A year ago today, #CharitySoWhite was founded to fight for a brave, anti-racist charity sector where racialised communities feel seen + supported. We've been tireless in our efforts to have our sector take the lead in rooting out racism.
Our path forward: https://charitysowhite.org/blog/path-forward

We’ve been accused of being a simple pressure group, the bane of PR departments, and adding unnecessary pressure on organisations who are “just doing their best”. But this isn’t the first time POC have been underestimated...

We’ve exposed racist training materials, released a report on the impact of COVID-19, lobbied the sector to ring-fence funding to BAME communities and ensured that BAME volunteers are paid for their time. You can read about some of our wins on our blog: https://charitysowhite.org/blog 

We are the guard dog of the charity sector and we fiercely protect the rights of racialised groups. But we can not stop there. To truly root out racist structures from the sector, we need the infrastructure to do so, infrastructure which a guard dog alone can not ensure.

We want to lead by example so #CharitySoWhite needs to be as open about our failings as we are about our wins. We were born out of the need for an immediate response to institutional racism and the sheer no. of disclosures has forced us to almost always be reacting.

For the next 2 months we’ll be developing and growing new, distinct campaigns to build the ecosystem needed to truly fight the racism in our sector. We need a clear understanding of where the pressure points are and the space to reflect on what we are able to build.

Make no mistake, we are in this for the long haul. The guard dog will still be on watch. We will continue to watch the actions of the sector (especially everyone who has received an extra hot batch of cookies and pretzels from our oven!).

While we will be honouring and following through with work we’ve currently committed to and opportunities we’ve already accepted, for the time being we will only be responding to disclosures and requests for support from racialised groups in the sector.

We want the sector to take this opportunity to reflect and reassess. If you’ve been promising big learnings, posting black squares or sharing the ACEVO Home Truths report, now is the time to question why you might be so uncomfortable with the work that we are doing.

We are done with platitudes, with painfully worded communications, and with all of your sign-up sheets and tick boxes and good intentions. We are forging a new path forward.