Teachers must learn how to tackle racism as part of their training, experts warn
Teachers must learn how to tackle racism as part of their training, campaigners have demanded.
The Runnymede Trust wants schools to put race, migration and the British Empire on the National Curriculum and to introduce a temporary ban on school exclusions. In a report published today, the race equality think tank warns politicians they must fix "appalling" inequalities in our country.
It said a "toxic" agenda was actively harming people of colour and criticised the Government for its "shameless" debates around migration. The Runnymede Trust warned that “urgent action must be taken to boost racial literacy and address discrimination in our schools”.
It highlighted statistics that show Black Caribbean pupils are five times more likely to be excluded from school than their white counterparts. It said it was “even more alarming” when it is considered that 89% of imprisoned young people aged 12-18 have reported being excluded from school.
The think tank has produced a manifesto of demands it wants political parties to adopt before the next election including scrapping the two-child benefit limit, ending “aggressive” policing techniques such as strip searches on kids and immediately removing Voter ID requirements.
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Dr Shabna Begum, Interim co-CEO of the Runnymede Trust, criticised an “onslaught of draconian legislation” over the last few years, which she said has presented “the most significant and sustained threat to the rights of people of colour in the UK in recent memory”. Her manifesto calls out a series of laws including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts and the Illegal Migration Act. The report says these, among others, have “jeopardised” the rights of people of colour to cast their ballots, engage in public protest and condemn every dual-nationality Briton to the threat of being stripped of their citizenship.
“Ongoing debates about migration have given way to a toxic policy agenda focused on scapegoating vulnerable people, in a shameless effort to distract from long-standing, cross-party, derelictions of government duty,” Dr Begum said. “These are political choices, they are not inevitable, and for the vast majority of us working class communities of colour - they are actively harmful.
“It is in this context that the Runnymede Trust offers our priorities for racial justice in Britain. Despite all the efforts to divide us, whether on the grounds of class or ethnicity, we know that policies which promote racial justice are not just beneficial to people of colour, but create a fairer and more equitable society for all. We urge policymakers to desist from superficial virtue signalling, and dog-whistle politics, and instead actively create a more prosperous future for everyone.”
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