George Floyd: Cephas Williams on the progress of racial equality since the tragedy
25 November 2020, 09:59
Cephas Williams interview with Natasha Devon
Today marks the six-month anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd. Black British Network founder Cephas Williams tells LBC about how much progress he thinks has been made on racial equality since the tragedy.
Today marks the six-month anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, which sparked worldwide protests.
Mr Williams said that, in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, "it was big" to see powerful figures, CEOs and people that are not black speaking about issues pertaining to racial equality.
"Most CEOs in the UK in the biggest organisations in their sector are white," he noted.
Mr Williams continued: "So it was very interesting to see white men specifically come out and speak very candidly [and] honestly for what would feel like the first time in a very long time about how they felt and what they were interested in doing.
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"But I feel like in the time with George Floyd and the message that came with that moment took us one stride into the future, a lot of our responses in my opinion have been very programmatic and very detached from the reality of what we're talking about.
"We'd see organisations with very corporate responses...It felt very reactive as opposed to reflective."
He added: "Organisations and corporates specifically it feels have prioritised [finding] the best black talent as opposed to [building] the best framework for talent to thrive period."
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Mr Williams also addressed how he feels the media handled the aftermath of George Floyd's killing.
He said: "I say the media put a microphone in the face of almost every black person in the UK, which is great to see. And then they chucked the microphones to the back of the newsroom..."
You can listen to the full interview on LBC on Saturday from 7pm.
