By Toni Sekinah
It’s Black History Month (in the US) so say it loud! I’m BAME and I’m proud!
Even if the iconic James Brown himself were to sing this line down a microphone, sandwiched between his signature shuffle, it wouldn’t resonate at all with me.
This government-speak term has been around for decades and is used as a catchall to describe all non-white people in the UK. It is typically employed when comparisons are made between the majority ethnic group and minority ethnic groups.
Google searches of the term peaked in early June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in the US and the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality. This indicates that many people don’t know what it stands for.
Even though there may be a better understanding of the term, many of us have been uncomfortable with it. We see the acronym as broad and meaningless. Using one word to refer to black and brown people as well as people from Latin America and East Asia, Gypsy Roma Travellers and Irish Travellers is inaccurate. It lumps disparate groups together and does not encapsulate a common identity.
The Twitter/X campaign #BAMEover pointed out that the phrase is often used in reference to marginalisation. Amanda Parker, the journalist behind the campaign said “BAME is a shorthand for the disadvantage experienced as a result of one’s ethnic and cultural heritage.”
In March 2022, the UK government announced that it would no longer use the term as part of its Inclusive Britain Strategy, and encouraged other public bodies to do the same.
Unfortunately, the memo is not making it into our newsrooms and well-meaning journalists are stumbling over the phrasing. One member of WABJ reported hearing terms such as ‘BAME person’ and ‘BME member’ to refer to black and brown people.
Although not an excuse, the reason for such a misunderstanding is probably that 88% of journalists are from white ethnic groups, according to the National Union of Journalists. But that doesn’t make it right. Awkward phrasing can make black, brown and Asian journalists feel misunderstood, unseen and alienated. And it is likely to have a similar effect on the audience.
The responsibility then falls on black and brown journalists to step in, alert colleagues to the inappropriate phrase and suggest an alternative. Even better if we can hold a workshop or put an entry in the publication’s style guide that lets colleagues know more appropriate wording to use in advance of any linguistic blunders.
But who has time to take on that extra work in the midst of a fast-paced newsroom? Copy has to be filed, tips investigated, leads followed, data verified, images sourced, quotes checked, and pages laid out to name but a few daily tasks on a busy news desk. On top of that, educational resources would have to be compiled to help uphold the professional integrity of the publication and its staff. When the workload is heavy, the concept of ‘each one, teach one’ can fall by the wayside.
I lean more towards the phrase ‘people of colour’ but I am aware that it is also extremely broad, and to some is just another way of saying ‘non-white’. I don’t know the answer, apart from requesting that all editors and writers be specific when referring a person from a specific ethnic group when it is relevant to the story.
It is easy just to say do better, but this relies on the assumption that someone knows there is a better way to do things. So, I’m calling on all journalists to be more mindful and sensitive when discussing and describing race and ethnicity.
