How do UK archivists perceive ‘white supremacy’ in the UK archives sector?

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic questions

Question	Choice	Count/Percentage%
Age Range
	16–24	1/1%
	25–43	64/67%
	44–55	19/20%
	56–74	8/8%
	75+	1/1%
	Would rather not say	3/3%
Type of Institution
	Business	10/10%
	Private	4/4%
	Local	22/23%
	Special	11/12%
	National	12/13%
	University	27/28%
	Other	10/10%
Paid – Level of Seniority
	Entry Level (<5 years of service, does not work alone)	21/22%
	Medium (≥5 years of service, does not work alone)	31/32%
	Senior (works alone or has 1 or more direct reports)	38/40%
Volunteer – Length of Service
	<1 year	1/1%
	>1 year and <5 years	3/3%
	≥5 years	2//2%

Table 2. Signing The Statement

Question	Choice	Count/Percentage
Did you sign the petition?
	Yes	40/42%
	No	46/48%
	Would rather not say	10/10%
Why did you sign the petition?
	Freetext
If you did not sign the petition please state why. (Please select an answer or select ‘other’ and leave comments.)
	I was not aware of the petition	21/22%
	I do not believe there is a problem with structural racism in Britain’s archives sector	7/7%
	Other	18/19%
Please provide further details.	Freetext

Table 3. Statement actions

#	Question	Yes (Count/Percentage)	No (Count/Percentage)	Blank (Count/Percentage)
A	Be braver. Critically examine ourselves and our assumptions and biases. Find out what our unconscious biases are.	86/90%	8/8%	2/2%
B	Listen to communities. Create spaces for conversations about race and representation, power and social justice.	77/80%	15/16%	4/4%
C	Speak out at work. Support colleagues experiencing racism and other prejudices.	82/86%	10/10%	4/4%
D	Educate ourselves. Read some critical race theory. Make learning opportunities for ourselves and others. Take advantage of free training programmes from charities for staff. Use the Archivists Against collective’s resources in our workplaces.	81/84%	11/12%	4/4%
E	Connect. Seek allies and commit to allyship. Work with more diverse networks.	71/74%	19/20%	6/6%
F	Reassess acquisitions and collecting policies. What is valued and who is being represented?	65/68%	26/27%	5/5%
G	Critically rethink our tools and techniques. How are we cataloguing? Which records are prioritized for cataloguing?	66/69%	24/25%	6/6%
H	Look at our own operations. Are our values embedded in our procedures, hiring practices, corporate language, etc?	65/68%	25/26%	6/6%
I	Think historically, and think globally. Acknowledge colonial legacies. White supremacy is built into and on our collections and helps to determine our place in the international archival community.	67/70%	24/25%	5/5%
J	Pay up, and pay forward. Commit to finding funds to pay trainees. Recruit trainees who have the potential to change our profession for the better.	25/26%	64/67%	7/7%
K	Celebrate positive action, loudly.	78/81%	11/12%	7/7%
L	Support and participate in current ARA and TNA efforts to address structural racism in the profession. Insist that these efforts are expanded or continued until structural racism is eliminated.	61/64%	29/30%	6/6%
M	Ask ARA to appoint paid advisors to conduct a thorough internal review of its structure, culture, and practices to discover what needs to change within the organization to make it a safer, more inclusive professional body.	67/70%	23/24%	6/6%
N	Insist that all accreditation guidelines, competency frameworks, etc surface and work to correct structural biases.	61/64%	27/28%	8/8%
O	Recognize that British archives hold records that don’t belong to us. Through ARA and TNA, do something about that.	40/42%	48/50%	8/8%
P	Support the work around descriptive protocols for racist records.	74/77%	15/16%	7/7%
Q	Expect the university courses to decolonize their curricula and reassess the skills they teach, with a greater focus on human-centred approaches and skills for challenging and speaking up, handling difficult conversations and conflicting perspectives.	40/42%	46/48%	10/10%
R	Support alternative routes into the profession that diversify the sector, without de-professionalizing it.	60/63%	30/31%	6/6%
S	Work to positively influence primary and secondary school history curricula so that historical research and archives are opened up to those presently disengaged and excluded through white hegemony.	44/46%	40/42%	12/12%
T	Participate in these efforts instead of expecting others to do the work for us.	71/74%	17/18%	8/8%

Table 4. Archival praxis questions

Question	Choice	Count/Percentage
Has ‘white supremacy’ influenced:
The creation of records in the UK and elsewhere? (i.e. what information is recorded, and about whom).
	Yes	85/89%
	No	4/4%
	Don’t Know	7/7%
Decisions relating to information held in UK archives? (i.e. which records are selected for preservation, which collections are prioritized in terms of description, digitization, outreach etc?).
	Yes	69/72%
	No	12/12%
	Don’t Know	15/16%
The way archive collections are described in UK archival institutions?
	Yes	73/76%
	No	9/9%
	Don’t Know	14/15%