Originally Posted by
KerrAvon
Going back to the OP, I would say that black history is part of British history. Our colonial past shaped the country in which we live and the personal histories of millions of British citizens and residents.
I can only speak as to the teaching of history at Broom Valley and South Grove in the 70s, but I can’t recall anything being taught about anything that could be called black history. The only time the syllabus made it to Africa was when we did bits about ancient Egypt and I don’t recall it going to the Indian subcontinent at all. Maybe that has changed. I hope that it has.
The problem is that there is an awful lot of human history and there have to be decisions about what is taught and what is not. The focus should be upon the history that shaped our country and our lives, which gets me back to the point that black history has done just that. There needs to be room made for it.
I have no more difficulty with a Black History Month than I would with an Industrial Revolution Month or a Roman Britain Month. I could lap it all up.
I agree with earlier posters that we should all look to get to the point where skin colour is as irrelevant as shoe size or whether we can roll our tongues or not. I also agree with earlier posters that we shouldn’t stop talking about racism while ever it exists, but it is the manner in which it is now spoken about that is becoming the issue. An equality and diversity industry/movement has grown up to variously make money, a sense or moral superiority or political advantage out of the issue with little regard for the actual consequences of their words and actions.
If you tell a poor white person who is struggling to pay their bills or get a decent education for their kids that they benefit from ‘white privilege’ or tell them that they should apologise for the transatlantic slave trade of the 17th and 18th century they are going to tell you to ‘**** off’. Keep telling them and some will quickly embrace far right politics by way of a reaction. It’s clear from reading certain posts on here that there is a sense of resentment at work in some posters.
Sadly, the equality and diversity industry/movement will also stick their oars in to the teaching of black history. I recall being tag teamed by Exile and Raging in a storm of blether for pointing out the historical fact that black African slavers fed huge numbers of people into the transatlantic slave trade. Speaking of that reality broke their rules.