Equally Ours believes in a just and compassionate society, where we are free from harm and can all contribute and flourish. But racism* at a personal and ideological level, and within institutions and organisations, causes significant harm to racialised people and groups.
Equally Ours is one of those organisations. As an equality and human rights organisation it is particularly important that we lead by example, and we are committed to becoming anti-racist.
We recognise that being anti-racist is about what you do. And being actively anti-racist must be central to everything we do. This means always:

• identifying, acknowledging and understanding the complex and specific ways that racism manifests
• working collaboratively and learning from others, particularly racialised people and groups
• standing in solidarity with racialised people and groups
• being aware of where privilege and power sit and addressing this
• being conscious of, acknowledging and calling out racist thinking and practice
• making sure anti-racist thinking and practice underpins everything we do.
• celebrating racialised people and groups, and centering their well-being.

We are a work in progress. We are committed to acting, and to reflecting, learning and being open and honest about our progress. And we expect to be held to account for this progress.

*We have adopted the definition of racism from the Reframing Race report, which is as follows:
Racism is about power and the elevation of some populations to positions of primacy and domination and the denigration and subordination of others. It is about who is deemed worthy/unworthy of a place in a society/territory; who will receive the protection of the law; and who will be subject to unusual punishment and control. And the work of racism is enacted and reproduced in the main by institutional forces in society with results that can be seen, for example, in the courtroom, the boardroom and the classroom.

Racism is brought to life by categorising certain populations as deeply and irreversibly flawed/dangerous because of their biological and/or cultural failings. This means that ‘people of colour’ as well as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and Jewish people can all face racism. At the same time, racialised populations that may pass for white (or appear ‘ethnically ambiguous’) may, in certain contexts, also experience some ‘benefits’ (or lack of impediment) associated with whiteness. Such benefits might include less frequent stop and search contact with the police – and these may be largely unavailable to certain visible people ‘of colour’, such as black/Black men.

Racism affects the lived experiences of populations deemed unworthy, flawed and dangerous. These lived experiences matter and we believe that people with experience of racism must be central to the work of anti-racism.

We also recognise that looking at racism through the lens of lived experience is not enough. It directs the conversation to how we (or people ‘like us’) experience racism and towards racists or acts of racism that we may have encountered. It can lead us to talk more about what racism has done to us rather than what we’re going to do about racism.