While many of us are looking at our own understanding of anti-racism and the efforts we need to take to be better at anti-racism, there is also a movement to make sure our children – of every age – are better educated.
To that end, a number of petitions have sprung up, asking the Department of Education in the UK to look at the national curriculum and how we can better teach the next generation to be anti-racist.
Here are four that you can sign to help lobby the government to give our children a more rounded education.
Battle racism by updating GCSE reading lists
This petition, by Molly Crossley is looking to get The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla and Why I’m No longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge onto the GCSE reading list.
In the summary, she says: ‘Education is where it starts. Although you can have debates and go on marches in the hope of battling closed minds, school is where minds are opened and where we should grasp the opportunity to teach students about diversity and our current society, including the injustices.’
Make white privilege and systemic racism a compulsory part of the British education course
This petition calls on issues around white privilege and racism to be a mandatory part of the KS3 National Curriculum. Eleanor Jolliffe, the organiser of the page, says: 'Nationwide in our schools we study and learn about racism through a historic lens leading many adolescents to the impression that racism is an issue of the past as opposed to something we face daily. This leaves our generation misinformed and at times ignorant to white privilege and systemic racism. In order to diminish systemic racism, we must educate young adolescents about how they can actively be involved in standing up against racism (eg. diversity quotas in jobs, media and more).'
She adds: 'We need to actively tackle and discuss these issues through a structured, mandatory educational course rather than relying on generational change to drift vaguely towards racial equity and a deeper understanding of these issues.'
Teach British children about the realities of British Imperialism and Colonialism
Organiser Joshua Bailey says there is much omitted about imperialism and colonialism in our curriculum and that needs to change: 'By excluding the evils of British Imperialism, along with how members of the African Diaspora contributed to the British nation-state, British children are robbed of understanding how colonialist ideology was implemented. This stunts the growth of racial equality in the UK and hinders the racial esteem of Black British children.
'Frederick Douglass said that “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Similarly, we recognise that better education for our children is the most effective tool for constructing an anti-racist society.’
Amend the British School Curriculum to Teach About Racism and British History
This petition says that children should be made better aware of racism in the UK and how it can be combatted - and asks that people of colour be heard on what should be in that curriculum.
Organiser Taiyba Ali says: ‘The most valuable source comes from those who have experienced racism and oppression. Provide resources to young people to educate themselves further. Do not let our education system become biased.
‘We can only progress if we educate.’
What to watch to educate yourself about racism
1 of 23Dear White People
A Netflix series following several Black college students at a largely white Ivy League school – based on the film of the same name (which can be rented on Amazon Prime).
2 of 23Fruitvale Station
Michael B Jordan stars in this biographical film about the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, who was killed in 2009 by a BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle. Available to watch on Netflix.
3 of 23Malcolm X
A biographical film of activist Malcolm X, directed and co-written by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington. Available to rent on Amazon.
4 of 23Hidden Figures
The true story of three African-American women working at NASA as mathematicians, starring Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.
5 of 23Dark Girls
A documentary about the prejudices and cultural bias dark-skinned women face around the world. Available to rent on Amazon.
6 of 23Get Out
A horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele starring Daniel Kaluuya as a man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend. Available to rent on Amazon.
7 of 23Just Mercy
The true story of lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, battling to overturn the wrongful murder conviction of Walter McMillian. Available to rent on Amazon.
8 of 23Selma
This Ava DuVernay-directed film is based around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers' historic march from Selma to Montgomery. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.
9 of 23Mudbound
Two Mississippi families – one Black, one white – confront the brutal realities of prejudice, farming and friendship in this Netflix series.
10 of 23The Color Purple
Based on the Pulitzer-winning book by Alice Walker, the film follows Celie, a black woman growing up in the early 1900s. Available to rent on Amazon.
11 of 23The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Many of the interviews that have been shared on social media this week feature in this film – a documentary about the Black Power movement through the eyes of Swedish journalists and filmmakers who'd travelled to report on it. You can buy the film on DVD.
12 of 23The Hate U Give
This movie, based on the book of the same name by Angie Thomas, tells the story of Starr Carter, who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by police. Available to buy on Amazon.
13 of 23I Am Not Your Negro
Told in the words of James Baldwin, through personal appearances and the text of his final unfinished book, I Am Not Your Negro touches on the lives and assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evans to discuss how the image and reality of Black people in America today is fabricated and enforced. Available on Amazon.
14 of 23King In The Wilderness
An HBO documentary chronicling the final 18 months of Martin Luther King Jr's life. Available to stream on Amazon.
15 of 23American Son
Kerry Washington stars in this film about an estranged interracial couple awaiting news on their missing teenage son in a Florida police station. Available on Netflix.
16 of 23When They See Us
A series created, co-written and directed by Ava DuVernay about the events of a 1989 rape case, and the Central Park 5, who were wrongly imprisoned for a violent rape and assault. The series is available on Netflix.
17 of 2313th
This documentary by Ava DuVernay includes scholars, activists and politicians, analysing the criminalisation of African-Americans and the US prison boom. Available on Netflix.
18 of 23See You Yesterday
This sci-fi film sees two teen prodigies trying to master time travel, as a tragic police shooting sends them on a series of dangerous trips to the past. Available on Netflix.
19 of 23If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins wrote and directed this film, based on James Baldwin's 1974 novel about a Harlem couple torn apart by a wrongful arrest. Available to watch on Amazon Prime.
20 of 23Belle
Amma Asante's film is inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle – the illegitimate mixed-race child of Sir John Lindsay – alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray, which hangs in Kenwood House, London. The fictional story centres on Dido's relationships within her family and wider society, amidst the reactions to the Zong massacre, where slaves were thrown overboard from a slave ship and the owner filed for the losses with his insurance company. You can hire Belle on Amazon Prime.
21 of 23Reggie Yates: Life and Death in Chicago
Many of Reggie Yates' ongoing documentaries and Extreme series for BBC Three are important watches. This documentary, which saw him travel to Chicago to examine gun crime in 2016, is available on iPlayer now.
22 of 23This Is England
The Shane Meadows film that spawned the Channel 4 series shows the development of skinhead culture in the 1980s in the UK and how it became hijacked by racist voices. The film is available on Amazon Prime.
23 of 23Shame In The Game: Racism In Football
This BBC Three documentary, still available on iPlayer, examines the devastating impact of football racism in the UK, as incidents soar and players at every level of the game call for drastic action.