NATIONAL ARTS LEARNING NETWORK

1
NATIONAL ARTS LEARNING NETWORK 2009 National
Conference 11th 12th February 2009
Whatever happened to institutional racism? How
the White working class became the new race
victims
David Gillborn
2
widening participation articles 1994 - 2004
510 articles mentioned widening
participation.. 20 referenced race or
ethnicity (3.9) 201 referenced class
(39.4) Source Pilkington (2008)
3
Relative to their share in the populationethnic
minorities overall are now better represented in
HE than whites Coffield Vignoles (1997, para
1.1) Many ethnic groups continue to be
over-represented in higher education compared to
their population share Universities UK (2005,
quoted in Aimhigher (2006) 2) Those from
non-white ethnic groups are better represented
than white people National Audit Office (2008
para 5)
4

• Minoritized students in HE tend to
• Attend less prestigious institutions
• Study lower status subjects
• Are more likely to drop out
• And less likely to attain the highest
  qualifications

5
Which ONE if any of the following groups of
people do you think suffers the greatest
discrimination in British society today?
Nationally Rep. Sample Muslim 22
http//www.channel4.com/news/media/immigration/imm
igration_survey.pdf
6
Which ONE if any of the following groups of
people do you think suffers the greatest
discrimination in British society today?
Nationally Rep. Sample Muslim 22 Whit
e British 21
http//www.channel4.com/news/media/immigration/imm
igration_survey.pdf
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58 working class Whites agreed that No one
speaks out for people like me
9
Is immigration good or bad for
Britain? Bad 52 Working class 33
middle You are labelled a racist if you
criticise the amount of, or conduct of,
immigrants Agree 76 working 78
middle
10
Is immigration good or bad for
Britain? Bad 52 Working class 33
middle You are labelled a racist if you
criticise the amount of, or conduct of,
immigrants Agree 76 working 78
middle Which of the following would you say
has the most NEGATIVE impact on life in Britain
today? Working Class Drink/drugs (35) gt
disrespect (23) gt immigration
(21) gt rich/poor gap (17) Most immigrants to
Britain end up fitting in here if they're given
sufficient time to do so Agree working
class 71 middle class 76
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Whatever happened to institutional racism? How
the White working class became the new race
victims
White educational failure facts and fiction The
Stephen Lawrence case Racism and the education
system
17
School low achievers are white and British, The
Times White boys are being left behind by
education system, Daily Mail White boys let
down by education system, Daily
Telegraph Deprived white boys low achievers,
Daily Express White working-class boys are the
worst performers in school,
Independent Half school failures are white
working-class boys, says report,
Guardian
18
White boys falling behind White, working-class
boys have the worst GCSE results Just 24 per
cent of disadvantaged white boys now leave school
with five or more good GCSEs. This compares
with 33.7 per cent for black African boys from
similar low-income households. There were
fears last night that the figures could hand
votes to the far-Right British National Party
because additional funding is available to help
children from ethnic minorities. Daily Mail, 13
January 2007
19
White boys falling behind White, working-class
boys have the worst GCSE results Just 24 per
cent of disadvantaged white boys now leave school
with five or more good GCSEs. This compares
with 33.7 per cent for black African boys from
similar low-income households. There were
fears last night that the figures could hand
votes to the far-Right British National Party
because additional funding is available to help
children from ethnic minorities. Daily Mail, 13
January 2007
20
White boys falling behind White, working-class
boys have the worst GCSE results Just 24 per
cent of disadvantaged white boys now leave school
with five or more good GCSEs. This compares
with 33.7 per cent for black African boys from
similar low-income households. There were
fears last night that the figures could hand
votes to the far-Right British National Party
because additional funding is available to help
children from ethnic minorities. Daily Mail, 13
January 2007
21
I don't want to stir up racial hatred,
but Cameron Watt, deputy director of the
Centre for Social Justice and a key figure
involved in a report on the subject published
recently by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith,
said "There's a political lobby highlighting the
issue of underachievement among black boys, and
quite rightly so, but I don't think there's a
single project specifically for white
working-class boys. I don't want to stir up
racial hatred, but that is something that should
be addressed. Times Educational Supplement, 12
January 2007
22
5A-C by FSM status Ethnic Group
56.0
32 points
33.7
9.7 points
24.0
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
23
School low achievers are white and British, The
Times White boys are being left behind by
education system, Daily Mail White boys let
down by education system, Daily
Telegraph Deprived white boys low achievers,
Daily Express White working-class boys are the
worst performers in school,
Independent Half school failures are white
working-class boys, says report,
Guardian
24
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25
Nicky Campbell (6am) Isnt the problem that -
the race relations industry has, some would
argue, compartmentalized people. And if we had
less concentration on race, more on individuals,
we took colour out of the equation it wouldnt
be oh Black boys do this, white boys do that,
Chinese boys do this, Asian - it should just be
looking at children as individuals. Isnt race
part of the problem here in a sense?
26
Nicky Campbell (6am) Isnt the problem that -
the race relations industry has, some would
argue, compartmentalized people. And if we had
less concentration on race, more on individuals,
we took colour out of the equation it wouldnt
be oh Black boys do this, white boys do that,
Chinese boys do this, Asian - it should just be
looking at children as individuals. Isnt race
part of the problem here in a sense?
Nicky Campbell (7am) theres the inescapable
conclusion, according to some of our listeners,
an- an- and indeed according to some experts too,
that the school system has been focusing
disproportionately too much on children from
other ethnic backgrounds.
27
8 am
Nicky Campbell Professor Gus John. Interviewee
(Gus John) Good morning. Nicky Campbell Some
are saying that too much attention has been given
to African and Caribbean boys to the detriment of
young white boys. Interviewee (Gus John) Well
the facts dont bear that out you see. An-and I
think this discussion is pretty distorted,
certainly as far as facts are concerned
28
White youngsters fail because PC teachers and
the media are more interested in Black and Asian
children
29
White boys falling behind White, working-class
boys have the worst GCSE results Just 24 per
cent of disadvantaged white boys now leave school
with five or more good GCSEs. This compares
with 33.7 per cent for black African boys from
similar low-income households. There were
fears last night that the figures could hand
votes to the far-Right British National Party
because additional funding is available to help
children from ethnic minorities. Daily Mail, 13
January 2007
30
Five higher grade GCSEs, FSM boys
Black African
White British
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
31
Five higher grade GCSEs, FSM boys
Black African
White British
Mixed (White/Bl. Carib)
Black Caribbean
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
32
White working-class boys are the worst
performers in school, Independent Half school
failures are white working-class boys, says
report, Guardian
33
57 described self as working class
Source Survey by the National Centre for Social
Research cited in BBC News Online (2007) What is
working class? http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine
/6295743.stm
34
13.2 of students receive Free School Meals
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
35
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
36
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Bangladeshi
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
37
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Bangladeshi
Black African
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
38
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Bangladeshi
Black African
Pakistani
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
39
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Bangladeshi
Black African
Pakistani
Mixed (White/Bl. Carib)
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
40
Five higher grade GCSEs by Gender Ethnicity
White British
Bangladeshi
Black African
Pakistani
Mixed (White/Bl. Carib)
Black Caribbean
Source Department for Education Skills
(DfES)(2006) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE
and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment
by Pupil Characteristics in England 2005/06. SFR
46/2006, London, DfES, table 32.
41
Critical Race Theory
Derrick Bell
Richard Delgado
Kimberlé Crenshaw
Gloria Ladson-Billings
William Tate IV
42
Critical Race Theory
Interest Convergence
43
Critical Race Theory
Interest Convergence
Justice for Black people vs. racism
racism Racism vs. perceptions of White self
interest justice for Black people
44
Interest Convergence
No such decision would have been possible
without the world pressure of communism which
made it simply impossible for the United States
to continue to lead a Free World with race
segregation kept legal over a third of its
territory W.E.B. Du Bois (1968) quoted in Bell
(2004 67)
45
after the celebration dies down, the great
victory is quietly cut back by narrow
interpretation, administrative obstruction, or
delay. In the end, the minority group is left
little better than it was before, if not worse.
Its friends, the liberals, believing the problem
has been solved, go on to something else while
its adversaries, the conservatives, furious that
the Supreme Court has given way once again to
undeserving minorities, step up their
resistance. Delgado Stefancic (2001) p. 24
46
Contradiction-closing cases
They are a little like the thermostat in your
home or office. They assure that there is just
the right amount of racism. Too much would be
destabilizing the victims would rebel. Too
little would forfeit important pecuniary and
psychic advantages for those in power (Delgado
1995 80)
47
Contradiction-closing cases
allow business as usual to go on even more
smoothly than before, because now we can point to
the exceptional case and say, See, our system is
really fair and just. See what we just did for
minorities or the poor. Richard Delgado
(1998-1999 445)
48

• Stephen Lawrence
• (1974 -1993)

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The publication of today's report on the killing
of Stephen Lawrence is a very important moment in
the life of our country. It is a moment to
reflect, to learn and to change. It will
certainly lead to new laws but, more than that,
it must lead to new attitudes, to a new era in
race relations, and to a new more tolerant and
more inclusive Britain. The test of our
sincerity as law makers in this House is not how
well we can express sympathy with the Lawrence
family, but how well we implement the
recommendations to make sure that such an
incident never again happens in our country.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, February 1999
54
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active
55
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point
56
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point 2003 (February)
One in three universities not complying with
legal duties
57
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point 2003 (February)
One in three universities not complying with
legal duties 2003 (July) Two thirds of schools
have not set any specific targets for change
58
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point 2003 (February)
One in three universities not complying with
legal duties 2003 (July) Two thirds of schools
have not set any specific targets for
change 2004 (July) National Five Year
Strategy for Education standards 65
citations business/es 36
citations racism, discrimination,
prejudice nil
59
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point 2003 (February)
One in three universities not complying with
legal duties 2003 (July) Two thirds of schools
have not set any specific targets for
change 2004 (July) National Five Year
Strategy for Education standards 65
citations business/es 36
citations racism, discrimination,
prejudice nil 2005 (September) Home
Secretary disbands the Lawrence Advisory
Committee
60
Stephen Lawrence Timeline a contradiction-closing
case 2002 (May) The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act becomes active 2003 (January)
Home Secretary says that institutional racism
missed the point 2003 (February)
One in three universities not complying with
legal duties 2003 (July) Two thirds of schools
have not set any specific targets for
change 2004 (July) National Five Year
Strategy for Education standards 65
citations business/es 36
citations racism, discrimination,
prejudice nil 2005 (September) Home
Secretary disbands the Lawrence Advisory
Committee 2007 (June) Single Equality Bill
consultation The duty should not lead any public
authority to feel it needs to take any action
which might be disproportionate to the benefits
the action would deliver.
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after the celebration dies down, the great
victory is quietly cut back by narrow
interpretation, administrative obstruction, or
delay. In the end, the minority group is left
little better than it was before, if not worse.
Its friends, the liberals, believing the problem
has been solved, go on to something else while
its adversaries, the conservatives, furious that
the Supreme Court has given way once again to
undeserving minorities, step up their
resistance. Delgado Stefancic (2001) p. 24
63
Racism Education
64
Racism Education Teachers
65

• Racism Education
• Teachers
• Under-estimate academic ability
• Over-estimate challenge threat
• Discipline Black students more severely
• Disproportionately place Black students
  in bottom sets
• View Black families as disrupted
  unsupportive

66
Racism Education Teachers Policymakers
67
much of our policy making is evidence free,
prejudice driven and hysteria driven
(particularly hysteria generated by the press).
Paul Flynn MP
Public Administration Select Committee Inquiry
into Good Government 23 October
2008 http//www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_commit
tees/public_administration_select_committee/pasc07
08goodgovt.cfm
68
The gifted and talented scheme will identify
children by looking at ability, rather than
attainment, to capitalise on the talents of the
individual child, regardless of ethnic
background Departmental rebuttal on BBC News
On-Line
69
Gifted Talented
White
Black Caribbean
Black African
70
Gifted Talented
White
Black Caribbean
Black African
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Gifted Talented
White
Black Caribbean
Black African
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Racism Education Teachers Policymakers Ofsted

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• Racism Education
• Teachers
• Policymakers
• Ofsted
• No mandatory race equality training
• Evidence that race inequality is not
  identified even when the evidence is reported!

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Racism Education Teachers Policymakers Ofsted
Media Commentators
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Dr Patricia Morgan from the research group
Civitas
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Dr Patricia Morgan from the research group
Civitas
What do you mean by family life? Because I
think were getting to a feral situation where we
have men, sort of tom-catting round the
neighbourhood siring children in various homes.
draws breath This is almost return to planet of
the apes. () It is in - prominent amongst West
Indians. An- and sadly, its one of the - it seems
to be the reason for the higher educational
failure rate and occupational failure rate of
Black boys. BBC radio 5live, 11 December 2006
77
Racism Education Teachers Policymakers Ofsted
Media Commentators Educators other
professionals
78
INTRODUCTION theories of society Functionalism p
p. xiv-xvi Marxism pp. xvi-xviii Feminism pp.
xviii Interactionism pp. xviii-xx Postmodernism pp
. xx-xxi ------------------------- Race/Racism
first mention, p. 152
79
Racism Education Whatever happened to
institutional racism?
80
Racism Education Whatever happened to
institutional racism?

• Racial Justice is always won through resistance
• Racial Justice is never final nor secure.

81
If there is no struggle, there is no
progress Power concedes nothing without a
demand. It never did, and it never will.
Frederick Douglass (1857)
82
NATIONAL ARTS LEARNING NETWORK 2009 National
Conference 11th 12th February 2009
Whatever happened to institutional racism? How
the White working class became the new race
victims
David Gillborn
83
Routledge 2008