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Interview
In conversation with: Donna Ali
‘What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.’
..........................Maya Angelou.
Economy Minister for Wales Vaughan Gething
These are the famous words of the poet, author and activist, Maya Angelou, taken from her book Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now. These words resonate when I hear people complain about politics. I know it sounds a bit harsh, because there are some things we can change and others we can’t. However, many of us as Welsh citizens, fail to take full responsibility for our civic rights, when it comes to how we would like to see society change, instead we spend far too much time complaining rather than participating. I know that for many who attend ‘normal’ schools, we are not taught politics, how it works, why it works and who best to align our values and allegiance with.
Many of us, if we do vote, follow our parents’ party of choice, without the full understanding of why. I hear many people say, well the people in government don’t represent me!
You could argue that maybe the elitists of this world, the 1% want us, the 99%, to remain ignorant. But I do believe that when people speak up, things do and can change! We have seen evidence of this during the past two years, with moments like the BLM movement and other protests, in the fight against some of the conditions concerning the dreaded C word #covid. In response to these events, the Welsh government at least has now introduced the Anti-Racism Action Plan.
Power to the People!
Whichever party you align your values with, you must show up and be proactive to take part in democracy. One thing that is looked at is not how you vote, but if you vote.
I believe that when one becomes interested in Welsh civic duty, then civic duty becomes a part of ‘being’ Welsh. An example of this can be seen in the journey of Economy Minister for Wales, Vaughan Gething who, as a child, realised that life was just not fair.
Vaughan’s journey into politics is evident in that we can all take accountability and ownership of our citizenship, yes there are systematic barriers, often determined by race and class, but I believe times are changing and more diverse voices are being heard. I want to echo, Black History Wales’s message – Young people, the time is now!
Whichever party you align your values with, you must show up and be proactive to take part in democracy. One thing that is looked at is not how you vote, but if you vote.
‘You Can’t Be What You Can’t See’
I asked members of the public to pose questions that theywould like me to ask Vaughan during our time together.
Sarah Bowen asked;
How does political tribalism influence the decision-making process?
Just to clarify, political tribalism has been defined as where loyalty to the political tribe becomes more important than loyalty to anything else, it is about identity and belonging, rather than supporting what is right.
Vaughan states, 'it is important to first be clear about whowe are and what we believe in. Yes, in some parties, weshare the same values, but recognising that we do notalways agree with everyone, is OK. But when it comes to theenvironment, such as being at the Senedd, we do havecross-party consensus, and we manage that by voting onwhat we think is the right thing to do. There are times whenwe all must debate about what the right thing to do is butultimately, as a politician, it does come down to listening tothe people, weighing up the facts and hopefully making theright decision'.
This is not just a Labour issue, it is an issue across all parties
li Ahmed asked;
Is getting more Black and ethnic minority people in the Senedd a priority to him?
Just a bit of background here. In 1999-2001, Vaughan worked as a researcher for former AMs Val Feld and Lorraine Barrett and was the chair of the Right to Vote, which was a cross-party project to encourage more participation from Black and minority ethnic communities, in Welsh public life. www.gov.wales
I expanded on Ali’s question and asked;
What did that research find and has anything changed as a result?
Vaughan replies, 'when working as chair on the Right to Vote project, we first thought that because of the low population of people of colour, this was the reason for few participating but, actually, we found that that was not the reason at all. We found that there has been a consistent lack of representation in all the cities across Wales. So, in response to Ali’s question, we have to look at the number of things required to become a councillor, such as being involved in gaining the parties' structures and supporting those structures. Are you a school governor, or active in any way in your community? All of those things are a part of public life, people have to participate, and this is not just a Labour issue, this is across all parties'.
We may not always
agree with those
decisions, but
instead of sitting
out of the game,
engage,
participate and
become a change
maker too, if you
don't, in the words
of Maya Angelou,
don't complain!
Vaughan goes on to say. 'The important thing to remember is that the areas where people are less likely to vote, the less political attention they receive, because when it comes to election time you are more likely going to spend more time in the areas that vote. The engagement in Cardiff South varies, it is not a secret that more affluent areas vote, which becomes a problem from a social justice point of view because the people who are most likely to need their government, do not vote. Furthermore, democratic engagement is not a one-off event, there are a lot of things people can do'.
Xcellence magazine, is about representation, so we support the phrase, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’, in the context of empowering, encouraging, redefining, and highlighting the systematic racism that affects the social mobility of people of colour. But what is important is not just that Vaughan is the first, but he wont be the last.
So, I was interested to find out what Vaughan’s experience as a Black politician has been like, and I was not surprised to hear that his visibility comes with pressures that other politicians don’t understand. Despite Vaughan having many responsibilities for the whole country, during times such as Black History Month, the expectation that he would lead it, because of the colour of his skin, limits him to a Black politician, rather than a politician who is Black.
In my experience, I have witnessed this in many organisations, I suggest that it is down to fear of others not wanting to get things wrong, or not knowing enough. Vaughan claims that it can get frustrating, but does agree that his visibility is very positive, an example he gives was when a White lady approached him and said that her stepson got very excited to see someone who looked like him in a powerful position, making decisions on TV. However, Vaughan says that although his visibility is a good thing, it can’t just be the only thing.
Vaughan states that, 'although there are still many disproportionate areas, one area where there is an overrepresentation of Black, Asian ethnic minorities is entrepreneurship and that this is something to shout about'. As Economy Minister, he hopes to support the UK Black Business Show to bring an event to Wales'.
If you look up Vaughan's bio on www.gov.wales, you will be blown away by the endless list of responsibilities he has as Economy Minister, but what strikes me is his unwavering commitment to be a change maker. He didn’t like what he saw in society and decided to be the one making the decisions. We may not always agree with those decisions, but instead of sitting out of the game, engage, participate and become a change maker too, if you don’t, in the words of Maya Angelou, don’t complain.
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