Last week, Harry and Meghan Markle called out the Commonwealth, saying it ‘must acknowledge the past’. Harry, whose grandmother is head of the Commonwealth, said, ‘It’s not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done,’ saying that institutional racism still exists ‘because someone, somewhere, is benefiting from it’.
They’re right; the Commonwealth has a past mired in colonialism and slavery. I hope their words encourage the Government to review the national curriculum and make the teaching of Black history mandatory in schools, because there’s a gaping hole in the syllabus where these topics should have been taught.
When I was at school, as a Black British girl, I couldn’t see myself in the history books; none of my ancestors were there and our stories weren’t told. The syllabus was full of the Battle of Hastings and the world wars. All I remember seeing were white statues and white soldiers. I didn’t know anything about slavery, Black history or the Windrush generation. I didn’t learn about a lot of these things until university, which made me feel ashamed not to know about my own background.
It even made me wonder how British I was. I thought, how important can my culture be if it wasn’t even taught in schools? Now, as a teacher at a sixth form college in London, I notice how students tend to hang around with people who look like them and socialise with people from similar backgrounds. This could be a result of us not knowing enough about the people who don’t look like us. It’s a shame, as equality is about understanding each other and being able to integrate.
I’ve had to show my classes magazines with only white people on the covers.
As a digital publishing teacher, I’ve had to show my classes magazines with only white people on the covers. That’s made me feel uncomfortable and I’ve tried to diversify that as much as I can.
It’s great to see a number of initiatives calling on the Government to help dismantle systematic racism by amending the school curriculums. The Black Curriculum is one of the main groups hoping to see a change. They want Black history embedded in the syllabus to help Black pupils feel more represented. We need to see these changes and show students that talking about race is a positive thing.
Channel 4 show The School That Tried To End Racism has been brilliant when it comes to highlighting how important education is. At one point, students visit a museum with only one prominent Black ancestor on display. It shows how inaccurate our representation of history has been. In a panel discussion, Dr Nicola Rollock, an academic and racial injustice leader who appeared on the show, said, ‘What we’re doing in this documentary is providing a platform for them to talk about their experiences. It’s something we should be doing, we should be encouraging schools and children to talk about their experiences much more freely.’
In the programme, you could see the positive effect these conversations were having on the students: the more they seemed to understand each other’s backgrounds the more they came together. Now, I am more aware than ever of the mix of cultures in my classroom and I’ll be trying to integrate different stories into the content I teach.
Last week, the committee that oversees parliamentary petitions rejected the Government’s reply to the petition to teach colonial history, saying it did not address the point. The fight goes on. History hasn’t been taught properly up until now, but I’m excited to see Black history treated as the important topic it is in the future, and hope it helps us all understand each other more.
Click through to see anti-racism charities you can support in the US and the UK...
Charities To Support - Grazia
1 of 23Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust works with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds aged 13 to 30 to inspire and enable them to succeed in the career of their choice
2 of 23Peace and Healing for Darnella Fund
Darnella Frazier, the brave young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd, deserves peace and healing. In addition to the trauma of watching a black man be murdered by police, she has had to deal with trolls, bullies and ignorant people harassing her online. This fund is to support the healing and the restoration of hope for Darnella Frazier —whatever that means to her.
3 of 23Justice for Jacob Blake Fund
Set up by Blake's mother, this fund will cover his medical expenses, mental and grief counseling for his family and to assist them in the days to come, as they continue to seek justice for Jacob. A portion of these proceeds will also be used to benefit his six children.
4 of 23Milwaukee Freedom Fund
MFF was started by Black and Brown Milwaukee organizers to support residents' right to protest for justice. Donations help support their work helping protesters and community mutual aid and start a locally controlled and operated Milwaukee Bail Out Fund that is part of the National Bail Out Network. Through this work they will build on ongoing bail abolition efforts, support immigration efforts, work towards Black and Brown Liberation and support Black and Brown young people as they build a new world.
5 of 23George Floyd Memorial Fund
This fund covers his funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling for the family, lodging and travel for all court proceedings and to assist the family in the days to come as they continue to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund.
6 of 23Minnesota Freedom Fund
The MFF is working with the US National Lawyers Guild and Legal Rights Center to help bails that are set for protestors.
7 of 23Prison Reform Trust
Prison Reform Trust works to make the prison system in the UK just, humane and effective.
8 of 23Joint Council For The Welfare Of Immigrants
The JCWI aims to create a world in which immigration law and policy are based on sound evidence, promote the rule of law and are underpinned by respect for human rights and human dignity
9 of 23Access UK
Helps reduce BME youth unemployment, provide employment and training solutions for youth offenders and implement anti-gang initiatives in the community.
10 of 23Charity So White
Tackles institutional racism in the charity sector.
11 of 23Black Thrive
Black Thrive works to reduce the inequality and injustices experienced by Black people in mental health services.
12 of 23The Ubele Initiative
Supports the African diaspora community.
13 of 23Women In Prison
Supports women affected by the criminal justice system and campaigns to end the harm of prison to women, their families and our communities.
14 of 23Race On The Agenda (ROTA)
Race On The Agenda (ROTA) is a social policy research organisation focusing on issues that impact BAME communities.
15 of 23Show Racism The Red Card
Provides educational workshops, training sessions, multimedia packages, and a whole host of other resources, all with the purpose of tackling racism in society.
16 of 23The Equality Trust
Works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic and social inequality.
17 of 23Stop Hate UK
A service for victims of racial harassment aiming to end hate crimes in the UK.
18 of 23Runnymede
Generates intelligence to challenge race inequality in Britain through research, network building, leading debate, and policy engagement.
19 of 23National Bail Out
This US charity is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration.
20 of 23Black Lives Matter
This US organisation (for which there is a UK movement here) fights to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever.
21 of 23BEAM
BEAM is a US training, movement building and grant making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness and liberation of Black and marginalized communities.
22 of 23Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund
Ahmaud Arbery was chased and gunned down by Travis McMichael, son of retired Brunswick investigator Greg McMichael, under the father's and son's pretenses of witnessing a burglary in Satilla Shores of Glynn County. There is no evidence of the alleged burglary.
23 of 23Belly Mujinga Memorial Fund
For the memorial of Belly Mujinga, the railway worker who was spat at before she died of Covid-19.