Sean Corby
I am a musician from a working-class multi-ethnic background in the North of England. In 2021, whilst working for UK government Quango ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) as a conciliation officer, a group of colleagues led by a prolific ethnocentric activist Zita Holbourne made unfounded accusations that I am a dangerous racist. The subsequent legal battle continues but I have been left jobless and my career in the civil service destroyed.
In recent days, as I struggle to find money to pay my basic living costs and scrape together enough funds to make sure I send my monthly payments for child support, I have felt great anger and an urge to direct that anger towards the cabal of 4 colleagues who instigated the action against me in my former workplace.
But here, as I share this with you, I am determined that I will not become consumed by the kind of intolerant, myopic, and divisive mentality that resulted in their attack on me.
Instead, I resolve to intensify my commitment to the teachings of the man whose beliefs my accusers and ACAS leadership deemed to be unacceptable, calling me a racist, far-right activist, and alleging that I pose a danger to my Black colleagues: HOWARD THURMAN.
Yes, as a result of sharing articles and comments in support of several black thinkers and artists including Ayishat Akanbi, Inaya Folarin Iman, Chimamande Ngozi Adichie, and Howard Thurman, and stating that ‘I prefer an approach to anti-racism rooted in the Christian-based teachings of Dr MLK to those of BLM which are underpinned by CRT’ I was investigated following an accusation I am a racist and potentially a fascist. The complainants even made a request that ACAS supply them with bodyguards. This would only be marginally less outrageous if I did not work in an office over 250 miles away.
The written statement in which these accusations appeared was clearly unhinged. Bizarrely, ACAS leadership instructed me to immediately remove these posts and took forward the complaint against me to a formal investigation process.
To be clear, I am a tough man from a rugged working-class environment. I am sensitive, but not scared of a confrontation if pushed, and ever since it became apparent that this gang, whose spokesperson Zita Holbourne is a prolific hard-left political activist, self-proclaimed ethnocentric artist, and ‘human rights’ campaigner who writes regularly for publications including The Guardian and Morning Star, a British Communist newspaper, had the sympathy of my powerful employer, I knew I was in a fight for my job, my right to freedom of expression, and my reputation.
Had it not been for the Free Speech Union, I would have had no representation, and I am in no doubt I would have been steamrolled by my employer, obfuscated, silenced, and put very firmly ‘in my lane.’
But over this issue which means so much to me, I was prepared to fight to the end regardless of consequences or eventual outcome.
It is deeply disturbing that a UK public institution was bullied by, or possibly colluded with, a gang of employees, led by a known political activist with a reputation for being what some have described to me as ‘fanatical’, into taking action against me even though nobody involved in the investigation, or subsequent legal process considered my posts to be in the least bit objectively offensive. In fact, they did not even breech the internal communications policy to which they applied, let alone the law. Yet, ACAS, and now a UK Employment Tribunal judge deemed the subjective feelings of the four complainants to be more important than my legal right to political speech.
Despite winning a ground-breaking preliminary decision last September that my beliefs on race are protected under the Equality Act 2010, the judge presiding over my recent Harassment and Discrimination claim against ACAS judged that because the complainants told ACAS witnesses they were genuinely fearful after reading my posts, my employer was exercising a duty of care towards them and, therefore, had not discriminated against me by ordering me to remove posts. They took their groundless and defamatory accusations against me so seriously that they proceeded with a formal investigation, and refused to allow me to put my posts back up even though they agreed there wasn’t anything improper about them at all and certainly nothing that any reasonable person could remotely construe as being racist.
Prior to this incident, since 2020, ACAS leadership had been promoting their endorsement of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives that were often clearly influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and by Critical Race Theory (CRT) on occasion the head of Diversity at ACAS, along with other senior staff members, openly endorsed BLM and advocated for a commitment to furthering their cause.
I first ran into trouble when questioning this approach and for suggesting that there are a range of alternative perspectives that anyone interested in developing a greater understanding of race issues should at least be aware of and should certainly be considered by policy and change makers in the organisation, which is tasked with advising on workplace practice and employment law in the UK. ACAS has a huge responsibility to ensure workplaces are managed lawfully and that respect and dignity are upheld for all. Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that ‘inclusivity’ applies only to those approved of by a progressive elite now largely in control of many of our public institutions, trade unions, media, and political parties in the UK. Only sanctioned ideas permitted, and dissent is verboten.
I had previously shared a link to Chloe Valdary’s ‘Theory of Enchantment’ site with ACAS CEO Susan Clews who replied politely and said she would share it with Julie Dennis the diversity lead, and I had copied in several members of the organisations Race Network. I heard nothing back, which was disappointing.
I felt Chloe’s approach to diversity training, which is rooted in the philosophy of Martin Luther King and based on compassion not guilt-mongering, treating people as complex human beings in need of love, greater self-awareness, and connection rather than as mere political abstractions, would be of great interest to the organisation.
The next time I questioned the organisations position on Race, the response was alarming.
A colleague had written a memorial tribute to Stephen Lawrence, a Black teenager who was murdered by a gang of racist thugs in South-East London in 1993. The case shocked the country. The ensuing Police investigation revealed deeply embedded corruption, collusion with organised crime gangs, and entrenched racism in the Metropolitan Police.
Towards the end of the tribute, my colleague announced that there would soon be a new Race Network for Black staff only and if you wanted to join a Race Network you must state whether you are applying to join the B.A.M.E group or as an Ally (White).
I found this to be reprehensible. I asked what the rationale was for establishing racially segregated groups in the workplace and I voiced concerns about how divisive and immoral I considered this to be. I asked how eligibility will be assessed and by whom? How ‘Black’ must one be to join the B.A.M.E group, and would they be operating a ‘One Drop’ rule or Apartheid-era South African influenced ‘hair-test’?
The author of the announcement was so disturbed by my question that she had to leave work immediately after reading. I got a call. On this occasion, I refused to remove my comments on the grounds they had upset my colleague, and I told my manager that I too was upset by the announcement racial segregation was to be implemented in my place of work.
So, over following months I shared articles in our Yammer forum which promoted a universalist, and what some may call colour-blind approach to racism, expressing concerns about frequent interference with free-speech and tendency for self-censorship amongst young people.
This is when the complaint came in. I was ordered to remove eight of my posts from the Diversity and Inclusion forum where we were invited to participate in the conversation about race and equality and inform decision makers at ACAS.
At the top of the list of posts to be removed was a biography of Howard Thurman and my comment that I admired him for his railing against separatism and segregation. I complied as I was worried that I could be dismissed if I refused.
What followed was a debacle fraught with incompetence, lack of transparency, shameful dishonesty, and utter contempt for my well-being and right to lawful expression of political beliefs.
This led me to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal for Discrimination and Harassment on the grounds of Philosophical Belief.
I can clearly remember the first time someone called me a N***er lover. I was walking from my classroom at high school to another lesson and the words were uttered with a sneer from one of a group of older boys as they passed me in the corridor.
Since then, I have observed and been subjected to a fair share of abuse, bias, prejudice, and discrimination, but I have also forged great friendships and established deep bonds with people, transcending the kind of identity-bound perimeters that so many people are confined by these days.
For as far back as I can remember, my friendship circle included people from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Most of us were the children of immigrants and had some understanding of what it is like to be an ‘outsider.’
My mother is Irish, and I attended catholic schools, which in my industrial working-class hometown in the North of England meant most of my schoolmates were of Irish, West Indian, Italian, or Polish stock.
Of course, that did not mean we never teased each other, and sometimes that teasing was about your colour, appearance, lack of sporting prowess, sneakers, or academic ability. It could be incredibly cruel, and as teenagers it could lead to physical confrontation.
As a young boy, my musical idols were ‘black’ and included Miles Davis, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, BB King, and after attending my first ever live jazz concert age 14, the great firebrand poet and saxophonist Archie Shepp.
Shepp had me mesmerised as he stood imposingly in his rakishly angled straw boater hat & black roll neck sweater, preaching fire and revolution with his horn, and ominously reciting his haunting poem, ‘Mama Rose.’
As an aspiring young trumpet player, I was often encouraged and supported by ‘black’ elders during my quest to be a professional jazz musician. Wynton Marsalis, Gary Crosby, Courtney Pine, Bennie Maupin, even Herbie Hancock offered their help and guidance in some way. I have recorded and toured with some of my musical icons: Gregory Isaacs, Hugh Masekela, Dennis Brown, and many others from the world of Reggae, Salsa, and Jazz.
From age 9, my best friend was a boy who lived on my street and is of Jamaican and Barbadian parentage. We became inseparable for much of our lives, and at one stage during my childhood his parents took me in when things at home made it unsafe for me to be there. His mother, Gloria, is known as my ‘other mum.’ The irony is that he attended a mostly white school, whereas I travelled across town to a school known for the ethnic diversity of its pupils.
By age 10, I had already attended West Indian family functions both with his parents and with friends from my school who knew that for some inexplicable reason, I liked going. ‘How come you like Black people so much?’ they would sometimes quiz. I cannot remember how I answered, but I probably shrugged self-effacingly.
The fact is, that for whatever reason, I have spent much of my life in Black environments socially, professionally, and in my family life. Of course, with that came occasional jibing, accusations of ‘wanting to be black,’ suggestions I had contracted an acute dose of ‘jungle fever’ and other nonsense.
But curiously, I have also had it put to me on countless occasions that my ethnicity is ambiguous, and I have been asked countless times whether I am of ‘mixed-race.’
To my knowledge, there is no African-descent person in my recent lineage. As I write this, I am close to being overcome with emotion as I have never shared this with anyone publicly and never discussed it beyond a very small circle of people. And, I have never answered ‘Yes.’
I am also close to tears writing this because it has brought home to me just how incredibly cruel and unfounded the accusations made against me by colleagues at ACAS were.
These accusations have resulted in me losing my job and having my career in the UK civil service destroyed.
In September 2023, I won a ground-breaking decision in UK law that my beliefs, which stand in opposition to CRT and advocate a colour-blind approach to anti-racism, are protected under the Equality Act 2010.
To achieve this decision, I had to undergo 4 days of intense and aggressive cross-examination by the opposing Barrister and judge. This meant I was required to satisfy the five criteria of The Grainger Test. These are:
(i) The belief must be genuinely held.
(ii) It must be a belief and not, [simply], an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available.
(iii) It must be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour.
(iv) It must attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance.
(v) It must be worthy of respect in a democratic society, be not incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others
The judgment received considerable press attention and I was interviewed for several TV news shows and newspapers. This led to my dismissal by ACAS in December 2023. I have submitted a claim for unlawful dismissal and await a hearing date.
In April 2024, I returned to court for the final hearing of my Discrimination claim.
Several weeks ago, I received the judgment that my claim had failed on the grounds that ACAS were simply operating a duty of care to the complainants who were ‘genuinely’ offended. This means the judge considers the complainants subjective feelings to be of more importance than my legal right to free speech. We have appealed.
The implications of this judgement are extremely worrying. Individuals and groups will now know that simply by claiming they are scared or offended, views that do not concur with theirs can be obfuscated. This is unacceptable in a democracy, and I feel duty bound to continue my fight for justice, free speech, campaign for a colour-blind approach to anti-racism.
I am now jobless and quite literally penniless. However, my faith and my sincere commitment to my beliefs continue to motivate me.
Throughout this episode, my Jamaican wife who I’ve known since being a teenager has remained steadfastly in my corner, the Free Speech Union have been unwavering in their support and my barrister Jon Holbrook who offered his services pro-bono is a godsend.
This experience has caused so much distress to my wife and I, and at times I’ve felt great anger and a desire to get my own back. Yet, it is leading me to look within and seek to live up to the teachings of Howard Thurman in my own life. Rather than try to ‘win’, I now want to achieve greater understanding of what led to this, how others think and feel, and make sure I do not become embittered and contribute to the cycle of conflict.
I am making music again and collaborating with new friends and artists. I am writing a memoir based on my experiences with this court case and life events that led to them. I hope I can be in service to others who have been on the receiving end of cancellation and bigotry.
Sean Corby
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