A MIXED-RACE Penmaenmawr councillor has told of her experience of racist bullying and her efforts at a North Wales council to promote diversity.
Born to her Indian father and white mother, Plaid Cymru Councillor Cathy Augustine says she and her family experienced racism when she was a child.
But since she was elected in May 2022, Cllr Augustine says she has worked to improve diversity within Conwy County Council, including chairing the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller working group and helping form an engagement group.
She also represented the authority at the first ever All Wales Anti-Racist Action Plan summit in Cardiff.
Cllr Augustine now campaigns with ministers to improve services for minorities, helping colleagues embrace Wales as a “self-declared Nation of Sanctuary”, whilst raising awareness of the All Wales Anti-Racist Plan.
“I’m the daughter of an Indian father who came to London from Kolkata (then Calcutta) in the 1950s,” she said.
“He married my white British mum in 1959, when mixed-race couples were rare – even in fairly cosmopolitan London.
“As a young child I remember being confused and upset by people staring at us, tutting or moving away when we three sat down together on public transport, a park bench, or in a library.
“At school I experienced direct and overt racist bullying, mainly verbal but also physical. More recently, this has turned into more subtle micro-aggressions. So I have an awareness of many levels of racist behaviours. I might be considered ‘white passing’, which has brought its own challenges and abuse.
“As far as I am aware, I am one of very few Conwy County Borough Council councillors of colour and a woman. I also chair a working group that focuses on the needs of one of our most vulnerable minority communities (gypsies and travellers).
“As long ago as the 1990s, I remember single mums being vilified and blamed for the country’s economic woes – along with immigrants. I was both a single mum and a woman of colour! So I find it tragic that divisions, scapegoating, and blame are raising their ugly heads again.”
She added: “Given my background and lived experience, I feel reassured that Conwy is moving in the right direction to counter prejudice and discrimination at a strategic level, and that this will translate into meaningful action through policies, roles, and tools used by officers on a daily basis.”
Cllr Augustine went onto criticise both the former Conservative and current Labour governments as having “unjust” immigration laws.
But the Penmaenmawr councillor says she is confident Conwy has “mechanisms” in place to deal with racism within local authorities.
“The old chestnut of divide and rule has been finely honed into a bitter tool to turn us against the most vulnerable in our communities, and as a distraction from both the impact of austerity policies and the shambles that continues in the wake of Brexit,” she said.
“It is no coincidence that the right-wing rhetoric against immigration, migration, refugees, and all minorities is escalating. And it needs to be challenged at every opportunity.”
She added: “CCBC has put mechanisms in place to make these challenges – through adoption of the Unison Anti-Racist Charter and updates to the Corporate Plan. The CCBC Corporate Plan signposts all the more detailed plans and policies that are in place and underpin the high-level strategies across the council. And I’m more than content that our corporate plan does in fact cover all the most significant and concrete aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion, incorporating mechanisms to foster general feelings of belonging – amongst staff and across our communities, particularly at a time of escalating division and hate crime.”
