The White Arts of Britain

For a multitude of reasons, the cultural arts prowess of Britain’s Black communities has always been high. Much of the arts like sports such as boxing, football and running can bypass privilege. If you can sing you can sing, like wise with musicians who don’t need costly lessons, and to a lesser extent acting.

But the arts are bigger than the actors on the screen. There are other players often much bigger players including Directors, producers, technicians, financers and a myriad of other supporting roles. All of which seems to work against Black talent and Black potential talent.

Three Hollywood actors who have come to prominence over the last few years are British and Black. Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor and David Harewood. All of whom had to go to Hollywood to be recognised as a serious top draw actors. Here in the UK their talent would not consistently be seen the best and as such denied headline roles. Now two of the three actors, Elba and Ejiofor are fronting two of the biggest movies in the world right now; Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and 12 Years A Slave.

At a meeting yesterday convened by Government Minister Ed Vaizy, former Equality and Human Rights Chief Trevor Phillips pointed out a possible reason:

We don't have accountability at the moment and one of the reasons for that is if you look at the boards of the key broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BSkyB, and [the media regulator] Ofcom, there are 62 people who sit on these boards and all but one of them are white.”

The actor Kwame Kwei-Armah, who himself left Britain to take up an artistic director role in the US, claimed:

that Black and Asian actors were being pushed to go to America because they have a glass ceiling in the UK. My biggest fear is my children and grandchildren will be having this debate in 20, 40 years time in the same way I was 25 years ago and that's a crying shame."

One can only welcome the meeting which occurred yesterday, but in many ways until Black actors and others in the creative industry come together, work together start making demands together, talent will be lost or driven away to find a place where their talent can be appreciated.

Simon Woolley