A note from our CEO on Kemi Badenoch’s appointment as leader of the Conservative party

Kemi Badenoch has made history as the first Black political leader of a major political party in Britain. As a Black woman I should be rejoicing at this historic moment. A woman who looks like me has made it to the top.

I’ve got to hand it to them. The Conservative party is doing a great job of branding themselves as ‘diverse’. Three women Prime Ministers, one Brown Prime Minister and now a Black woman as leader. Meanwhile, Labour has never elected a woman as leader and continually fails to support the Mother of the House, Diane Abbott, as the most targeted and attacked Black woman in Britain.

Credit where credit is due, Kemi’s appointment MUST be a good thing.

Think again.

For Black Britons, Kemi Badenoch is the most dangerous political leader we have ever faced. While we have experienced the dog-whistle racism of Boris and the quiet denial of institutional and systemic racism from Rishi (who presided over the undeniably racist Rwanda policy), Kemi Badenoch will be like no other leader we have seen before.

She has made history at the expense of women, Black people, people of colour, and anyone who is marginalised by society and she will go to any lengths to cover up racism and therefore prevent steps being taken to dismantle it.

Her journey to her new role is one further step in her party’s playbook of weaponising Black and Brown faces.

“Racism isn’t a problem anymore, we have a Black woman as leader!”

This is where the danger lies. The denial is coming from someone who looks like me. She is the ultimate weapon in the white supremacy armoury and will be used outside of politics to gaslight us and our concerns.

ARC is a tiny organisation, but at a time when many are already moving away from anti-racism, our ability to do the work is now under the biggest threat to date as Kemi questions our very need to exist. Make no mistake she will question it even more when it comes to organisations, which like ARC, are led by Black women.

As social justice organisations and individuals we are all now needed more than ever and we must continue to stand in solidarity with each other.

As a Black woman, of course I want to see Black women who look like me in positions of power, but looking like me isn’t and will never be enough. Representation, especially when it is used as a weapon to keep the status quo, is not anti-racism. However we cut it, Kemi will throw me, all who look like me and all oppressed people in our society under the bus every time.

We are living in dangerous times.