Racism still exists during war – and it can’t be ignored

As the horrific fallout of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sends shockwaves around the world – a crisis within a crisis is developing.

This is the scourge of racism. It is being felt most keenly on the ground, by the people with Black and Asian heritage who are attempting to flee Ukraine.

There are verified accounts of Black and ethnic minority people being barred from leaving the country, being held at gunpoint at the borders, being forcibly removed from buses that would take them to safety.

A 29-year-old Nigerian student told Metro.co.uk that she had to ‘fight’ and ‘plead’ her way onto a train out of Kyiv earlier this week.

The Ukraine government has even acknowledged the racist abuse that Black people have been subjected to while trying to flee from Russian attacks in their country.

However, despite the multiple accounts from individuals and an admission from UK officials that this discrimination is happening, Black and ethnic minority refugees are being gaslit about their experiences, or told that now ‘is not the time’ to talk about race.

It’s happening here in the UK too. Broadcaster Charlene White had to shut down critics who accused her of ‘playing the race card’ when she spoke powerfully about the plight of Black and brown refugees on Loose Women.

The crisis of racism is also bleeding into how people in the UK are reacting to the conflict, and how it is being reported in mainstream media and on social media.

Broadcasters and expert guests on news programmes have been called out for their use of language surrounding this war, and how it differs from language used to describe conflicts in predominantly non-white countries.

On CBS News, foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata later apologised after he said: ‘This is a relatively civilised, relatively European city where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it is going to happen.’

On BBC News, Ukraine’s deputy chief prosecutor David Sakvarelidze described the emotion of seeing ‘European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed everyday,’ – and he wasn’t challenged or questioned on this comment.

‘It has been shocking to hear correspondents at internationally renowned media outlets, especially in the US, repeatedly dehumanise the victims of wars outside Europe. But it’s not just a problem with the American media,’ Dr Halima Begum, CEO of race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, tells Metro.co.uk.

‘Even Al Jazeera English has apologised for the way one of its anchors attempted to depict Ukrainian refugees as a contradiction to the trope of non-White, non-Christian, non-civilised Iraqi refugees.

‘This really is an issue about basic dignity and respect. It’s about the way we view the rights of refugees and asylum seekers irrespective of which tyrant they are fleeing or from which country, regardless of their race, religion or sexuality.’

While this stark inequality is playing out amid desperate conditions, there are still those who think now is not the time to talk about racism. That it is an unhelpful distraction from the bigger threats that humanity is currently facing.

However, during a global crisis, issues of racism are not merely superficial gripes that can be dealt with later, when things calm down.

Inequality that is not addressed can lead to lower quality of life, entrenched divisions, and even the disproportionate deaths of people from marginalised racial groups. Which is a pattern that we saw play out during the pandemic, as those from Black and Asian backgrounds had higher mortality rates.

The ‘right time’ to talk about racism – both on the ground and in our response to the conflict here in the UK – is right now.

How times of crisis can make racism worse

Professor Matthew Williams is the author of The Science of Hate, and specialises in hate crime, hate speech and extremism at Cardiff University.

He says that during times of great stress and perceived threat, such as in wartime, human brains are programmed to protect those who look like themselves, and turn against those who don’t.

It’s part of ingroup/outgroup theory – in which we gravitate to an ‘ingroup’ that we see ourselves as a member of. These groups can be created in lots of different ways, but they are often constructed along lines of social identity, such as race, gender or sexuality.

‘Historically, working in groups inherently meant you are more capable of surviving,’ explains Prof Williams, ‘This grouping tendency can be non-malignant, and can be useful in terms of survival, but it can also be weaponised in certain situations.’

‘We now see this occurring across the world, in various contexts, and the media is a key player in how we now define groups, or how we think about groups. They perpetuate stereotypes and images that tell us that we should care about this group of people, but we shouldn’t care too much about this other group, because we’re not showing them to you.’

In criminology there is the concept of an ‘ideal victim’, who will typically be young, white and often female. This type of victim will be afforded more empathy and willingness to act from society. Prof Williams says the way Ukrainian refugees are being presented in contrast to refugees from other parts of the world is a good example of this phenomenon.

In times of peace we have more bandwidth to be decent human beings.

‘The divisions of ingroup versus outgroup are perpetuated by the media and it gets worse during a war, primarily because we get this incredible sense of threat when a country is destabilised or invaded and there is a real threat to life,’ he says.

‘When a group of people, or anyone witnessing that unfold, senses that threat, unfortunately, humans have this tendency to hunker down into their groups.

‘In times of peace, we have more bandwidth to be decent human beings. We have more capacity to be tolerant of difference around us, more capacity to process how our behavior might affect another person. In peace time, we want to be seen as a person who treats others with dignity, who understands discrimination, and tries to stamp it out.’

Of course, many people at the borders of Ukraine are acting with the utmost compassion and humanity, doing everything they can to provide assistance, clothes, shelter and transport for refugees – regardless of skin colour. But that is not the entire picture.

In wartime, Prof Williams says that for some, the tolerant traits that most aspire to during periods of calm and stability become a luxury they no longer have time or energy to consider.

‘All of a sudden, all these nice things that a civilised society is meant to be aspiring towards, are no longer a priority,’ he explains. ‘And this is where you get people saying that now is not the right time to be talking about race.

‘I’m sorry, but it is exactly the right time to be talking about it. The social processes that are unfolding show us that we are at our worst when we are perceiving a threat, an extreme threat from an outsider. That will increase your prejudices towards the invader, but it also, unfortunately, increases our prejudices towards those groups that are different around us.’

In his book, Prof Williams highlights an illuminating study that found students brains showed lower recognition when witnessing the pain of someone of a different race than their own – they simply didn’t register it in the same way.

‘The consequence of the brain not registering the pain of other races can be severe,’ he wrote. ‘With less empathy comes less willingness to help ease others’ suffering – a lower likelihood of sharing resources or providing physical aid and emotional support.’

But, as it has been widely recognised that race is little more than a social construct, the way our brains are programmed to respond isn’t an excuse for racist behaviours during times of crisis.

Dr Begum at Runnymede Trust believes it is more important than ever to be conscious of how our biases, innate or otherwise, may be impacting our ability to respond to human suffering all over the world.

‘In some appalling, deeply tragic way, the situation faced by the good people of Ukraine might help many of us in Europe and North America better understand the plight of refugees globally,’ Dr Begum tells Metro.co.uk.

‘The lives of so many people on this planet are susceptible to the whims of a tyrant like Putin. I hope that our outpouring of support and empathy for our friends in Ukraine will foster a broader sentiment of compassion for refugees universally. 

‘Just like in Georgia in 2008 and Crimea more recently, it would seem that Putin is intent on the ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians, Tartars and other non-Russian communities. The tragedy of Ukraine reminds us just how imperative it is that we stand united and fight to defend every one of those values we hold so dear, including the principle of equality in all its forms.’

The impact of watching racism play out in Ukraine

Experiencing racism at a time when they are also facing the trauma of war and displacement, puts the ‘psychological immune system’ under attack, sayspsychologist Lee Chambers.

‘The situation will feel untenable and people will feel as though they are being treated as less than human,’ Lee tells Metro.co.uk.

Watching the horrors unfold from a distance – seeing people lose their lives, their homes, everything they have ever known, only to be discriminated against because of the colour of their skin – is traumatic, particularly for people with their own lived experiences of racism.

To then be told that these inequalities are not happening, or are less important than other distressing events, is triggering and upsetting.

‘Standing with Ukraine and highlighting the inhumane racism individuals are facing are not conflicting or mutually exclusive positions,’ says Lee.

‘War and conflict creates massive uncertainty, but it can also amplify inequity and access to services, supplies and safety. Highlighting this in the moment is vital, as it raises awareness of what is happening on the ground, allows for action to be taken to address it, and gives hope to those facing racism at such an unstable time.

‘Trying to dampen those who highlight this is just further marginalisation of those voices trying to give a picture of the reality faced by those being denied the opportunity to move towards safety.’

For ethnic minority people watching this unfold, Lee says it can trigger feelings of worthlessness, and deepen pre-existing divisions.

‘For non-white people, to be effectively told that war is our default state is damaging,’ says Lee. ‘The narrative we are seeing effectively conveys that fighting against the inequity in itself is “uncivilised”.

‘It normalises tragedy for Black and ethnic minority people, creating feelings of worthlessness that empower a narrative of difference and increase the barriers to a more equitable future.’

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