Many people and political rulers across the globe look at\nethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity as a problem or, at least, a\nshortcoming. In the spirit of a modern age still gripped by the ideals of\nnational sovereignty and homogenous societies, immigrants and minority groups continue\nto appear as troublemakers \u2013 as a threat, that is, to national unity and\nprosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book \u2018Ethnicity, Religion, and Muslim Education in a\nChanging World\u2019 edited by Karamat Iqbal and Tahir Abbas encourages us to change\nthat view. It invites us to look at diversity from the perspective of those who\nare often at the receiving end of cultural ignorance, social and economic\nexclusion, and violence. Crucially, the book does not present diversity as a\nproblem but as an asset, and it shows practical ways to tackle discrimination\nand to unlock the potential of a diverse society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a historian, I found particularly intriguing the chapter\n\u2018Understanding all our histories\u2019, written by Karamat Iqbal, Jasvir Singh, and\nRajwinder Pal. The chapter reveals the glaring gaps in the history curriculum\nat many schools in the UK, notably concerning the history and experiences of\nnon-white and, more broadly, non-Western people. Yet the authors also cite\nseveral inspiring cases where pupils, their parents, and their teachers took it\non themselves to change things. In one case, this meant revising the history\ncurriculum to include crucial but hitherto neglected topics such as the\npartition of India. In another case, students expressed their disdain at the\nabsence or at best one-sided treatment of Black history at their school,\nprompting teachers to engage in a process of dialogue and review of the\ncurriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the authors show, these initiatives bring to light\ncontroversial and difficult questions: should the purpose of the study of the\nBritish Empire at schools be to expose that empire\u2019s violent and racist\ncharacter? And, if so, how are we to deal with those students, parents, and not\na few teachers who emphasise \u2018the good things about the Empire\u2019 and claim that\nwe should \u2018not make white students feel guilty for something they hadn\u2019t done\u2019\n(p. 177)? Should the students learn about the Industrial Revolution in Britain being\n\u2018funded and facilitated\u2019 by the slave trade (p. 179)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a university context, where we explore these important\nissues with our students in depth, I have always found it helpful to begin with\na distinction between the evidence and logic-based analysis and multifaceted explanation\nof events, trends, and processes, on the one hand, and moral or political\njudgement, on the other. In my view, what we need right now at schools,\nuniversities, but also in public debate more generally is more of the former: open-minded\nstudy driven by curiosity and respectful dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Towards the end of the chapter, Rajwinder Pal eloquently\nunderlines the importance of engaging in such a dialogue to create a shared\nsense of belonging for everyone in the UK. He speaks of the \u2018idiocy\u2019 of\nadopting a view that pits \u2018our\u2019 history against \u2018\u201ctheir\u201d history\u2019. That\nantagonistic approach, he goes on to say, only \u2018drives culture wars\ndeliberately seeking to divide us.\u2019 Instead, he argues, \u2018colonialism and\nslavery [are] histories for us all to share and debate in the spirit of\nenriching and energising us\u2019 (p. 185).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This excellent and important edited volume thus brings up difficult\nand unresolved questions that we all need to address together. The challenge of\nhistory is to bring the past in a dialogue with the present. For our own time,\nas this collection of essays so well highlights, finding empathic, inclusive,\nand productive approaches to diversity is at the centre of that challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n