A British educator has warned that the introduction of the “woke vision of racism” in schools is not only harmful to pupils but may be in violation of the 1996 Education Act, which mandates that educators maintain political neutrality in the classroom.
Calvin Robinson, a teacher and assistant principal in the state sector, said that the rush to introduce identity politics into the school curriculum in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter movement could “prove detrimental” to children as well as serving to stoke “up racial tensions where there were little or none to begin with.”
“Many of the changes revolve around divisive identity politics, with phrases such as ‘white privilege’, ‘white saviour’ and ‘white fragility’ presented as unchallengeable facts. The classroom is no place for critical race theory (CRT), the field of study which gave us such terms, especially if the (intellectually flimsy) arguments behind it are above reproach and alternate ideas are impermissible,” Robinson wrote in The Telegraph.
Mr Robinson said that while the introduction of CRT is most likely being introduced by “well-intentioned heads wanting to be seen to be doing the right thing,” it is likely in breach of the 1996 Education Act. In section 407 of the act, it states that schools must provide “a balanced presentation of opposing [political] views.”
“If we’re going to insist that young people read Robin DiAngelo and Reni Eddo-Lodge, perhaps we could also suggest Booker T Washington and Thomas Sowell?” he questioned.
Mr Robinson — a mixed-race man himself — has joined a cross-party campaign launched by former MEP Claire Fox called ‘Don’t Divide Us’, which opposes “the notion of collective guilt, and support the goals of those who have struggled to ensure that individuals are judged by the content of the character and not the colour of their skin.”
The campaign has been joined by the headmistress of the Michaela Community School in London, Katharine Birbalsingh and comedian Andrew Doyle.
‘Don’t Divide Us’ pointed to a pamphlet which has been distributed to parents during the national lockdown, A Parent’s Guide to Black Lives Matter, which arguess under headings including ‘How do I explain white privilege?’ and ‘The danger of saying ‘my child isn’t racist’ that “parents and caregivers must play an integral role in ensuring children have an acute awareness of white privilege.”
In response to such notions, Calvin Robinson wrote: “The idea that one may be racist without knowing it is particularly pernicious, yet anyone challenging the idea may be dismissed as simply expressing ‘white privilege’. It’s a cheap intellectual trap designed to fleece the naive. Unfortunately, schools are hiring these snake-oil salesmen to provide continued professional development.”
Robinson said that he hopes schools will adopt “fact-based investigations into the roots of social problems” rather than relying on the “quick-fixes and simplistic explanations” provided from the “trendy cod-science of CRT or the anti-capitalist, anti-Western, anti-Semitic campaign-driven rhetoric of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Earlier this week, Mr Robinson was interviewed by Breitbart News’ James Delingpole, which you can listen to here.
Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka
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