RICHARD Reddie is the Bradford-born Director of Justice and Inclusion for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

He is the author of three books and has written for the Guardian, the BBC, The Times, The Voice and The Church Times.

Here he writes about why the Black Lives Matter movement offers a “watershed moment” to challenge the racism that exists in many towns and cities across the UK - including Bradford.

“The barbaric killing of George Floyd has had massive reverberations on both sides of the Atlantic, leading to a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and countrywide protests.

While some British politicians and sections of the British media have been fixated with “law and order” issues and the toppling slave traders’ statues, for the more cognoscenti, this is a watershed moment to challenge (and change) the rampant, perennial racism that exists in many towns and cities in this country, including Bradford.

Let me start by saying I was born and bred in this city. And while my parents are Jamaican, they met and married in Bradford and called it home for over 30 years.

I would add that I had a happy childhood; my two brothers, sister and I attended schools in East Bowling, Bierley and finally what is now Tong Leadership Academy. We were also regulars at what was Eastbrook Hall Methodist Church at the bottom of Leeds Road.

However, when I was growing up, I always sensed that Bradford had an uneasy relationship with the small, yet significant Black community that began settling in sizeable numbers in the 1950s.

So, despite my accent, when I first moved to London to study, my fellow students doubted I was from Bradford because I was Black. Londoners had been overly influenced by the selective way the city chose to promote itself during the notorious “Bradford is Bouncing Back” campaign, when it played down its ethnic diversity. (My friends and I would always add, “But not if you’re Black” in relation to that particular slogan.)

During my youth, Bradford was sadly a city of Black “firsts”. My father was an avid Telegraph and Argus reader and the paper would invariably mention the first Black police officer/ headmaster/ traffic warden/pub landlord etc, in the city.

What I always found disappointing was that these “firsts”, never opened the floodgates, they did not even lead to a trickle. First invariably meant “first and only”.

When I left school in the 1980s, the situation was difficult for Black youth. Irrespective of your qualifications, it was virtually impossible to get a job in a bank, building society or any clerical profession. The best you could hope for was a job in a factory or warehouse - and the former began disappearing in the mid-1980s when Britain’s manufacturing base went into chronic decline. London, by comparison, was deemed a veritable nirvana, and far too many ambitious young Black people were forced to move there “to make something of themselves”.

Over the years, I have noted significant change in the city during my visits; my younger brother still lives in what was our family house, and my uncle, aunts and virtually all my cousins on my father’s side live in Bradford or its environs.

During my childhood, the Black community tended to live in certain areas of the city, these days they live everywhere, which is indicative of the welcomed, but slow, progress that has occurred.

I am cognizant that many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Bradfordians love their city and would not want a bad word said about it. When asked where I am from, I never tarry in mentioning Bradford. Equally, I have done my best to hold on to the accent, even though I have lived longer in London.

However, I believe that George Floyd’s death and the BLM campaign is an opportune moment for the city to repay the good faith Black folks have invested in Bradford. With the exception of wanderlust, no Black Bradfordian should be forced to leave the city to realise their dreams.

For this “Bradford Dream” to occur, the city needs to carry out root and branch reform of the structures that thwart Black (and other minority ethnic communities) from experiencing the same outcomes as their White peers.

This involves transforming the city’s schools which see far too many Black students fail to make the academic grade when they leave. It also includes improving BAME health outcomes per se, especially those linked to poor housing.

It is the case that far too many BAME Bradfordians live in accommodation that is not conducive to good health and well-being. Then, there is the criminal justice system which sees far more Black men go to prison than the city’s excellent university.

While these institutional and structural changes are being made, business and large organisations must ensure that their staffing at all levels reflects the diversity of the city.

Finally, Bradford Council must do more from a financial perspective to resource Black businesses, cultural institutions and community organisations.

The French writer, Victor Hugo, famously said, ‘Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.’

For many, that idea is BLM, and the time has come for cities like Bradford to make real changes in relation to their Black communities.”