology and hopefully resulting in a change in mindset across the systems in which we live our daily lives.
In November 2022, the Westminster City Council announced that in an effort to be more inclusive they would no longer be using the term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) but rather Global Majority.
One of the main issues with the usage of BAME is lack of specificity, with research showing that on a whole, those who fall under the “BAME” term, do not feel that it is helpful nor representative of them. In addition the term hints at the age-old “non-white” binary. Hence, Global Majority.
Author and educator, Rosemary Campbell-Stephens MBE, who coined the term “Global Majority” shares in her 2020 think piece Global Majority: Decolonising the language and Reframing the Conversation about Race:
“The term Global Majority seeks to include a range of ethnic and cultural groups who are deemed to be minorities not only within British society but are in other ways considered subordinate to the imagined, but never defined, ‘majority.’ Continuing to use acronyms such as BAME limits the capacity to have honest authentic non-coded conversations about global issues of race and racism.”
News outlets have released articles on this new Westminster City Council agenda, and yet barely any of them have mentioned Rosemary as the initiator of this change way back in 2003, let alone highlight her thoughts on the necessity of this change. We encourage all to read her piece and understand the nuance, depth, and holistic approach that Rosemary has taken in shaping this term.
As part of this change in terminology, the City of Westminster highlights three key commitments, namely:
To be an anti-racist organisation
To continue sustained action to remove pay gaps within the organisation by 2025
To adopt the term ‘Global Majority’ instead of BAME and to change the staff network name to reflect that.
In addition to these three objectives, they discuss other important points that need to be followed to ensure that the organisation is in fact en route to being considered anti-racist, including training, policy review, and setting up a taskforce.
Rosemary wrote her think piece back in 2020, and included the following as her closing line, “I will continue to use the demographically accurate and empowering term Global Majority until the rest of the team catches up, and the race is over; this is within 2020 sight.” With the City of Westminster’s announcement in November, two years after she published her thoughts, we can hope and insist that other organisations follow suit until all institutions are as proactive as she was back in 2003 when she coined the phrase.
Self-identified terminology is essential to removing the hidden “other” implied in terms like BAME and Do it Now Now encourages all organisations and groups to not only adopt the usage and encourage their networks to do so too, but to also adopt the mindset of centralising the Black experience. In our work with organisations through our Melding programme we assist leaders and racialised staff to establish a foundation of inclusivity.
Get in touch with us to discover more about the services we offer for building a better, more inclusive workforce.
