If the UK doesn’t have a problem with race, explain Big Brother

Last week’s Big Brother eviction of Daze Aghaji, a 24-year-old Black woman, might seem a trivial reality TV matter, but it underscores a pervasive question about British society: Does the UK still have a race problem?

Daze, whose heritage traces back to Nigeria’s Niger Delta – an area devastated by oil companies, which fuels her climate activism – has been a relatively calm presence during her 13 days in the House.

In my view, she’s steered clear of the arguments and behaviour that landed others in hot water.

Her eviction, however, came amidst a tense week, with housemates divided into politicians and citizens for a luxury shopping task. Among the nominees — Lily, Ali, Daze, and Martha — Daze had the strongest political views.

While Lily’s constant screaming grated on viewers, Ali’s behaviour sparked conflicts in the House, and Nathan’s conservative views raised eyebrows, Daze was still the one sent packing.

Since its debut in 2000, Big Brother — arguably the original social experiment — has pushed the boundaries of television, challenging societal norms long before many of our politicians and institutions did. 

Yet, 24 years on, in the latest series the racial dynamics at play are hard to ignore.

Within days of entering, another Black woman, Hanah Haji, was found in tears after she felt labelled with the ‘aggressive Black woman’ stereotype during an altercation. Expressing frustration, Hanah explained that throughout her life, and now in the House, her assertiveness is often seen as aggression.

The experiences of both Daze and Hanah fit a troubling pattern: despite being relatively composed, Black women are targeted for early eviction. In 24 years of Big Brother, no Black woman has ever won the show.

But the issue is not new. Last year, Trish Balusa, originally from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, was quickly branded a troublemaker despite her relatively mild confrontations compared to non-Black housemates. 

When Balusa finally broke down in a tearful exchange with Big Brother, it didn’t take a genius to work out that she was expressing the exhaustion of being repeatedly labelled ‘aggressive’.

Daze’s situation mirrors societal patterns. 

In the workplace, Black employees are held to higher standards, face stereotypes and have to work harder than white colleagues to advance. In education, Black children are more likely to be disciplined than their white counterparts for similar behaviour; and Black patients’ healthcare is taken less seriously, often leading to worse outcomes.

Black women, in particular, face the ‘double jeopardy’ of discrimination – the intersections of race and gender – which affects everything from how they are seen in leadership roles to exclusion from decision-making processes.

That the reason for Daze’s eviction — other than just ‘vibes’ — is difficult to pinpoint is exactly the point. 

Daze took on leadership roles in a number of tasks and challenges, saving fellow housemates Emma and Lily from eviction with her strategic decisions and providing many laughs – although some people mistook her actions as game-playing and manipulative.

The left-wing climate activist also struck up a wonderfully surprising relationship with Nathan King, a staunch Conservative and Nigel Farage fan. Despite this, she was the favourite to go from the start of the vote opening. 

For many viewers, the problem is that Aghaji doesn’t fit the mould of what they expect or want from a contestant. 

But it’s not just in entertainment; ‘I don’t know why, I just don’t like her’ can be just as easily applied to those voting for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris as those who voted to evict Daze.

We like to think of the UK as a progressive, multicultural nation — and we can be — but incidents like this show that unconscious racial bias remains a pervasive problem. Ethnic minorities face significant discrimination in daily life, from employment to policing.

Figures from 2019/20 suggested Black people were nine times more likely tobe stopped and searched, and nearly three times more likely to struggle to get a job.

In May, when a white man brutally murdered an innocent 14-year-old Black boy with a sword, it barely registered in the public consciousness. But when fake news broke that it was an asylum seeker or refugee who had killed the young girls in Southport, we saw riots, disinformation and violence on an almost unprecedented level.

The fact that this bias spills over into entertainment shouldn’t surprise us, but it should worry us.

It’s easy to dismiss Big Brother for one reason or another; it’s just a game, and they know what they are signing up for. But it reveals deeper issues: the treatment of Black people in our society. That Daze was overwhelmingly favoured for eviction, while Hanah was immediately pigeonholed, shows that these problems persist.

Big Brother often holds a mirror up to Britain and asks us: Are we okay with this? For all the times the show has challenged norms — like crowning an openly gay winner 12 years before marriage equality — it also reflects darker sides. The show forces viewers to reflect on their own biases as much as the contestants.

Daze’s eviction raises uncomfortable questions about how we view Black contestants and our own societal biases. We must once again ask ourselves: are we okay with this? And the answer must be no.