Skip to content
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Sarpong: I had to confront my own unconscious bias

Sarpong: I had to confront my own unconscious bias

ONE of Britain’s most powerful media figures has revealed she had to tackle her own attitudes long before she became a recognised champion of diverse talent.

June Sarpong, the BBC’s head of creative diversity, described her shock and bewilderment at her own prejudice during an exclusive interview with the Asian Media Group’s (AMG) newly launched Diversity Hub last Thursday (26).


Recounting her reaction to a guest while working in the US several years ago, she said she had made all sorts of assumptions about him and realised later that it was an example of unconscious bias. Sarpong is the headline speaker at AMG’s Women of Colour Conference next Thursday (9).

She told the Diversity Hub why she believed those in positions of influence should go on a journey to learn more about equality, diversity and inclusion.

Talking about the original incident, Sarpong said she had to re-evaluate how she felt about the contributor and why.

“It was the funniest thing. I felt immediately uncomfortable around him,” she admitted.

“And he hadn’t even done anything – but I had made up in my head all these ideas about who I thought he was, and that was the first moment I was able to understand unconscious bias from the other side.”

Sarpong, who was born in the capital, grew up on a council estate in east London after her parents emigrated to Britain from Ghana.

She knew the case for diversity, but still reacted to someone different unfairly and it was the start of her own journey on inclusion, she revealed. She said she was so used to seeing similar people that when someone different stepped into what she had begun to think of as “homogenous sets and themes”, she had flinched and reacted negatively towards that person.

“I should have known better and that’s what really made me want to start a conversation around these issues,” Sarpong explained.

She said the incident helped her to write her first book on the subject – Diversify – and later, The Power of Women.

As one of the most successful British TV presenters of her generation, Sarpong said she never thought she could think about anybody in that way, but she had.

“When I found myself doing it, that’s when I realised this is what happens when you meet somebody and you perceive a different view and the wall goes up,” she said.

Sarpong, who first made her name on Channel 4, said she had faced prejudice in the UK. She revealed that she aspired to present prime-time Saturday evening family entertainment shows on BBC1 and ITV, but did not get the opportunity in the mid 2000s.

Equality, Diversion & Inclusion (EDI), as it is often termed in the corporate world, is basically, according to Sarpong, “allowing everybody to fulfil their potential – and how can we create the kind of framework that means they can do “That, for me, is the key driver in everything I do in this space”.

Sarpong was appointed to her newly created position at the BBC in 2019. She has responsibility for creating a more diverse workforce behind the camera and improving the range and type of drama the corporation makes to better reflect Britain as a country.

In the full interview, which can be viewed and read on the Diversity Hub, Sarpong talks about who inspired her to go into television, what held her back, why the BBC appointed her, the progress that has been made since Black Lives Matter, what the present challenges are and how she sees the future of EDI and her hope that the BBC can be among those that lead the way.

Other speakers at the AMG Women of Colour Conference include Louise Stigant, managing director of Mondelez in the UK; Andrew Pearce, managing director of operations for business consultancy powerhouse, Accenture; and Nikki Vadera, marketing director of Henkel UK. The conference, which will debate issues around equality, diversity and inclusion, is the first in a series that will be partially hosted by the newly launched AMG Diversity Hub over 2021-2022.

For more on the Women of Colour conference, see www.amg.biz/events/women-of-colourconference. For details about the new AMG Diversity Hub, visit https://diversityhub.com/

More For You

JLR-Tata-Getty

JLR had initially planned to manufacture more than 70,000 electric vehicles at the facility. (Photo: Getty Images)

JLR halts plan to build EVs at Tata’s India plant: Report

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) has put on hold plans to manufacture electric vehicles at Tata Motors’ upcoming £775 million factory in southern India, according to a news report.

The decision was influenced by challenges in balancing price and quality for locally sourced EV components, three of the sources said. They added that slowing demand for electric vehicles was also a factor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

Sarju Khushal

Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

A MAN who supplied controlled drugs on a ‘wholesale’ scale across Leicestershire has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Sarju Khushal, 30, was arrested in 2022 after investigations revealed he had been transporting drugs from Lancashire into the area.

Khushal, formerly of Hazeldene Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to several charges, including the supply and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced at Leicester crown court last Thursday (6).

Keep ReadingShow less
Tamil Nadu Education

Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people

Getty images

Education or imposition? Tamil Nadu battles India government over Hindi in schools

A war of words has erupted between Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister MK Stalin and the federal government over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends a three-language formula in schools, with two of the three being native to India. Stalin has voiced strong objections, claiming that the policy could lead to the imposition of Hindi, a northern Indian language, in non-Hindi-speaking states like Tamil Nadu. The issue has reignited old tensions between southern states and the central government over the privileging of Hindi.

Historical resistance to Hindi

Tamil Nadu has a deep-rooted history of opposing the promotion of Hindi, dating back to the 1960s. Protests broke out in the state when the federal government attempted to make Hindi the sole official language, leading to a compromise that allowed the continued use of English. Language in Tamil Nadu is not merely a means of communication but a powerful symbol of cultural identity. Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people. As a result, any perceived threat to its prominence is met with strong resistance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

Thangam Debbonaire

Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

FORMER Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire has taken her seat in the House of Lords after being awarded a life peerage last month.

The 58-year-old, who represented Bristol West for Labour from 2015 until July’s general election, wore the traditional scarlet robes during her introductory ceremony. She will now be known as Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney.

Keep ReadingShow less