The Accord Coalition has added its voice to calls urging schools to teach about the history of racial injustice in Britain and its former Empire, to help combat racism. An intervention, which Accord is supporting, has been made this week by the UK’s leading race equality think tank and Accord member group, The Runnymede Trust.
The Trust is urging the Department for Education to advance the recommendation of both the Home Office commissioned Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (1999) and Windrush Lessons Learned Review (2020) that schools better promote understanding of British histories of empire, colonialism and migration, to combat racism. The Trust is also inviting members of the public to write to their MP and, if relevant, their school’s governing body in support of schools providing this teaching. It also urges people to consider becoming a school governor themselves.
Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, the Reverend Stephen Terry, said ‘In recent days the Black Lives Matter movement has drawn attention to the issue of racial injustice in society, which is too often ignored, and its causes overlooked. Schools can and should have an important role in tackling racism and one way is to teach about the history of racial injustice in Britain and its former Empire.’
‘Several former winners of Accord’s annual Inclusive Schools Award have taught about the history of racism and we urge the Department for Education to encourage and resource all schools to do so. This would help give extra life and meaning to the important duties state funded schools already have under the Equality Act to foster good relations between people on the grounds of race, as well as to promote community cohesion under the 2006 Education Act.’
