Racial literacy at school is something I wish was on the agenda when I was a child. My understanding of myself, my peers and my teachers would have been so vitally expanded by our ability to interact and discuss the often taboo and difficult conversations around race, culture and identity. As a woman of colour, I felt race and culture were topics that weren’t for public discussion, such was the light touch school gave it. “Racism is bad” is not enough to understand the nuanced nature of the differences between the way people of different races experience the world. For this reason and standing on the shoulders of giants in the field who helped me explore the place of race, and racial literacy in education, I felt the call to start creating spaces of discussion in school.
“Racism is bad” is not enough to understand the nuanced nature of the differences between the way people of different races experience the world.
Building Racial Literacy
Angel Hinkley and I met on the Building Racial Literacy course and found kindred spirits in our belief in the importance of Anti-Racist Clubs in school. Angel’s view of the world, as a white woman, was fundamentally impacted by the excellent learning we were emersed in during the course, igniting a passion for decolonisation, and using her whiteness in allyship to raise the voices of young people of colour that she worked with. Both of us found in the Anti-Racist Club an incredible resource for fostering belonging in young people so often on the margins.
“Both of us found in the Anti-Racist Club an incredible resource for fostering belonging in young people so often on the margins.”
Talking about Race
We urge any teacher who is considering the impact such a group might have to start their learning journey and work with others in their school to begin offering opportunities for anti-racist thinking. A club is a great way to begin these discussions as it highlights an often-silent issue in racism and structural inequity. Having the club, advertising it, explaining and talking about the difference between “not being racist” and anti-racism are excellent springboards for opening young people’s minds to their ability to talk about race without fear, and learn about racism beyond name calling and slurs.
We need our young people to understand the lived experience of people of colour and begin to unpick the structural systems that remain to subjugate some in our society. As the old cliché says, ‘children are the future’ if we want a more equitable, just world, we must offer them the space to learn and explore topics we ourselves find difficult and uncomfortable. Provide safe spaces for questions, ideas and the sharing of lived experiences and increase minority visibility in our schools, and help young people have windows into the experiences and cultures of others to allow them to dissect stereotypes for themselves.
“A club is a great way to begin these discussions as it highlights an often-silent issue in racism and structural inequity.”
Anti-Racist Club Guide
That’s the why, but we know so often people miss the how, so we hope this info graphic helps to give a basic guide, and we’re always happy to talk all things anti-racist on twitter follow @smithyequality.
