Responding to Racism and Xenophobia

Liz Cumberbatch from the WEA (England and Scotland) reports.

This article deals with Racism and Xenophobia in Europe.. I will use terms which may be particular to Britain. When I refer to black people, I mean people of African descent either directly or through the Caribbean. Ethnic Minority refers to other groups such as those from the Indian subcontinent, former Yugoslavia, etc. In Britain the term Black is also seen by some to be a political statement in which case some people from the Indian subcontinent will identify as black.

I make no apology for the fact that this is a personal as well as political and educational issue. This should be so for all of us engaged in workers’ education.

The definition of racism I use is that of prejudice with power, discrimination and exclusion of someone based on the colour of their skin. Xenophobia is a fear of the ‘other’ and often expresses itself in hatred and ridicule.

When I was asked to write on the pedagogical issues of Racism and Xenophobia, I suddenly became overwhelmed by the amount of discrimination, harassment, acts of terror, and neglect. Have we really moved forward to any great extent? In Britain we have the Race Relations Act but deaths of young black men in police custody are on the increase and refugees from war torn Kosova are attacked on the streets of Dover. We have recently had a European Year Against Racism and a monitoring unit in Vienna has now been set up but the plight of the Roma ( Gypsy) people across Europe is worsening. They are the targets of violence yet are consistently criminalised by the press and politicians. The treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, a majority of whom are women and children, in all European States is harsh.

In a recent public inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence, a young black man murdered by racists, the police were exposed as racist both at an institutional /structural level and at a personal level. A significant phrase was used, saying that people could be unwittingly racist. This was seen by some to be a get out clause and indeed could be used as such. However racism is not only structural. It is also deep within the psyche of white people. As a mother of a black child, I know how even those of us who are politically active can have thoughts which have racist connotations. Do the people who continually speak of Stephen Lawrence as a well mannered, high achieving school student destined to become an architect, realise that there is a hidden message. Do we assume that if he had been a school drop out, and an unpleasant person, he deserved to be murdered because of the colour of his skin?

When people in Europe think of Ghana or India, do we think first of airports and technology or poverty and starving children? We are fed consistently a distorted picture of the South reinforcing a view of people incapable of controlling their own destiny. When we think of a great scientist, do we see Lewis Howard Latimer (a black man) a pioneer in the development of the light bulb or do we remember Edison (a white man)? Are we aware that Dr Charles Richard Drew was a pioneer of blood plasma preservation and that he died in a car crash for want of a blood transfusion refused to him by a whites only hospital?

The black communities in Britain are marking October as Black History month. A major TV channel is running a film series on the Untold Story of The Slave Trade. Although Britain, Spain and Portugal were the main countries which exploited this trade, no part of the world is unaffected by the repercussions of this crime against the people of Africa. Major multinational companies such as Nestle and Barclays Bank have their roots firmly planted in the profits of the sale of human capital. This is why it is essential that IFWEA’s education about globalisation has an anti-racist perspective.

Anti-racist and anti-xenophobia education has to come from an understanding of the global dynamics of capitalism both currently and historically. It also has to understand that racism and xenophobia are deep in the psyche of most Europeans. In order to justify past horrors, the ideology of racial and gender hierarchy was constructed and placed the white man at the top and the black African woman at the bottom. This was disseminated through our education system, literature, arts and sciences as well as the press and other media until it became the norm.

This hierarchy still permeates every social, political and economic structure, including structures of world-wide institutions and organisations which have grown through working class struggle – for example, the trade union movement and the workers’ education movement. We have to challenge our own practice and organisational structures as well as those of the society in which we live.

In the WEA England and Scotland we are embarking on a tutor -training programme to enable our tutors to bring international perspectives into their teaching. In the UK this is known as Development Education. It has a teaching and learning methodology which supports active learning, values and builds on existing knowledge, encourages critical reflection and enables participants to make informed choices.

It is our job as educators to enable all people to be participate as full citizens with all their rights intact. We need to re- educate the ‘host’ white people into seeing difference as normal and prejudice, xenophobia and racism as abnormal and unacceptable.

This means in practice that we work in several different contexts:

Within the black, ethnic minority, refugee, asylum seekers and migrant communities

We run programmes which enable people to: know their rights and access services; learn the language of the ‘host ‘ country; identify their skills or learn new ones for employment; develop their communities through self help organisation; understand and operate in the culture and society in which they are now living; access the education system for their children.

Alongside those communities

Campaign for better conditions for asylum seekers, and legislation against discrimination; highlight cases of injustice and racial attacks; and campaign for human rights, particularly the rights of migrant workers, black and ethnic minority workers.

Working with the host white communities

Provide education opportunities which counter the racist ideas that permeate our media, literature and education systems; enable people to understand the economic forces which cause unemployment, lack of housing, healthcare, and schools; enable people to face their fears and prejudices in a safe and supportive environment; educate people about the experiences and achievements of people other than their own culture and race.

Working within our own organisations

Does our staff represent all communities at all levels within the organisation? Does our employment practice discriminate in any way, overtly or covertly? Does our curriculum take into account the historical and present-day experiences and achievements of all communities? Do our materials reflect the communities with which we work? Do we have systems for dealing with racism and racial harassment?

Working on a personal level

Are we creating a learning environment where students are encouraged and supported to become active participants, building on their existing skills, knowledge and attitudes? Do we make our values and assumptions explicit? Do we avoid stereotyping people and are we open to a range of perceptions and images? Do we present positive images of different groups of people? Do we challenge our own perceptions and prejudices? Do we widen the context of our own learning to include the local, national and international context? Are we aware of gender issues and the specific discrimination suffered by black and ethnic minority women? Do we know where to go to inform ourselves further about the achievements of people from other races and cultures?

These are not definitive lists. I hope they will act as triggers for more thoughts and questions.

All must be set in the context of education about the economic and social forces which shape our world. The interconnections between the experiences of miners from the copper belt in Zambia and those of coal miners in South Yorkshire in England as they deal with privatisation and unemployment. The experiences of women who are subject to rape and other violent acts, by men who see this as the only way to maintain power and control. The dilemma of parents trying to provide decent food and clothing for their children in a world of multinationals which promote designer clothes and designer food. Understanding the real causes of unemployment and poverty must underpin anti-racist education.

I was recently asked to talk on my experience of being a white mother of a black child. One of the participants castigated me, saying that I had been too negative. ‘We want to celebrate the multi cultural identities of our families’ she said. I don’t want to celebrate and neither do the black members of my family nor the communities we move among. We want to live as individuals, families and communities without the fear and oppression and discrimination of racism. We want to see all our history and achievements shown in the media and education system as a matter of course not as a special feature.

Contact Liz Cumberbatch at: WEA, 221 Cemetry Road, Sheffield, UK; +44-114-2491114 (phone); liz.cumberbatch@virgin.net (email)

email to IFWEA Journal: alana.dave@mcr1.poptel.org.uk