So it's illegal to teach the idea of white privilege as fact now. I guess that's the same for male privilege, class privilege etc

[chomalungma]

It's got to be hard to discuss racism, sexism, class advantage to pupils and to discuss how that can be overcome without directly teaching about white privilege, male privilege, class privilege as fact.

Maybe they could offer alternative views?

This is the debate on Black History Month - which is a fascinating read

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-10-20/debates/5B0E393E-8778-4973-B318-C17797DFBB22/BlackHistoryMonth

And the Government view

"Lots of pernicious stuff is being pushed, and we stand against that. We do not want teachers to teach their white pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt. Let me be clear that any school that teaches those elements of critical race theory as fact, or that promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law"

So parents can discuss it with their children, but teachers can't discuss it

[noblegiraffe]

you approach it by asking what colour plasters are

We have an incredibly squeezed curriculum in school - is the colour of plasters really the issue we want to be bringing up? I get the point, but we've had George Floyd, BLM protests, Diversity getting a billion complaints, racism in football, statues being toppled and so many other topical issues we could be discussing when it comes to race with teens. I can see a 'black people can't get plasters to match the colour of their skin' just ending up in a discussion of how plasters don't match their skin (and we don't care) instead.

[BIWI]

There's an article in today's Guardian about this. Our equalities minister, herself black, said this:

"Badenoch rejected the claims, insisting that history in schools “is not colonised”.

“We should not apologise for the fact that British children primarily study the history of these islands, and it goes without saying that the recent fad to decolonise maths, decolonise engineering, decolonise the sciences that we’ve seen across our universities to make race the defining principle of what is studied is not just misguided but actively opposed to the fundamental purpose of education”

Using the word 'fad' is deliberately trivialising this issue, I think. And the whole thing smacks, to me, of the viewpoint that 'black people are just looking to be offended' - which is, in itself, hugely offensive.

[SarahAndQuack]

I just used that example because it had been mentioned. I wasn't suggesting a compulsory daily plaster-colour inspection with additional hymn-singing.

[Smellbellina]

As far as I am aware the quote you have used is in reference to school using BLM materials in school, BLM is a political movement and quite an extreme one on some issues (such as defunding police as mentioned in the quote)
Personally I think Kemi Badenoch has got the balance right.

//www.tes.com/news/racism-black-lives-matter-dont-teach-pupils-about-white-privilege-says-minister%3famp

[BIWI]

Sorry link to the article is here

[Smellbellina]

Hopefully this link works!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/racism-black-lives-matter-dont-teach-pupils-about-white-privilege-says-minister%3famp

[Blueberries0112]

If the majority of the population is white, of course there is white privileges.

[Blueberries0112]

It’s like this, a court room full of men deciding if abortion is murder

[OverTheRainbow88]

Have made this image a starter activity for year 10s tomo, will see how it goes.

[BigFatLiar]

It’s like this, a court room full of men deciding if abortion is murder

You'd probably get the same sort of issues for this with a court room full of conservative women. Some men are pro-abortion, some men against, many on the fence.

[Flaxmeadow]

The MP Kemi Badenoch is absolutley right about the toxicity of critical race theory/and white privilege being taught in schools. It's worth watching the speech she made about it, I think yesterday?

It's interesting that some posters don't appear to have seen it, only the text, and think she is a man

[unmarkedbythat]

I would at this point settle for getting people to understand what 'white privilege' means and stop shouting that it is an assertion that all white people are in all ways better off than all people of other ethnicities (it isn't) and that teaching about white privilege means demanding that white people feel guilt and shame for being white (it doesn't).

MN amazes me when it comes to race. Widespread acceptance that male privilege exists, widespread denial that white privilege exists. People show an excellent understanding that male privilege does not mean all men are better off in all ways than all women, yet seem to really struggle with applying the same understanding to issues around race. It's really odd to see.

[Flaxmeadow]

[Flaxmeadow]

Shorter version here

www-independent-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kemi-badenoch-black-history-month-white-privilege-black-lives-matter-b1189547.html?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=16032901991412&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk%2Fpolitics%2Fkemi-badenoch-black-history-month-white-privilege-black-lives-matter-b1189547.html

[Flaxmeadow]

Oooop sorry

Here is shortened version

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kemi-badenoch-black-history-month-white-privilege-black-lives-matter-b1189547.html

[Devlesko]

Wtf does it matter what colour plasters are, none of them match my skin either, and there are clear ones.
The pp about the toys, I had a black doll for Christmas in 1969, months after the "river of blood" speech. They were readily available and there are plenty of black teachers.
Foundation and make up brands cater for black skin, I'm white and have to mix several to find the right shade as there is no exact one.
Sorry overtherainbow

[OverTheRainbow88]

there are plenty of black teachers.

In Bristol ( a pretty multicultural city) there are 26 black teachers in ALL the schools.
I work in a school with 1400 BAME kids. There are 2 dual heritage teachers... often our head calls us each Others names.

[ConfusedcomMum]

Lol Flaxmeadow look what someone wrote in the comments section below that article:

This was the Equalities Minister who yesterday questioned whether Wes Streeting "Was actually aware what is taught in the curriculum" and was then given a detailed seminar by the Labour MP who obviously knows a great deal about the subject. It is well worth watching on the Parliament website.

Sounds like she has a few prejudices herself...

[BIWI]

@unmarkedbythat

MN amazes me when it comes to race. Widespread acceptance that male privilege exists, widespread denial that white privilege exists. People show an excellent understanding that male privilege does not mean all men are better off in all ways than all women, yet seem to really struggle with applying the same understanding to issues around race. It's really odd to see.

Absolutely agree with this.

[Flaxmeadow]

Sounds like she has a few prejudices herself...

Not sure of the point but Kemi Badenoch is right that critical race theory/white privilege is being taught in schools. There are whole websites by teachers and headmasters dedicated to explaining to other teachers how to it should be done. There is even a dumbed down example of it in this thread !

Kemi Badenoch is saying that political activism should be kept out of the classroom and she is absolutely right

[WitchFindersAreEverywhere]

@HBGKC

"You can't have racism without white privilege."

Why not, OP? Is all racism perpetrated by privileged white people?

I agree with the PP who said that privilege is one (of many) lens of analysis.

Tell that to the Bengali kids I taught who were called beetles and other racist crap by the Pakistani children and their parents.

White privilege does exist, and it should be easy to understand. But people twist statements and misuse facts into weapons to cause harm. Personal experiences and opinions come into play.
So no, I don’t want to enter that minefield. Human rights, fine.
But the rest? Not in schools.

[LadyWithLapdog]

Teaching about white privilege is not political activism FFS.

[WitchFindersAreEverywhere]

@LadyWithLapdog

Teaching about white privilege is not political activism FFS.

Depends on what filter you’re using.

[LadyWithLapdog]

@WitchFindersAreEverywhere I’m using the filter of something which is so self-evident that I can’t believe we’re having 3 page discussions on MN about it.

[Devlesko]

Of course teaching about white privilege is political.
It's a buzz word to cause offence and civil unrest.
If you can't see this your an idiot.

There are so many other ways we can teach educate kids about racism without resorting to it ourselves with a racist term.
Oh, but wait only Black people can experience racism, of course.
Some white people are privileged, so are other minorities and yes sometimes privileged due to their colour or creed.
This term is just used to create further racism, but until the mc woke champagne socialists see this, there will be no change.