This interview is free of copyright

“Acknowledging the existence of racism is the basis for building anti-racist action,” says Sherma Batson

Member of Hertfordshire County Council, United Kingdom, Sherma Batson presented during the last Congress plenary session, a report on the social approach to the fight against racism at local and regional level adopted by the Congress.

Question: At the last session of the Congress, you presented a report on the social approach to the fight against racism at local and regional level. What can the local authorities do in this area?

Sherma Batson: Local authorities need to have advice and examples concerning the way to combat racism at their level. They need, for example, to know how to recruit staff from all communities, and how to provide services suited to all communities. Certain populations often find themselves de facto denied certain public services because nobody has bothered to offer them in their language. As another example, in Hertfordshire where I live we have a social service enterprise that delivers meals to elderly persons and caters for the diversity of the population by offering not only English but also Asian, Polish or Caribbean cuisine, under the supervision of the local authority. In the same way, our consumer service makes sure that the citizens can talk to the administration in their own language if their English is poor.

Question: What do you expect of the Congress here?

Sherma Batson: The Congress has adopted my report, which may help the local authorities to take initiatives. Often they do not know where to begin and how to go about it. The report and its conclusions must now be assured of the widest possible distribution, not only in the United Kingdom but may I say worldwide. We must ensure that a maximum of local government leaders receive it so that they are persuaded to adopt the standards laid down by an organisation with such high standing as the Congress.

Question: What will be the next step?

Sherma Batson: First of all, as I have just said, having these texts distributed as widely as possible. The next thing is to identify in each country experts with specialist knowledge of the various communities, as the problems are not the same from one country to the next depending on the communities resident there. There is no single solution; one has to act according to the typical needs of each community. Some solutions may be applicable to one community but not another. The fact remains that the report may form a springboard for action against racism. Above all, it must make people understand that racism exists even though certain local authorities are unaware of it or do not want to acknowledge it. Acknowledging the existence of racism is a first step in laying the foundations for action to combat it.