A stranger asked me what racism was like so I slapped him. Hard. As he lay on the floor I leaned over him and said "what's racism like?". He bemoaned that he wasn't racist cause he had a black girlfriend. I told him I wasn't sexist cause my girlfriend was a woman and so was my mum. These two events did not happen. I invented the first one to show how it feels when someone asks the question and I invented the second one to show how easy it is to believe a falsehood as long as many people hold it up as true.And there is a third. The third is the idea that positive discrimination is a new thing. I'm sick of hearing the true beneficiaries of positive discrimination bemoan it for others . They say it lowers "quality and excellence" as if the idea of quality and excellence wasn't influenced by societal prejudices and "unconscious bias". On reflection my problem with the western canon is not, and has never been, the quality of work. True positive discrimination has been a system for the ruling classes in our society. And within the ruling classes positive discrimination has been for white men. The proof is in our libraries, history books and institutions. Positive discrimination has been so successful that it is virtual invisible. But once you see it you can't un-see it.Thankfully evolution is unstoppable. Times change and values evolve. We shine the torch of equality on their positive discrimination. There is an outcry from the likes of Toby Jung (sic). Positive discrimination was designed for people like him. [pullquote]As we shine the torch of equality on the results of positive discrimination there is an outcry from its beneficiaries and wider society - the likes of Toby Jung (sic) - . Ofcourse there is. Positive discrimination was made for people like him[/pullquote] In demanding diversity we expose the lack of it. In wanting to form dialogue with a gatekeeper we expose his inability to hold an adult conversation. He's blindsided. His present condition is a deficiency of self awareness and context: a lack of understanding of who he is and where he is. We are tasked with first teaching him the language of the present day and then to unlock the gate. I am talking about the greatest migration of all. The migration of ideas.Competitions, Awards, Laureateships... Our systems of self knowledge like science, education, philosophy, the arts, business, have appeared belittled by positive discrimination to the white male in light of the new world. It's a bitter pill to swallow - like it's hard to admit slavery's impact on prosperity today - but it's true. We demand more women more black people, more gay people more disabled people and more diversity. By improving the equation of excellence we are simply redressing the negative impact of positive discrimination. And best of all we are making our world and its institutions better places to be by addressing the imbalance of who qualifies. Look at the beauty and compassion of Moonlight and notice that with diversity comes, empathy, strength, wisdom, critique, openess, learning, and extreme quality. We are not lowering the bar in championing diversity. We are raising the game. PostscriptNothing is black and white. Nothing. I have to nail my colours to the mast. When anyone tells me they are colour blind I think "Colour blindness is a disability! It's like saying to a person with no legs 'I don't see legs. mentally I am a paraplegic'". And anyway. People only say they are colour blind when they see or talk about people of colour?. And there's another gatekeepers response "We are all human beings". If a woman said to a male "I am a women" and he replied "no, love, you are a human being". How would she feel? Think about that for a moment. To all the brilliant white males that I know. I Include my lbest friend. I have to write this blog. It is about inequality. If you want to me to take you through it then I will. Leave me a message. Just one more thing. I've traveled the world. In every country there is racism. It is learned behaviour. If it doesn't get challenged it carries on. I've never quite understood how people don't understand (or embrace the idea) that equality is important not just for the minority. It is for all.

Raising the game by Moonlight & How Positive Discrimination Works.