FEATURE
Outspoken – Yasmin Khan on how businesses
can help make the Tees region a fairer place.
OUR
DUTY
An opportunity to make
Tees region a fairer place
Yasmin Khan, founder/director of Teesside charity, Halo Project, and
an advisor to the Welsh government, calls on Tees businesses to help
make our region a fairer, safer place, free from discrimination.
H
ow can we build a nation
based on equality when our
minds discriminate colour?
The killing of George Floyd
caused understandable
outrage across the globe as we
witnessed the worst kind of police
brutality I had ever seen. It seemed to me
his life did not matter to the killer and to
those bystanders who remained silent.
Could this be the turning point in our
history where we finally take the issue of
discrimination seriously? Where we finally
look within ourselves, our institutions and
the society we live in? Or will we simply
carry on disputing the #BlackLivesMatter
slogan?
Future generations will question the
society we have created and the legacy
they have been granted. The choices
we make today will determine the
equality compass tomorrow. If we are
to achieve fundamental equality in the
Tees Valley, we must tackle inequalities
based on wealth, opportunity, gender
and everything else but in context of the
horrific killing of George Floyd, we must
focus on the lives of black people.
Of course, all lives matter, but black
lives are not like those of the white
population – they are viewed negatively,
disproportionately targeted and
disadvantaged in comparison to their
white counterparts.
It’s our duty to create change
that lasts, to ensure our Tees
Valley will not stand by or be
part of the systemic failures we
have witnessed over time.
The private sector is the
catalyst for change, this is where
innovation is created, difference
is fundamental to success and
where, increasingly, black and
minority ethnic (BME) businesses play a
key role in achieving the ambition for our
region for economic growth and social
prosperity.
The economy has experienced a
significant shock since the start of the
coronavirus pandemic, as the negative
impacts of social distancing and
lockdown have led to a significant fall
in consumer demand and business and
factory closures, as well as supply chain
disruptions.
The pandemic has required Tees Valley
businesses to become more creative,
innovative and reactive and opened up
new markets. We must consider how the
business sector can reconfigure, enable
and improve opportunities and create
stronger links with BME employees,
apprentices and businesses.
Let’s start with Tees Business providing
exposure in this magazine, but let’s also
Speech – Yasmin
Khan spoke
passionately at
the 2019 Tees
Businesswomen
Awards.
engage with business groups, mentors
and others to ensure that those who
are under-represented are given every
opportunity to turn their ideas and
aspirations into successful businesses.
Creating a successful business requires
ambition, skills, talent and much more.
Ethnic minority businesses are already
highly successful and contribute £25bn to
the economy.
It is incumbent on us to do so because
racial discrimination is not negotiable, nor
is any other form of discrimination.
Tees Valley businesses and business
leaders, I call upon you and all your
affiliates to join me in creating the society
we want to work and live in.
One in which we can all prosper – an
inclusive environment, free from harm,
where discrimination is not accepted.
We are the change we want to be. We
are Tees Valley.
30 | Tees Business