all right [Music] [Music] let's not be late on the first day foreign barrassed I've seen you in front of the mirror okay it's enough I can touch I gave you good hair what and that didn't contribute not to your hair or the mortgage give me a kiss and a rush I want a good seat gdpr not Adele yeah I know it's Emma's first presentation since she made partner not sure how I'd feel if I were meaning what exactly well she's the only black woman in the department and she just got the job so so if I were
her I'd be wondering why I could say more about you the entire firm are thinking the same thing Nicole she's more than qualified qualified as a given but nobody gets partnership just because they're qualified look at the position because they've a quality the partners think they're missing would you be saying this if she were a white man [Music] [Music] and so we've seen a huge spike in consumer claims against corporates used to buy metrics are still excuse me foreign nothing why do they call m
e then Mrs Aussie yes it's Mrs to say Mrs cross geography so what's happened please don't look so worried it's just that they said there was an issue with their uniform it's not specifically her uniform it's her hair doesn't comply with the school's uniform and appearance policy all hair needs to be of a reasonable size and lens okay sorry it's actually a relief I know it's her first day and no it's fine we'll sort it thank you and sorry again oh my hair it's ridiculous it's life oh what we gonn
a do well I'm gonna go back to work after dropping you in town so that you can figure out a way to flatten I don't want to flatten it Emma I'm giving you the day off school so you can go shopping Take the Wheel [Music] foreign [Music] just need to get on my work after cutting the presentation short Sam we have a reservation which means they'll hold our place what restaurant around here needs a reservation for lunch not food tanning booth topping up before holiday oh okay don't laugh we're not al
l born with a tan it's not actually a 10. just mean I'm the one who needs more color you're already Brown enough [Music] foreign Nina in future I'd appreciate it if you inform me before sending one of my pupils home I wasn't aware I needed your permission it's a courtesy one of my form does something wrong in your class I would need you to alert me in advance of following school policy I wasn't aware that you could do hair wrong is too long for who some of the students can't see the Whiteboard h
ave they actually complained April we have sent a number of children home for in the past for a variety of reasons and you haven't objected on those occasions I didn't have a reason to before this is different don't make this about something it isn't I'm not convinced it isn't about that what do you think AJ I I didn't realize I was part of this conversation you're not I don't know why she asked you I'm just saying if anyone would have an opinion we should listen to it could be AJ because he's A
sian I didn't say that we've had a number of black students over the years it's never been a concern in the past it doesn't mean we shouldn't review regularly Norms change Miss Woodward the reason we have an 80 person wait list for this school is that we have an excellent reputation now once forced to be here I don't think expecting students to stick to our school uniform policy it's too much to ask for [Music] and is that I'm well thanks listen I reckon I've got something to be interested in fo
reign not sure that was the reputation I was looking for yeah well everyone knows that that policy is bull not Mrs cross and I've got geography next Nina cross is a dictator you know she has a tape measure for our skirts seriously yeah three inches below the knee went South at least I know I'm not being singled out then you don't think sounds like she's just anal my hair's longer than yours and the school doesn't say anything to me my hair's bigger what you know you can't help the way your hair
grows and who decided that hair that grows like yours is less presentable than her that goes like mine I'm following you thank you [Music] Emma yes Mrs cross would you like to go back to the ladies to tend to your hair but there's nothing to tend to miss and the Auditors have the end of your accounts because the results have been rather good this year we are able again to have a summer party foreign twice in two days apparently a record do you know how lucky you are not to have been suspended I
don't care if they suspend me oh oh you don't care do you I'm glad that we've cleared that up we discussed this we didn't discuss anything you decided but you didn't have a problem with it this morning now I do why because I know they're not treating me like the others be grateful that you got through life this far without noticing before it wasn't a problem before because my old school didn't care how I wore my hair they also didn't care if you turned up you know I never missed a single lesson
I always play by the rules I had a good life you haven't even started your life baby girl you want a good life then you need to get a good job in order to get a good job you've got to go to a good University to get into a good uni you've got to go to a good school Saint Mary's is a good school you never went to a good school that's why it's taking me this long to make junior partner even Kerry knows is racist who's Kerry she's just one of the students who agrees with me and what colors Kerry irr
elevant white people have lots of ideas of how to tackle issues that affect us well she's just a student there's nothing she can do it's so easy to be a social justice Warrior when you've got no skin in the game you think she's going to pressure her parents into helping change the rules it's one thing posting black lives matter but it's another when you've got genuine risk sometimes you need to push back and sometimes you need to pick your battles Emma it gets harder than just hair [Music] it go
es to the root of Who You Are how you dress how you talk what you wear what you eat please baby girl don't fall at the first hurdle [Music] hello evening is this Mrs osaya Mrs assay yes speaking my name is AJ I'm a teacher at St Mary's what's am I done now I spoke to one of your colleagues and said that she'll turn up tomorrow with policy appropriate hair well I don't think she should have to are you speaking as a representative of the school I'm not so what's this about then or have you just br
oken gdpr I hope you'll forgive the intrusion once you hear why we're contacting you we hi FEMA I'm Issa from The Herald to what do I owe this pleasure I'm wanting to write a story about no thank you decisive may I ask why I'm not looking to be a martyr for a course this is an altruistic request no black women spend six times more on their head than white women between hair pieces and wigs and braids I'm spending 2500 a year only 2 500. this would be the perfect entry point to write an article d
econstructing The Narrative that European hair is an aspiration or should be the standard it's still a pass I suspect the school won't appreciate being portrayed in this way that's the idea their displeasure might manifest in a way that would not be advantageous to my daughter they wouldn't dare not a risk I'm keen on taken she's the only black person in the whole of a year and I'm not looking to find another way for it to stand out and to be honest I've already gotten affirmative action questio
n mark hanging over my recent promotion I don't want to compound that by being the black family in the paper because of insert racist incident have you asked why you were hired well I hadn't planned to you should but I'm a journalist questions are my occupational hazard can I use the article as a threat just to push hard enough that they would back off Emma and what if they don't concede I won't write it the threat of the article should suffice look think about it you have AJ's number and I won'
t write anything until you sign off okay thank you for your time it's honestly not a concern it's nothing to do thank you it's just I wouldn't want you to think I wasn't fully committed especially after it's been promoted I have two children of my own I completely understand one of the benefits of being my partner is a degree of flexibility in your working schedule Richard why me what you mean why did you promote me it wasn't qualified qualified to given no one gets partnership just because they
're qualified they get the position because they have a quality that the partners think they're missing what kind of answer are you looking for an honest one foreign but also because you're a woman a single parent you've been on scholarship and if it makes you happy because you're black I'm not sure it does me making a new partner for those reasons invalidates your promotion it doesn't undermine the assumption that identity politics were at play senior partners then the firm we're not going to r
isk our reputation to appear work still I would have preferred it if I just got the job you know purely on Merit no one gets hired people you're married there are two types of people in this world those that know why they hire white middle class men and those that hire them because they think that they're the best possible candidates on every single occasion I'm not the latter no no I know why I hire white middle-class man and I know why I hire single black mothers there are times when it's goin
g to be more effective to leverage the appearance and lived experience of somebody like me but increasingly there are times when it's going to be more effective to leverage the appearance and lived experience of somebody like you so that's why I've got the job I got this job because my uncle is an MP do you think I've ever given it a second thought my son has a job at a bafta award-winning production company because we represent them do you think I feel guilty about being able to give him that o
pportunity the white middle-class man has ever walked through that door and questioned my motivation for promoting him I doubt it you've lived your entire life knowing that the deck is stacked against still you question your right to be here who cares while you are promoted what matters is that you were promoted to you how you decide to use it and whom you decide to hire after you your feelings are noted but they're based on the assumption that the rules are fair you should know by now the game
is right and this will actually take your shot wherever you get it [Music] hi Therma do it I have the herald on the line who's on the line the herald the newspaper all the newspaper yes of course put them through good morning morning Mr Haya my name is ether I'm a features writer at the herald good morning to you as well and how may I be of service I was hoping to get a quote regard to our a-level results actually hair discrimination hair discrimination is it true that you're not allowing a fema
le black student to wear a hair in Natural State it's not that we're not letting her have her hair out because of her race it's just school policy to present your hair in a particular way regardless of your background but to just confirm she is black she is and you're not allowing her to wear a hair in a natural state just so you're all aware we're currently reviewing our uniform policy in relation to hairstyles and ethnicity so until further notice students from that African Caribbean backgroun
d will not be sent home for that reason what I received a call from The Herald the newspaper they were planning on writing a story until I assured them there was no story to write about Paul we should be applying the same rules to all our students unless all our students aren't the same so instead we just Panda to the PC Brigade this isn't a fight anyone in this school has the energy nor time to indulge we won did we I don't know if that's the moral of the story well what do you know that I'm pr
oud of you for being proud to be yourself foreign go on them [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] get more from the open University check out the links on screen now
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