Leila Latif is right to say that diversity is not a numbers game (Bafta’s all-white winners lineup is shocking – it needs to learn diversity is more than just statistics, 20 February). To continue to see diversity in terms of statistics is simplistic and pointless – especially when so many Black and Asian British creatives have left the UK for the US.
For actors, the quality of roles on offer there is far superior than the roles available here. How many Black and Asian actors have appeared in “sidekick” roles in cookie-cutter crime dramas in the UK? Since decamping to the States, a whole host of actors of colour have found incredible success – from Joseph Marcell in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Benedict Wong, Gemma Chan, Riz Ahmed, Idris Elba, Daniel Kaluuya, and many more.
But what many miss is that everything begins with the writer. Try to imagine any British writer of colour getting to work on a film like Judas and the Black Messiah, or TV series like When They See Us and Atlanta. It simply wouldn’t happen.
Unless writers and writing are given the proper focus, nothing will change. And the UK TV and film industry will be poorer for it – an entire generation of talent lost.
Alice Charles
Ilford, London
