Anti-Racist Education
Click here for training opportunities for small voluntary organisations in London.
Our children and anti-racism
General preamble
The points we raise below are relevant to parents from all racial backgrounds. Racism is not just something that happens between white people and black people. It involves people from many different racial backgrounds in countries throughout the world. Neither is racism something that just happens somewhere else - sadly it often operates within our own families. As parents, irrespective of our own racial heritage, we must be vigilant about racism and challenge it so that our children can grow up in a healthier society.
In Britain it has been officially recognised in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report that apart from direct racism there is also a subtler form of racism which pervades all our institutions - this kind of racism has been officially recognised as institutional racism.
Underlying racism, there is often a more general intolerant attitude to people who are different for reasons other than race (eg religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, age, physique, or even dress style or hair style, to mention some of the more obvious).
Most of us welcome difference in our lives and would find sameness very tedious. We enjoy different kinds of food and drink, clothes, plants, and a range of products, many of which are “foreign”.
At a national level our economy is constantly striving to create new or different products and at an individual level we are happy to try out new food blends, synthetic materials and plant hybrids.
However some people find difference difficult to deal with and can even find it threatening.
Many people drink “foreign” products such as orange juice from the Mediterranean, tea from India or China, and coffee from Africa or South America throughout the day, every day of their lives with their food, which could equally originate from all over the world.
Some of these very same people, however, can be quite intolerant towards a person who comes from those parts of the world where these foodstuffs grow, or who has even the most tenuous of links with those countries. This intolerance can be extended to that person’s relatives, friends and colleagues even if they are not themselves directly linked to that part of the world.
To bring our children up to be confident and respectful, and to have inquiring minds and enjoy what our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and increasingly global, world can offer, we must recognise that preparation for this needs to start in the home from birth.
Preparation for living and working successfully in our multi-racial country, continent and world, without harming other people, is not just a white thing or a black thing or a big city thing. With migration within Britain, as well as into Britain and out of Britain, people can find that their surroundings, neighbours and colleagues can change several times in their life times.
When a family moves from one area to another they can find that many aspects of their lives and their children’s lives change. Children moving from a school where just one cultural group predominates to a more culturally mixed school can find the experience exciting and stimulating or, on the other hand, frightening.
“When my son was in a class which was largely white he rejected the Indian part of himself and he was embarrassed when his Indian mother came to school. When he later found himself in a much more multi-ethnic class he overcame all of his negative thinking about his identity and dual heritage.”
We do not know what part of Britain or the world our children will end up living in; we do not know what job they will do, or what culture they will choose a partner from. The thing we need to do is prepare them as successfully as we can for their future in our increasingly global society.
Babies & toddlers
Our children’s experiences in their early years at home are very important. By exposing them to a range of different tastes, images and musical sounds we can start to prepare them for our diverse world from birth.
Food and drink from all over the world is now common in our supermarkets and in a growing number of small shops throughout the country. Our children can quite easily become accustomed to and enjoy a range of tastes and smells associated with foodstuffs from the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia and the rest of the world.
At an early age parents can encourage a positive attitude to other countries and continents through these enjoyable sensory experiences. As children start using the names of these foodstuffs they can also become aware of the names of the countries the food comes from. Similarly with animals from all over the world and similarly with play materials including black, brown, and white dolls which will encourage a positive attitude to different skin colours at a later age. (At this stage babies and toddlers don’t see difference in terms of skin colour.)
With such simple positive attitudes parents can start to lay the basis for their children’s respect for different countries and for people whose heritage is wholly or partly linked to those countries. Parental attitudes which treat a range of animals, foods and toys as different but equal can constitute the first steps in encouraging a child at a later age to respect people from different racial backgrounds as different but equal.
“When our kids were young we made a point of having black, brown and white dolls at home.”
“Oh mum, it’s an alien!” (remark made by a white child about a black 3 year-old)
“Parents should teach their child to enjoy, respect, value and appreciate other races and religions from birth – they should not wait until the child is old enough to ask questions or when the child starts mixing with other children because by then they have already got opinions of their own – if the parents don’t educate their children about racism, those children will get their education from the TV, from overhearing comments, from the media or the playground.”
Play-group / Nursery age
“What parents should be doing is instilling in their children the duty to treat all individuals equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion or culture. “
“I can remember that when I used to go to the baby-minder’s she kept me in the hall and wouldn’t let me be with the white children who were in the front room.”
“My daughter went to a largely white nursery. One girl said to her, ‘Oh, your mum is black’. I didn’t get angry. I said, ‘Yes, I’m black and you’re white, that’s normal. Be proud of yourself like I am.”
“At nursery they used the terms white and black people but my son considered himself brown. This was where he first became aware of race.”
During the nursery years, when our children hear all sorts of negative things outside the home, we can bring them up to respect other cultures by highlighting that difference is a positive thing and continuing to raise their awareness of the vast variety of people, colours, food, music and religions in our own society and throughout the world. Another very important starting point is simply allowing our children to socialise and interact with people from other races and cultures or religions. This helps challenge perceptions of what is 'different', as it often reveals that, essentially, we are not different!
We, ourselves, as parents, can interact with parents of different cultures, and lead by example, showing our children these positive attitudes and challenging racist attitudes. Bringing our children into contact with children of other races, in some cases, will require a special effort.
“So that my daughter could mix with the other children in the class I took her to a classmate’s birthday party even though I knew that all the other white children’s mothers would stare at me. I forced myself to overcome my negative feelings about the invitation and take her. The mother of the birthday girl was friendly. I didn’t do this for myself, I did it for my daughter and I’m pleased I did it. The barriers with some of the other mothers are now breaking down too.”
“Encourage kids to play together and make them aware of the benefits of diversity (e.g. they like different coloured clothes, different foods etc) so they can spread diversity appreciation to their friends too.”
When children bring racist remarks back from nursery we can show them the stupidity of racism.
“The first thing my daughter brought back from nursery was what a boy had said to her, ‘You’re spoiling my future, shut up’.”
“Every child’s experience is so unique. Even though we can try to prepare children in a general way to deal with issues around racism, unfortunately they have to experience it first and bring it home first before we can really do something about it.”
In places where there are not many children from other racial backgrounds, parents will be able to selectively use various media to raise their children’s awareness. Nowadays many children’s programmes in Britain include cartoon characters and children of different heritages.
What We Can Do
- Take advantage of opportunities to mix with people from other racial backgrounds in parks, at parents’ groups, at play groups and nurseries.
- Check child-minders’ attitudes.
- Check if the composition of a prospective play-group reflects the community.
- Check that the play materials are appropriate.
Primary school age
Racism needs to be addressed in schools, which must take responsibility for what the children are learning. Racism acquired at home arises in the classroom, in the playground and on the way to school. Schools need to work very hard on this because what children learn at very young ages can be retained into later life. It is important to remember the social aspect of education as well the academic. Our children are growing up in a racially diverse society so they need to be prepared for it at school.
“Parents should bring up the topic of racism with their kids, depending on the child, from as young as 5. It is something that goes on in the world and they need to know about it.”
“I told my children, ‘If there is racism at school come and tell me. Don’t suffer in silence.’ As a mother it was my duty to make my children understand what racism is.”
“I prepared my son for racism at the age of 5 when he was going to school so he would be ready to deal with it when it happened.”
“You f’g black bast’d!” (remark by a 6 year-old)
“When my children were walking home from school, some older white children spat at them and called them racist names. They came home and asked me why?”
“I told my children to ignore it the first time but inform the teacher if it reoccurs.”
“It is very important to challenge racism before high school to stop self-degradation at high school.”
“Confront the guilty party and make sure they are dealt with and face the consequences of their actions.”
“We denied our Jewish heritage and pretended to be Christians in order to survive in the playground.”
“I said to my son ‘You are British but you must understand your Indian heritage as well’.”
“It’s sad to admit it but there were very few black kids at the school I went to and I was ashamed of being black. I hung around with the white kids who said, ‘Oh you’re ok, you’re one of us’. So I didn’t get beaten up like the others.”
“My son said, ‘If people are racist to me I’m going to fight them’. I told him it’s a matter of how and when you fight them. Don’t be violent and sometimes, if it’s dangerous or it’s too much for you to cope with, let go. Don’t take on more of them than you can handle.”
“Parents should challenge attitudes brought back from school.”
“Parents should show by example and challenge racist comments in the company of other adults.”
“With racist comments, sometimes you don’t respond, otherwise you are always on the defensive. You often let silly things go over your head particularly from older people who are often embarrassed by what they say.”
Every day flippant comments by individuals and sensational headlines in the media reinforce racist attitudes. A common factor in both is the racialising of wrong-doing. Children must not be allowed to think that wrong-doers do something wrong because they have a particular racial heritage. They must learn that people do wrong because they choose not to differentiate between right and wrong. So children should be taught not to judge people on the basis of their skin colour, hair style, language or country of origin.
Newspapers and websites representing people from minority ethnic backgrounds can help to provide a counterbalance in these circumstances.
What we can do
- Be proactive and not reactive
- Monitor and be responsive to what our children are doing at school.
- Be aware and observe attitudes of our own children and their friends and classmates.
- Check the school’s anti-racism policy to see if it can be improved.
- Check if the school celebrates the festivals of minority ethnic groups and if they invite speakers and encourage the children to wear different costumes on special occasions.
- Check if the teachers know that expressions such as “half-caste” are offensive.
- Ensure that we make the effort to pronounce long or unfamiliar names (eg of our children’s friends) and check that teachers are doing the same.
- Check that teachers aren’t stereotyping children for example by linking them to specific subjects at an early age on racial grounds.
- Look out for negative attitudes and views from our children.
- Monitor what our children are hearing and understanding.
- Check if reading materials depict characters from all walks of life, and truly reflect society. They should picture people in a variety of real roles rather than in one particular category of employment linked stereotypically to a particular racial heritage.
- Invite parents from different racial groups into our homes.
- When appropriate, refer to members of different racial groups as Black British or Asian British, so our children realise how diverse Britain is.
- Acknowledge the origins of universal knowledge, inventions, food, clothing, for example, and that the world as a whole has contributed to this, not just Britain. (We’ll learn a thing or two ourselves!)
- Highlight that in Britain mixed relationships and children of dual or multiple heritage are common.
- Remind our children that the world is more diverse than our TV screens.
- Put older, more racist / sexist TV programmes into an historical context.
- Help our children to qualify what they see on TV and differentiate between reality and fiction using their own positive life experiences.
One-liners
“Challenge children’s racist perceptions/language intelligently and positively to produce a positive outcome.”
“Educate yourself before educating your child. How many of us know the Black history of Britain reaching back to Roman times?”
“We are all of the same origin never mind our differences in colour and culture, therefore everyone should be treated equally.”
“If you eat their food and enjoy it, why also not like their people?”
“A family which has been of one single racial heritage for the last three or four generations may not necessarily remain so for the next three or four generations.”
“Have an accurate elementary history - explain to children that people from all races in the UK have contributed to Britain’s wealth, health and safety.”
Website design
This website was designed by Jason King of Hillingdon Association of Voluntary Services with funding by Community Cohesion in West London.