'I don’t want to appear like the angry black man' Vaughan Gething on racist stereotypes and being a black politician
Watch the full interview with Adrian Masters
One of Wales’ top politicians has spoken out about having to have “difficult conversations with his son” after reliving racism he has faced throughout his life.
Vaughan Gething has spoken exclusively to ITV Wales about how the abuse has affected him and said that being aware of the "angry black man" stereotype has made him change his behaviour over the years.
He was born in Zambia in 1974 and moved to the UK two years later with his parents and siblings.
The Health Minister said he faced racist abuse whilst playing rugby against other schools.
"I’ve got the ball and the other side say ‘get the n***er.’
"I’m the only black person on my team - my teammates go and take that person out. So actually there’s that whole thing of ‘he’s one of ours’ and yet within the same school environment not everyone was as welcoming and supporting."
The 46-year-old added that "compared to others, people have had much worse experiences but you can’t deny it’s part of your own experience."
Gething, who's been Health Minister since 2016, said that he feels he has to "reign" himself in because he does not want to appear as an "angry black man."
"That’s how people see you and it’ll take away from the message and people think you’re being prickly or difficult or angry or that you’re being robust. And the way that being robust and assertive is seen is as a positive."
"Being prickly and difficult often isn’t and the danger is - and one of those things about self-censorship is that it can get to the point where you worry so much about people wanting to accuse you of being keen to play the race card as opposed to well ‘I’m saying this because this is who I am and it matters to me.’"
The father of one said he will have to have a "difficult conversation" with his son about the world he’s growing up in.
He said: "The world’s better in many ways than when I grew up at the end of the 70s and the start of the 80s, we have moved since then but it isn’t smooth and it isn’t easy."
"The fact that it isn’t as fair as it should be and part of that is because I’m his dad and he is who he is. But I think he’ll have more opportunities and he should do than I had but that’s if we carry on making choices about what we want to be like."
A spotlight has been shown on racial inequality across the world following the death of George Floyd in police custody in the United States.
The 46-year-old black man died after a police officer held him down by pressing his knee into his neck, which led to anti-racism protests around the world.
Mr Gething said the problems are not just in America, they are in Wales too.
"There’s no point pretending that things are perfect because if you don’t recognise you have a problem how on earth can you resolve it?" the 46-year-old said.
"And whilst being busy dealing with a once in a century pandemic, I don’t stop being black just because I’m here and a politician and so that matters to me just as the job matters to me. So you can’t unpick who you are just because you have a really significant job to do at a really important point in time."
"Are you a black politician? Or are you a politician who is black? I started out by thinking well you should be a politician who is black.
"Actually there has to be space to be both. There are times when I should be a black politician because that’s the reality of your own experience."
He added: "it’s also one of the things that I find really frustrating that people often want to define black and Asian origin people - people of colour - as being ‘the same.’ There isn’t a collective mind."
Gething believes "we will see more change", but questions whether "it is enough" and what more needs to be done to have a fairer society.
"The danger is you have a moment and people say we did something. We look back in another couple of years and say ‘well how much really did change?‘"
"So it’s good to see people taking a knee and taking it seriously - statements matter but then it’s the actions that come from it."
Gething said one area within the health service in Wales he would like to improve on is the number of Black and Asian people in senior management roles.
"If you look at the managerial and the senior managerial levels you actually see a much whiter organisation so we still have real challenges about why that is."
"Leadership matters because if you’re silent, well why would you expect it to change?"