Asif Sadiq (Warner Bros. Discovery, 2017) is arguing inclusivity training isn’t working and offers his perspectives on things he thinks will (TEDx Talks, 2023). Overall, he is arguing education is at fault. He is in some ways mirroring what Kwame Anthony Appiah (TED, 2014) is saying about the importance of recognising the nuance of life experiences. His main point is that diversity training coming from ‘dominant culture perspectives’ doesn’t work, which I totally agree with. He argues that learning from ‘storytelling’ and giving colleagues opportunities to share experiences is far more successful. He makes an excellent point that ‘hearing your peers’ perspectives is a much more worthwhile learning experience than being given the ‘one perspective’ of your employer.
The second video, made by the Daily Telegraph (The Telegraph, 2022) presented by Professor James Orr, (‘Associate professor …. at Cambridge University and … leading figure behind the National Conservative movement.’ (Snowdon, P. and McElvoy, A. (2024)). It has the word ‘woke’ in the title, which feels divisive. Even the google definition mentions ‘…some using it as a derogatory term for those perceived as overly politically correct…’ This video argues inclusivity is taking priority over free speech and the quality of education at Cambridge. What also feels particularly divisive as the people he gets to back him up, Arif Ahmed and Dr Vincent Harinam, are non-white. Interestingly, you can see James Orr sat behind Jordan Peterson (Kaczor, D.C. 2023) when the term ‘controversial speakers’ comes up on screen. This is very clearly a video made for a right leaning audience, aka Telegraph readers. (Smith, M. (2017)
The channel 4 video (Channel 4 Entertainment 2020) details a school’s approach to illustrating the effect racism can have on success. Questions are asked about their experiences of racism in the context of the starting point of a race. Students who have experienced it take steps back as they identify moments of discrimination and students who haven’t step forward, essentially getting a head start (in life). Although it’s visibly quite upsetting to watch it has merit as a thought experiment. Having taught in a school around the time of the Black Lives Matter protests I know how hard addressing this subject matter to young people can be so they do well to approach it directly. In comparison this is definitely catered to a more left leaning audience. (Yougov.co.uk, 2024)
Having read the other accounts, I would offer up Lubaina Himid’s residency at the Guardian (Guardian Culture, 2018) as an approach to this subject matter I admire. The residency came about after her ‘Guardian Series’, where she focused on the paper’s representation of black people, was featured in her Turner Prize winning exhibition. She uses her process of ‘over-looking or looking overly’ to expose moments of problematic juxtaposition of imagery and themes the staff haven’t seen. Although the Guardian is a categorically left-wing newspaper sensitive to social justice Himid is able to identify so many moments where their complacency about race has been disappointing. As she says, she “is not a media expert …. she is a painter, she sees things like a painter and deals with things like a painter” which I most likely why, as an artist, I find her perspective so relatable.
References
Warner Bros. Discovery. (2017). Asif Sadiq – Warner Bros. Discovery. [online] Available at: https://www.wbd.com/leadership/asif-sadiq [Accessed 16 Jul. 2025].
TEDx Talks (2023). Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right | Asif Sadiq | TEDxCroydon. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw.
The Telegraph (2022). Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU [Accessed 19 Jun. 2024].
TED (2014). Kwame Anthony Appiah: Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY.
Snowdon, P. and McElvoy, A. (2024). Meet JD Vance’s English philosopher king. [online] POLITICO. Available at: https://www.politico.eu/article/jd-vance-english-philosopher-james-orr-national-conservative-movement-uk-us-election/ [Accessed 16 Jul. 2025].
Kaczor, D.C. (2023). Pope Francis, Jordan Peterson, and Social Justice – Word on Fire. [online] Word on Fire. Available at: https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/fellows/pope-francis-jordan-peterson-and-social-justice/ [Accessed 16 Jul. 2025].
Smith, M. (2017). How left or right-wing are the UK’s newspapers? | YouGov. [online] yougov.co.uk. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/17715-how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers.
Channel 4 Entertainment (2020). Heartbreaking moment when kids learn about white privilege | the school that tried to end racism. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg.
Yougov.co.uk. (2024). Is Channel 4 News more favourable towards Labour/the left or the Conservatives/the right? [online] Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-channel-4-news-more-favourable-towards-labour-the-left-or-the-conservatives-the-right.
Guardian Culture (2018). ‘I certainly opened up a conversation’: Lubaina Himid on her Guardian residency. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0xo8dFES3Y [Accessed 16 Jul. 2025]
Hi Daniel
Your blog is super thoughtful and brought together a lot of different perspectives in a clear way. I totally agree with you about the power of storytelling over generic diversity training. It really hits different when you hear real experiences from people you work with. I also liked how you brought in Lubaina Himid’s work. It’s such a creative and effective way to hold media accountable. I will be taking a look at her work for sure!
Hi Dan
I enjoyed reading your blog 3 piece – it felt like I was having a conversation with you. You are articulate, candid and expressive – it’s refreshing and conjures visuals for me as I read it. You have drawn significant parallels in research sources from the different blog topics. You expressed your positionality in a meaningful way and set a deeper understanding and compassion for those of us who balance academia with being practitioners. Your pose has given me cause to think about how i approach evaluating research and is something I will aim to do in further written activities.
Thank you so much Daniel, I really enjoyed reading your post. I think you interrogated the piece from James Orr in such an interesting way – I realised that I had relied on my assumptions about the peice, rather than doing the research like you did!
I am looking forward to reading up on Lubiana Himid’s work at the Guardian – the contrast of these two articles would be an interesting basis for a workshop on critiquing resources maybe!