Teachers- racism question

[Teachingquestion]

Hello
This is a really specific question that I've taken to our diversity panel at school but their advice was wishy washy
We have an increasing problem with racism towards black students at our school. We are tackling it
I am finding that in my lessons during discussions (I'm an English teacher) the black students will say racist things about themselves as 'jokes' to fit in etc
They are tropes , and hard to tackle.
I'll give a specific example from yesterday
A black student says he can't swim , looks to all of the white boys around him , all laugh.
I know the racist trope of this , so I redirect it.
I keep him behind ( subtly) and try to talk to him about it, he says on no miss , I was just saying I can't swim. He's still smirking about it.
He's complicit in his own bullying. How do I tackle?
I want to be really clear, this IS what was going on, other staff are experiencing it too. Please no posters that tell me I have misread it, it's an ongoing issue at school. What can I do I lessons to tackle , the boys gaslight teachers who express concern it's racism

I immediately thought of this charity:

https://theredcardhub.org/

I'm sorry that you are having to navigate this. I live in a predominantly white rural area, but always worry about our non-white and EAL pupils struggling with this at some point in their lives. I worry too about internalised misogyny. In a way, I hope it's easier to tackle openly because there is something tangible to discuss. Would be interested to hear how you get on.

I would speak to the black student directly about it. Question why is he highlighting negative tropes about his own race, what will it achieve? It is distracting to the class, and detrimental to his own image. See what he says. Assuming he cannot come up with a real excuse for it, ask him to not do it again, and to have respect for himself and his own race.

sometimes in these difficult conversations its helpful to include the parents?
i doubt the adults would see this as "harmless banter", and then the conversations can be reinforced at home?
It would have to be handled very delicately though, clearly set out that it isn't a disciplinary issue or anything like that, etc

I see that someone has mentioned "Red Card", so I would look into creating a series of lessons or workshops around the issue. This way its tackled as a whole school issue, rather than just speaking to individuals. Depending on how diverse your teaching and SLT are I would consider booking a workshop with an organisation, like Red Card and having a black facilitator leading on the session. Often in these situations kids respond better to someone who looks like them and has an understanding of their lived experiences. Sounds like the children are seeking acceptance from their white peers and if a few children are doing this, then that suggests an issue within school that needs to be addressed. Your right to flag this and be concerned. Its disappointing that there are people in your team who don't think its a big deal that's worthy of addressing. Sounds like the whole school, staff included, could benefit from training around these issues. Wishing you the best.