London Socialist Historians Group
Media Release
10th June
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians back call by leading researcher on the UK slave trade for black studies in schools
The London Socialist Historians Group which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, has backed a call by Marika Sherwood, a leading researcher on the history of the UK slave trade, for black studies to be included in the national curriculum.
Ms Sherwood is the author of After Abolition: Britain and the Slave Trade Since 1807 (published by I B Tauris)
She has written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson asking him to consider curriculum changes in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement and the historians are asking people to wrote to Mr Williamson in similar terms.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett, it may seem like a matter of detail in terms of the urgent protests at the moment. The reality is however unless changes are made to curricula to cover the history of the slave trade, colonialism and Britain’s role future generations will grow up still not cognisant of some of the difficult realities of our history.
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To: ‘gavin.williamson.mp@parliament.uk’; ‘sec-of-state.ps@education.gov.uk’
Subject: History Curricula
Dear Mr Williamson,
As I trust you now agree that Black Lives Matter, it is more important than ever to change the school curricula. How would you feel if you attended school from the age of 4 till 18, and you just did not exist in any section of the school curricula! ‘English’ courses should include novels and poetry by Black authors, from Africa, the Caribbean and Britain. As Art courses should include the work of Black artists, whether these are paintings, sculptures, drawing/carvings. History courses should include not only the presence of peoples of African origin/descent in the UK since they arrived as a regiment within the conquering Roman army, but also the history of Africa prior to the arrival of Europeans.
If you don’t exist in the school curricula, wouldn’t you join a gang to become ‘somebody’? And as probably someone in your family has been at least once subject to ‘stop & search’, and probably experienced some level of racial discrimination while searching for work and at work, how would you feel towards the ‘mother country’?
We also need Black Studies departments in our universities with funding for research, as the history of Africans (and Indians) here has generally been ignored. (Many of the published works are by non-academics like me.) And our Teacher Training colleges/institutions need to include this in their curricula, which probably means training their lecturers – as well as the existing school teachers. Equally important is the need to educate the police!
Please, Mr Williamson, include the above in your response to Black Lives Matter.
I must conclude by telling you that when with a colleague I founded the Black & Asian Studies Association in 1991, this necessary change in the curricula and teacher training was one of the issues we took up. Even met with one Secretary of State many years ago. But got nowhere.
Yours, in hope,
Marika Sherwood
Black & Asian Studies Association
http://www.blackandasianstudies.org/research-html
Bernie Grant Trust appeal for black history teaching resources
https://berniegranttrust.org.uk/
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