Systemic racism in school fight is ‘work in progress’
Two years ago, as
Black Lives Matters demonstrations swept the world in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Reuben Joseph and his siblings wrote an open letter to the Scottish Government calling for reform of what they called systemic racism in the country’s education system.
Reuben, elder sibling Florence and younger sisters Madeleine and Juliet used their own memories at school to call on improved education on the black, Asian and ethnic minority experience, a more diverse teaching staff, and for learning materials written by people of colour.
More than 14,000 people, including teachers and parents, signed their petition, Reparations In Education: Addressing Race In Scottish Schools.
Then-education minister John Swinney later promised changes, but the Reuben siblings said at the time that his comments didn’t go far enough. Two years on, Reuben considers the family’s appeal to be a “work in progress”.
He said: “We were keen to get the word out and we had great chats with
teachers’ unions in regard to how race is addressed in the curriculum and also of how racism is dealt with in the classroom, as that didn’t have a specific way of being addressed. It fell under the banner of bullying, which it is, but it requires that extra attention and care. We also encouraged diversity across the teaching staff.
“In terms of where it’s ended up, I underestimated how much it takes out of you and it was the first activism we’ve done – it was reactionary out of a very stressful time for the world. We’ve had some chats recently about how we think we can refocus this in ways that we feel well-versed, in order to spread the message. It’s definitely still a work in progress.”