To consider reporting this as racist?

[puttynomo]

I'm a trainee teacher and just started in my second placement. Induction day training was about unconscious bias relating to a student survey in which pupils had reported various acts of racism in the school.

We were in random assigned teams and my team had about 7 people in, one other new guy (black). The task was to discuss a number of scenarios relating to race such as mixing up the only ethnic minority students names or a pupil reporting racism from a staff member, we were meant to discuss what we'd do in these scenarios, but basically immediately these two older women (one in particular) and a man immediately started on the defensive minimising it all, saying stuff like

'I get white kids mixed up all the time or kids that are ginger, I'm not racist, some kids have a certain look like Irish kids and I get them mixed up it's not racism' then they mocked being accused of racism when they said some of the black kids behaviour was atrocious and they deserved to be removed (one of pupil complaints was unfair targeting).

This carried on and nobody else including me could get a word in. The black guy was inbetween them and said nothing. Then the worst comment of all said by this one particular woman who'd been speaking about black pupils with complete derision the whole time she said

'What if it's just a cultural thing that black people are so aggressive, the way they speak' further justifying her removing them etc. I was actually shocked and at this point it was back to the main speaker. I had no chance to speak to the other guy but later found out it was his first day as well. My mentor was next to me and said nothing.

I felt so uncomfortable and shocked about this and it's still really bothering me. I saw the black guy in the staff room today he sat on his own and didn't speak to anyone I meant to try and speak to him but didn't get a chance.

What's the best course of action here? Was it racism? Should I speak to him and say anything? Should I report it? It's difficult as I've only just met everyone and my mentor and I don't know who those other people were. AIBU to think that this should be reported so this staff member can be spoken to? I'm shocked she is confident enough to say these things and then teaching children.

Obviously it should be reported and shame on all of you sitting around the table saying nothing

The whole ‘race training’ thing sounds completely Orwellian.

Lol you thinking that racism is only going one way

It's not racism, it's a racial stereotype and could be due to her experience.

I would raise it with your supervisor..

So everyone just sat around listening to the white lives matter/ginger kids experience racism crew and the unashamedly blatantly racist women prattling on? Nobody challenged it? Glad to see the future of education is in safe hands!

Yes, report it. Obviously.

Racial stereotypes are racism.

Why do you think it is? Explain yourself

OP contact your supervisor and ask for a chat about the training. Just state you arent happy with a couple of comments and if that sort of comments is ok. Don't start staying it's racism or getting the union involved at this stage.

Do this and it will lead to managment taking accountability for everything.

Why, training can be beneficial if done well.

Would you rather people had these thoughts and didn't express them for re-educatiin

Well it is racist to assume that when a Black women has kids they all come from different father automatically. These literally a sound on TikTok about this very stereotype, its rude and also goes back to slavery when the darker a women was they were seen as more sexually aware and we see this with young Black girls today in school - it's called adultification and they are see as more grown up, and sexually experienced than their peers (think Child Q but there are many examples) this impact them in academics but also safeguarding as they get less intervention and wellbeing support from institutions like CAHMS. It goes back to the stereotype of Black women.en being Jezebels and often enslaved Black women were experimented on against their will (by slave owners, and raped, that how many initial gynaecology inventions were discovered, they suffered terrible pain and anesthetic was used for white women but again Black women were adultified and seen as having higher pain thresholds). This is still believe by many healthcare professionals today, and it's one of the reason Black women have worse health outcomes espeically in childbirth where they are 4x more likely to die.

So when you say that you're contributing and perpetuating a long-standing historical and current racial stereotype and racism which dervived from racism and objectifying Black women (seeing them as aggressive and overly sexual and improper) which has harmed Black women for decades and continues to do so.

It's a weird concept to me as a foreigner. If mixing up people's names is racist, I'm completely fucked as I am face blind.

At my primary school we had a teacher one day a week who never got to grips with our names. It was "boy, girl, tall girl, short boy, fat girl, Maori boy." I was "freckles girl." Quite funny at the time, wouldn't fly today lol

Yes, sounds racist - but given that this was a workshop about unconscious bias, what does the age of the women concerned have to do with it?

It not mixing up names that's automatically racist - it's when there's two Black kids and you constantly throughout the whole year mix them up. It's when a kid with a difficult name tells you multiple times how to spell and say their name correctly and you blatantly ignore them.

It's when I was leaving school and I teacher I knew wanted to talk to me (there were around a 12ish Black girls in the whole school only 4 including me in my year). She called out the name of Black girls not even in my year, then a specific girl who for 3 years teachers who mix me and her up (the majority of that time we were the only 2 Black girls in our year but of course we look the same when there's dozens of white girls who all do the same makeup etc). Then continued with every Black girls name except mine and then the names of a few Asian girls. I kept walking and left, the next day I told them if you want to talk to me after school at least have the decency to remember my name, when we've know each other for ages instead of just shouting the names of all the Black girls you know.

Culture does play a part in behaviour but having racist conversations about Black girls, where you're clearly adutlifying them by saying they are more aggressive is just racist. And I didn't write 'so what you are saying is' I wrote you are contributing and perpetuating. Which is a very different thing, if you don't want to learn about the history and background of racial stereotypes and want to continue perpetuating racism, then you do that. But don't stop me from acknowledging it or pointing it out.

Here's a better idea - you maybe hold your tongue and stop trying to tell anyone else what to say or think - ever. Your pitiful wannabe attempt to bully normal people into silence has never worked in real life and certainly won't work as you attempt to be a keyboard warrior. 😅😂😅

Right? White people and people who experience racism - my God now I've read it all, she must be incredibly dimwitted to even consider this to be any sort of relevant statement.

Those people who are at pains to point out that this is a zombie thread, or that OP has now left the post, are really missing the point. Stop trying to silence people who are discussing the very real racism in our education system. I witnessed racist behaviour towards students from teachers and I also suffered it myself from other staff and students.

Lots of little microaggressions and throwaway comments amount to long term racial trauma and the impact on people cannot be undermined.

Are you twelve? Because you sound it

Yep, and the Red Guard love it, what a vile bunch they are, just slavering and slobbering at the bit to report someone for literally nothing. I hope she did report them, she will have learned a valuable lesson about her insignificance and they will have done absolutely nothing except roll their eyes.

Are you twelve? Because you sound it.

Oh yes English people.all love Europeans

You have clearly responded to the wrong comment, because this means nothing at all in relation to my comment.