And I may well be....Indian children used in school play

[TheFeministParent]

So my ds (9) had a school rememberance assembly, the focus was non British troops, particularly Indian. DS's school is predominantly white (probably 98%) and only one class per year group. In his class there is one little girl with Indian parents, one mixed race boy with a Pakistani father and one Egyptian boy. So when they discussed India two boys from another year were used to represent India...nothing was announced why they were picked for a different year group's assembly and no reference was made about their own heritage (although I assume they are of Indian descent). Am I unreasonable to think that the teacher should have prefaced the assembly by announcing that the children had been asked if they wanted to represent India in another year's assembly? Or am I being a bit over sensitive and ridiculous? My, and other parents, initial response was a bit .

I'm sure they weren't ejected from their own class and forced to take part, I'm sure they were asked and felt very proud of their ancestors. However it wasn't noted.

Okay...perhaps IABU and sensitive.

My parents are Indian, I am British, albeit brown.

I went to an all white school. I would have welcomed the theme of the assembly, as it is not well known that Commonwealth troops fought in both world wars.

However, I'd have been mortified if I'd been trotted out as a representative of "an Indian". How were these children being used? Was it in a "this is what an Indian looks like" kind of way?

Could they not find historic pictures of troops from the relevant countries?

They used a boy with a Pakistani father to portray Indian children??
I thought they were arch enemies.
Can you imagine using an English child to portray a Scottish child?
The scots would love that
YANBU
Sounds like a classic case of tokenism to me.

No the children were from other year groups that I assume to be Indian. They held up photos of service men and read out their name.

I honestly feel sorry for the school here. From what I can gather they were trying to be inclusive. As I said before, why not simply be pleased at the sentiment rather than be offended. And for all you know, as others have already pointed out, the children in question may have been proud as punch to represent their country, continent or whatever. I kind of get what you are saying, perhaps it could be interpreted in a negative way but I don't agree with it being offensive

Pedantic point, but it would be historically accurate to have a child of Pakistani heritage representing India in this context, as the two world wars were pre-Partition.

But that's probably a whole other assembly.

Well I wonder what the point of the 'inclusive' bit was? I wasn't offended just miffed! But thanks for your comments joni.

purepurple, during WW1 and WW2, the country that is now Pakistan was part of India as partition happened after WW2 so I suspect that at least some of the troops from India were in what is now Pakistan.

I bet the kids at your school are hoping there's never an assembly on the Elephant Man... who would get picked??

Matsikula, I was ITCHING to post that, but didn't. So glad you did

x-post with Matsikula!

Sorry, I've skim read this thread so hope I haven't missed something pertinent, but I just don't understand why the school felt the need to have Indian children from another year present other than as an example of "Indian-ness". Which I would have found uncomfortable (but that's in the context of me at school in the '70s/'80s where I resolutely did not want to be seen as something different; and also because I've never felt or wanted to feel anything other than British, and get deeply annoyed when I'm marked out as different because of my skin colour).

It would be a wholly different thing if the boys in question were there because their own ancestors had fought in the wars and there was some reference to their personal histories. Otherwise, remembering/representing soldiers who fought for this country, of whatever colour or nationality, can and should be done by any child, no matter their colour or indeed their nationality, since if you are living here you are benefitting from their bravery.

(the Pakistani children did not hold up photos, the (assumed) Indian children did)

And greta that's what I was getting at.

jonicomelately "the children in question may have been proud as punch to represent their country, continent or whatever"

So if they are British born and bred, what is their country?

Non British Troops?
That's a weird subject for an assembly

The country they were representing, namely India. To imply anything other that, in particular that I was being racist is DEEPLY offensive gretagarbo.

Sorry Mrs, it was commonwealth not non British, but I couldn't remember that term (brain shorting through focus on leaking sewage in the garden, boak)

joni, I don't think she was implying that, but they are unlikely to be Indian only of Indian descent.;

Yes, I think I got that The FeministParent.

In our school play last year the child picked to play the part of a "native" in some ficticious "rain forest" type setting,complete with loincloth and spear, was a coloured child of mixed race parents - in a school where there are only 6 non white children out of 300

lots of people were at that, but perhaps the child offered and no one else did

Joni/Greta
Their heritage would be Indian / British but their country Britain - assuming they were born and brought up in UK.

I don't know about this. If the children were asked to tell about their ancestors' experiences during the war then it would have been a good thing.

As it is, the children were used as living props which seems a bit insensitive.

My DC are sometimes asked to translate into German or English, or how things are done in Germany or UK - but that is different than standing them at the front of assembly and saying, "These are German/British children".

coloured child? wrong decade for that term, surely!!

Now that is very PerpetuallyAnnoyed. I'd have dragged my child off the stage had that been me.