School "Culture Day' - why didn't school see this coming?

[mids2019]

https://www.joe.co.uk/news/school-issues-statement-after-sending-girl-home-for-wearing-union-jack-dress-496690?fbclid=IwY2xjawLkEB9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmXD4szLMfsqNubbE12kCn_Noe5jb2VGlNFVU0_IUIevHxzByCQ-5GXFN8F8_aem_P-q7I_yFCq82TY-Qr8mGdw

A local school state d a huge debate by sending a girl home on school culture day for wearing a union Jack dress. The question is why the school should have naively held an event which actually least a to more division than unity?

My daughter (white British) attended a similar event, for which she paid a pound, and dressed in jeans and t shirt. I asked how she had decided upon the attire and she stated 'well I don't have a culture'. I then had to explain that she did have a culture and even the jeans and t shirt were a product of fashion changes in western liberal society. We had a discussion about all the great products of white British culture, the music,science, results of the industrial revolution, shared experience in great wars, monarchy etc.

There is a white British culture but going into detail about this obviously brings into focus cultural divide and opens up divisive areas whether white British culture benefited from colonialism and past oppression.

Of course culture day probably was meant to highlight minority cultures and act to promote dress etc. from ethnic minorities as a welcoming inclusive gesture but by allowing all pupils to think about their culture we have to define 'white British' culture and by defining 'white British' culture schools have inadvertently started a discussion they didn't intend.

I’m not sure about the speech - if it was written by the girl herself I’d say her parents’ political views shine through. BUT schools have to deal with awkward situations all the time - difficult parents, kids bullying each other or asking inappropriate questions in a lesson. Teachers and management spend their whole time de-escalating situations. This was hardly the most challenging for a school to deal with.

I disagree. The parents were not "dicks" either way. There was nothing inflammatory about what she wore or how she behaved, or what she wrote.

Absolutely. If you decide to have a culture day like that, you have to accept certain challenges. It was badly dealt with.

I expect the school wanted all the British kids to stand up and make a speak apologising for colonialism or something.

The fact they also sent several other children home makes it less likely this was about her particular speech

Out of interest, who has “banned the word Christmas”?

So, in Britain, everyone can be proud of their culture and celebrate it, unless they're British?

Yep, it certainly seems that way.

Oh my god not with the Jewish fish and chips again, how long before something becomes embedded in the culture of the country that its mostly coming from?

So pasta, you know came from China really, not an Italian dish, neither are the tomatoes they serve with it, they're from the new world, I hope no Italians use their cuisine to mark or identify their culture.

and so on, and so on.

I said they seem like ‘the type’.

Think they are doing something to be inclusive, but just creating tensions.

Like the school who banned the Easter parade, that type of thing.

Usually white middle class people that do ‘this type’ of shit tbh.

The thing is, the school backtracked on this. So whilst I completely get your point, ultimately the school backed down and admitted they got it wrong. So therefore the discourse is a bit redundant as there’s acknowledgement that they fucked up, as opposed to this being the right thing.

How so?

Ffs some of the posters on this thread.

I'm not British born but fancy being so embarrassed by your own culture you think there's something off about a student dressing in a Union Jack.

Have the school explained what the problem was? Our school has a similar thing (proud day I think they call it) and lots of the kids just wear an England football shirt or whatever. Totally standard at these types of things and not controversial at all.

What??

Agree, it sounds like the school should have advised everyone on what things they didn't consider as acceptable if they have such strong feelings about it. If this is a normally sensible and well behaved student then this heavy handed approach is a massive fuck up on the school's part.

Given that several children were sent home it seems that the way the message was sent out and how the day was handled was badly mis managed and this girl was only the tip of a rather nasty iceberg

What are you saying? It’s not very clear who you think behaved badly

About 4 years ago the same thing happened in one of my DCs school. ‘Culture Day’, one girl wore a Union Jack dress and was sent home. It ended up with 60% of the school looking fabulous in their saris and 40% feeling slightly sheepish in their jeans and hoodies. Open racism was tolerated ‘I’m so glad I’m not white’, ‘basic white’ etc. There was definitely a feeling that white people should be feeling apologetic, and not just on culture day.

I'd like to hear the schools side... our school does this and there's England shirts and union jacks galore and no hint of a problem. More to this I think.

so can you not reference black British culture either?

it is statements like this that are handing reform the next election on a plate.

someone referencing white British culture does not make them a racist. But telling them they are pushes them away from having a conversation on it and into the silent majority who will vote reform and then all the pearl clutching lefties will be left changing their Facebook statuses to how shocked they are the country voted this way when for once they could have just shown the tolerance they bleat on about that we might not be in this mess.

The school have released an apology

I also think there will be more to this.

Yes. But I'd like to their uncensored not damage control version of events.

I'd love to know why the school also sent home the kid who had come dressed as a farmer. What on earth were they thinking?!