The five men you are about to hear are host Karl Walkinshaw, Yaron Engler, who brought us together around this subject, Keith Banwaitt, Simon Crowe and Trevor John. You can find out more about them and link with them directly using the links below.
https://www.facebook.com/karl33
https://www.facebook.com/simoncrowecoaching/
https://www.facebook.com/trevorblack
https://www.facebook.com/keith.banwaitt
https://www.facebook.com/yaronenglerpersonal
The conversation in this podcast was initially one that was going to remain private between five friends and members of a mens group. But it became clear as we spoke that the conversation should be shared.
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, the protests in the USA and UK and the explosion of views on social media many of us are feeling the call to re-examine on our own views on race. As we sat horrified and watched the graphic murder of George Floyd we wondered how this was still possible in the world we live in?
And yet we can’t deny the stark truth that not only is it possible but it is not unusual. In fact it’s commonplace for black men, women and even children to be either victims or be victimised by the very institutions that are supposed to protect them.
For many, the video of George Floyd’s death woke them up to the fact that we live in a society that is institutionally and structurally racist and that we can’t pretend, anymore, that this is not true.
But getting to the point where we see that truth is not easy. It requires looking deeper at what is actually happening and allowing the facts to cut through our own more beliefs about what we thought was true. This is uncomfortable work and it requires over coming our resistance to being wrong.
We thought we’d cracked racism. We thought we treated people equally. We thought the world was one way but we were wrong and we can’t just ignore it anymore.
Ostensibly, the conversation you’re about to hear is about why it’s hard to talk about race and our own racial bias, why and how we experience resistance and what work we, as white men, might do about trying to create a world where we never have to see the death of another George Floyd. But on another level - this conversation is about how we change and how we grow, as individuals and as a society.