Minorities need representation – but with a more nuanced approach

My father was an actuary. Which sounds a lot like – but is nothing like – an actor. The malapropism was the source of many a jest when he was an introverted mathematician at the start of his career: actuaries and actors are as alike as pears and bears.

For the uninitiated, actuarial science is a specialised branch of statistics – all about numbers and data. Dad’s dinner-party trick was declining the square root of six-digit numbers – a million miles away from the actor’s party piece. But in recent months, my statistician father has been a bright guiding light for me.

I’ve been fortunate in these lean times to have been invited to help steer a number of discussions around implementing diversity in our sector. Last month, I represented Act for Change at a European forum on diversity in the live arts; this month I will be facilitating on the Listening Space at Tara Arts.

Without numbers, these discussions can feel like a space for artists to give vent to their sense of a lack of personal success. With data, however (that incontrovertibly illustrate the continuing failure of our sector to address diversity and representation in any meaningful way), the ‘complaints’ translate into clear indicators of absence of opportunity, bringing to light systemic shortcomings.

Using ‘BAME’ intimates that the lived reality of a person of Latinx heritage is equivalent to someone of British Indian origin, when they are light years apart

In 2016, Act for Change hosted an event which focused on representation at the accredited drama schools. We surveyed graduating years, which included healthy numbers of actors coming into the sector of mixed ethnic heritage as well as Black British (African and/or Caribbean).

The data also revealed a significant lack of access for and representation of actors of South and East Asian origin – while South and East Asians represent a total of 6% of the population (5.3% South Asian, 0.7% East Asian), just over 1% of graduating students were of South Asian origin and none at all of East Asian.

For some time, my fellow diversity campaigners and I have been calling for an end to the use of ‘BAME’ as a descriptor. It’s counterproductive because it intimates that the lived reality of a person of Latinx heritage is equal and equivalent to someone of British Indian origin. Culturally, socially and ethnically, they are light years apart. Like pears and bears. Or actuaries and actors. Furthermore, some communities get swallowed up and made invisible by the BAME blanket term.

I don’t want minority ethnic communities (who, let’s not forget, beyond our nation’s borders are the global majority) to retreat into individual silos and campaign only for personal interests – that’s neither productive nor realistic. We are stronger together, and our voices have a much greater impact in unison.

But, I suggest we need to engage in granular analysis and nuanced solutions. There is no point saying everyone faces the same challenges. As we look forward to the re-emergence of our sector under the new rules of life, I hope that we can realise an approach to representation that’s robust, humane and detailed.