The ambitious Bristol project aims to create a manifesto for racial equality

A thought-provoking exhibition designed to spark city-wide conversations about race and inform a new grassroots-led manifesto on race equality is currently at the Bristol Beacon. The ‘Race Cards: A Blue Print 4 change’ project is just one of over 200 events and projects that have taken place in Bristol over the past year as part of the Bristol Bus Boycott 360 campaign.

With support from the Bristol Beacon and the University of Bristol, project curator Julz Davis collected the views of over 800 Bristolians on race equality in our city today. The Race Cards project is just one of many ways Julz aims to make Bristol the best city for people “of all colours, cultures and classes to live, work and play”.

The answers come from ordinary Bristolians from all walks of life. While collecting opinions from people in different areas of the city, Julz found that education, cross-cultural exchange and connection, and statues were some of the most dominant themes.

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Julz, founder and head of Curiosity UnLtd, said: “I’m working with the University of Bristol to distill these responses into a manifesto to highlight what Bristol’s priorities are. Considering Bristol’s reputation for slavery and the Colston statue and St Pauls riots.

“Bristol has a very strong DNA when it comes to race, from the election of Marvin as Europe’s first elected black mayor to the Bristol Bus Boycott which informed the first Race Relations Act, but we are still a very unequal city.

“Bristol is the most diverse city in the South West. A third of young people in education are black people, Bristol is one of the best cities in the UK, but at the same time we have these ridiculous extreme wealth inequality gaps sitting uncomfortably juxtaposed against each other and that’s not enough good for a city like Bristol in my opinion.

“If you’re a young black man growing up in Bristol, you’re more likely to go to prison than university. Education has an important role to play, as do the police, who were the first to admit they were institutionally racist, and that comes from our Chief Constable Sarah Crew, who put her hands up and wants to do something about it.

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“The statues came up a lot and it’s about the iconography of the city and how people see themselves or don’t see themselves. People say we need to see more statues or monuments bearing the names of our heroes and chieftains so that we don’t forget them.

“Bristol is going through this growth, every day there’s a new street or building, so it’s not about renaming, it’s just naming. Some people might say it’s superficial and we don’t want to get stuck in the idea. that you change a name and suddenly the world becomes a better place, but for my daughter who is seven at the moment, that name becomes normalized for her.

“In this context we will create the race relations act, for the people, by the people, with the people. And we’re going to start having those conversations.”

Once the manifesto is drawn up, it will be presented to the new council administration. Julz also hopes the manifesto will then be used nationally to help inform a new race relations law.

The free Race Cards exhibition can be seen at the Bristol Beacon until 4th July. More information about the exhibition can be found here and Bristol Bus Boycott 360 campaign here.