{"id":1648,"date":"2020-07-31T20:51:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T20:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2020-07-31T22:09:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T22:09:41","slug":"critical-race-theory-with-david-gillborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/?p=1648","title":{"rendered":"Critical Race Theory with David Gillborn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My notes of a Talking Race podcast from the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality <\/a>at Leeds Beckett University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CRT developed in the US, in law schools. According to the theory racism is fundamental to society\u2019s everyday working. White supremacy is normal. Anyone questioning faces severe consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minoritised\ngroups are always hit by crises first, the hardest and for longest (Gillborn\n2007). Now we know that to be true in the Covid 19 crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systemic racism<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nsaturates normality. It saturates the economy, the health, the criminal justice\nservice, education…it saturates the world. Racism is not just outside in the\nwider world; it\u2019s in your home too. It\u2019s in the programmes you watch on TV or\nlisten to on the radio. It\u2019s in the books on your shelves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racism\noperates at every point in the education system. It operates how White people,\nwho are usually the people in charge of the system, make certain assumptions;\nabout what it means to be clever and who is clever, what does ability look like\nin a classroom, what does a clever five year old look like, what does a\ndisruptive five year old look like. How do you tell the difference between\nsomeone who is bored and someone who is challenging? These assumptions are\nabsolutely vital at every stage of education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfact that racism is systemic is not because someone at the top is directing it;\nit\u2019s worse than that. It\u2019s shaped by the white people (in charge) and their\nassumptions from the earlier days. It comes natural to them. Policy makers\ndon\u2019t have to sit in Whitehall thinking: how can we make things difficult for\nblack kids and better for white middle class kids. They don\u2019t have to think\nthat because on average all policies will do that automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou don\u2019t set out to make a policy antiracist it will tend to be racist in its\nconsequences because people making the policy and people enacting the policy at\nevery level will embody those same racialised and racist processes in their\ndecision making. So, one of the constant dangers is that we fall into a\ncompetition: is it individuals or is it systemic? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nremember the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. It drew attention to the \u2018a few rotten\napples\u2019 theory of racism- it was just a few bad police officers, or, in\neducation, a few nasty old white teachers; once we\u2019ve got them out of the\nsystem everything is going to be great. The Lawrence Inquiry opened people\u2019s\neyes to the reality. It pointed out that racism inhabits the whole institution\n– the institution of education, the institution of the criminal justice\nsystem…. Literally, within a few months of that inquiry the Home Secretary\nsaid: well, it\u2019s not the institution it\u2019s the people within it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(According\nto Gillborn) It\u2019s all of them; it\u2019s the institution, it\u2019s the rules, the way\npeople get promoted and it\u2019s the people who are making those decisions, because\nracism infects the whole system. It structures the system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\ndoes systemic racism look like in education? It looks like…there is a\npipeline. If students follow certain pipelines they end up in certain places.\nThey can\u2019t do the career they wanted to do because it\u2019s not open to people who\ntook that route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A five-year-old\nblack child may begin with certain worksheets or put in certain groups or\ntables, some of which may be deemed clever and given high quality tasks and\nsome are given simple tasks. As the child moves through primary school the gaps\nare getting bigger with other kids and s\/he is seen as less able or more\nchallenging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then move into secondary school but how they were seen in primary school and the opportunities they were given or denied goes with them. The child is likely to be low ranked. Cover less of a curriculum. Have a less experienced teacher. More likely to get into trouble; even if they do the same thing as a white kid research tells us they are more likely to be penalised. They are more likely to be given a fixed-term exclusion. They are more likely to be given a permanent <\/em>(original emphasis) exclusion. Even if they get to the end of secondary school they are less likely to be taking high-tiered GCSEs where you can get the highest ranked passes which you need for A levels. Even if they do the A levels a lot of Black kids are steered to do the vocational qualifications. And if they buck the trend and get good A levels they then apply to university, they are less likely to be accepted at elite universities than a white kid with the same<\/em> (original emphasis) qualifications. Even if they get into the elite university they are less likely to get a top-ranked degree because in the university these same<\/em> (original emphasis) processes apply. So they are less likely to get a first class degree and even<\/em> (original emphasis) if they do get a first class degree they are less likely to get an equivalent job than a white person with the same degree because the racism is sitting there in the labour market as well. So, that<\/em> (original emphasis) is systemic racism. It\u2019s not one or two bad individuals it\u2019s the whole<\/em> (original emphasis) system and the vast majority of the individuals within the system who are enacting that racism on a day<\/em> (original emphasis) by day, minute by minute (original emphasis) basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nthat cumulative way in which (ref middle class black parents research which\nchallenged the myth that it was about class, not race. Low expectations. The\ndisciplinary process…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers predicting the grades because of C19.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nbad news. We know that they will systemically be predicted lower grades than\nthey are capable of getting. We know black kids will have been less well served\nthan their white counterparts, regardless of social class. Some minoritised\nstudents will do well out of it such as Chinese students, as the \u2018naturally\ngifted\u2019. But for black students, the Bangladeshi students, the Pakistani\nstudents that (teachers predicting the grades) will be bad news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White working class underachievement <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this issue David and I see things differently as I have said elsewhere. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For David, White working class underachievement is a lie. But that has fallen on deaf ears. We know the latest investigation into race inequality will <\/em>(original emphasis) include a concern with white working class children. That is astonishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unconscious bias <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the multicultural education of our times. It\u2019s designed to not get people\u2019s backs up in the way talking about racism does. It has no edge, no understanding about history, no concept of power<\/em> (original emphasis). It\u2019s not whether we like this or the other; these things are about power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UB\nhas come to be a way of having a coded conversation that is supposed to cover\nracism, gender, gender reassignment, disability…. everything you want to\nthrow in there. It is about power. It can be testing for White people. We will\ndo UB and in ten years time we will do something similar because the\ninequalities will still be there. Some will have got worse because of UB\nbecause it\u2019s taking time and attention away from the real problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cycles of racism and responses to racism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nStephen Lawrence everyone became antiracist. Universities, schools, Ofsted….\nBut then it disappeared. Now the only reference to race in the Ofsted\ninspection framework is an optional extra; that inspectors can look at if they\nreally want to, but they don\u2019t have to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we know from research on school inspections that inspectors don\u2019t like to talk about race because it is seen as political; it\u2019s seen as aggressive. If the school is doing well overall in its exam results, it\u2019s best to stay away from race. And if you raise (original emphasis) race as an issue be ready for the school to come back and challenge. Most Ofsted inspectors are White people who don\u2019t feel competent to talk about race<\/em> (original emphasis). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack\nStraw had said, immediately after Lawrence: every school is antiracist. Now, 20\nyears later, most schools are not antiracist; they\u2019ve never been antiracist and\nthe school policy from the top down is focused on the white working-class\nchildren. Race will disappear again if we don\u2019t make people accountable. If it\njust becomes slogans and badges on people\u2019s lapels nothing will change<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Gillborn was in power…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nnot rocket science; it\u2019s about priorities. Equality Impact Assessment for every\npolicy, that before you enact a policy you look at all available data to say\nhow is this policy likely to impact different ethnic groups. And if some groups\nare negatively impacted then you change the policy, or you find a different\npolicy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policies\nare implemented on the back of what the government think is a good idea and that\nis usually structured by particular interest groups that feed into political\nparties. When it comes to exclusions and underachievement we know we can do\nbecause we have done it in the past. Exclusions went down especially for\nCaribbean kids during a particular period in the Blair government because the\ngovernment realised there were too many exclusions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ncan get achievement up … we have done that. Remember schools used to get 10%\npasses. Things changed but it widened the gaps between Indian, Chinese, and\nwhite middle class and others. If we want to change things on achievement we\nhave to be specific about where race is concerned. It\u2019s no good saying: we want\nto raise achievement for all because actually what happens is we don\u2019t raise\nachievement for all we raise achievement for those groups who are already doing\nbetter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nneed to make people accountable. For example, if Vice Chancellors don\u2019t achieve\nthe outcome they don\u2019t get their pay rise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything else<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racism\nis fluid and complicated and always has an answer. When White people think of\nracism they think of Nazi thugs. They think of something horrible, vicious,\ndistasteful. Really obvious. They don\u2019t think about business as usual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minorities\nwho side with whiteness and white power are rewarded. And minorities who name\nthe reality, who name white racism are likely to be written off as special\npleading, who are looking for favours. Racism is not a simple, monolithic\nthing. Racism is tremendously complicated. Antiracism is never done because no\nmatter what racism will always adapt. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My notes of a Talking Race podcast from the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality at Leeds Beckett University. CRT developed in the US, in law schools. According to the theory racism is fundamental to society\u2019s everyday working. White supremacy is normal. Anyone questioning faces severe consequences. Minoritised groups are always hit by crises first, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Critical Race Theory with David Gillborn”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1651,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}