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The police and fire service have taken a united stance against racism by appearing in a powerful video together. More than 20 representatives from the region’s emergency services recited lines from poem ‘I’m not racist but’ as part of the project.
Written by Nottinghamshire Police’s PC Saara Nawaz, the spoken word piece aims to raise awareness about the struggles people from ethnic minority backgrounds face.
The force-led Women of Colour in Policing movement helped arrange the video, which features police officers from a range of different ranks, including Chief Constable Kate Meynell. Police staff and representatives from both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, as well as Derbyshire Constabulary, are also involved in the campaign.
Emergency service workers from an array of different ethnicities are present in the three-and-a-half minute-long video. It has now been released as part of Black History Month and following the conclusion of Hate Crime Awareness Week, which took place last week.
Designed to make people think about any unconscious biases they have, PC Nawaz concludes the poem by pleading with the audience to ‘just accept me first as a human being.’
“The principal motivation around writing this spoken word piece was to raise awareness of the struggles and barriers that people of colour face in society throughout their lives. We want a culture that embodies inclusivity – where people of colour are comfortable and confident being their authentic selves.
“The poem exemplifies the desire for parity and encourages people to stamp out unfair treatment and challenge negative stereotypes, for a fairer society that not only accepts but celebrates the strengths of the differences between us.”
Nottinghamshire Police’s PC Saara Nawaz.
Nottinghamshire Police Sergeant Nazia Kauser, Women of Colour in Policing lead, came up with the idea of getting emergency workers to speak the words and bring the poem to life in such a powerful way. As well as being responsible for gathering all the representatives together to feature in the video, she also appeared in it herself.
The Women of Colour in Policing group was set up by Sgt Kauser in June, with the intention of making people more aware of the lived experiences and challenges female officers and police staff from ethnic minority backgrounds face.
Chair of Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Ethnic Minority Alliance Network, Guninder Nagi, also appeared in the video. She said:
“Even though there is a lot of change happening across emergency services and within our community, there is still work to do be done. Nobody should be treated differently because of the colour of their skin, and I stand with all my blue light colleagues with the powerful words spoken on this video.
“I am extremely proud to be a part of this video – I really hope it resonates with a lot of people and makes them think differently before they make comments that could be extremely hurtful to somebody else.”
Guninder Nagi, Chair of Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Ethnic Minority Alliance Network.
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