Just before the schools broke up, there was one of those perennial news stories about a school running an event to celebrate different cultures and them victimising children who turned up to celebrate British culture. In this case, the child had turned up in Union Jack costume and been prevented from giving their speech, it is reported that they were also isolated from other students.
Now, it is worth making the following observations. First, schools have a responsibility to care wisely for students. Whether or not this school did is perhaps open to question but we simply do not have the facts available to make the judgement.
Secondly. It is surely legitimate however for a school to say that they wish to celebrate the different cultures represented by its students. It is further legitimate for the school to say (and hopefully clearly communicate in advance) that the aim is to celebrate cultures specifically other than what might be considered the indigenous majority culture.
Third, that in fact, it is a very British thing to do as recognised in the pupil’s speech, to recognise the cultures that contribute to British culture and to in effect understate the majority culture.
Fourth, that to include students celebrating British culture as their culture may send messages that in fact this differs from the students who were recognising other contributing other cultures. In effect, that some were more British than others.
Fifth, that this might overlook the other cultural contributions experienced by white British pupils. Consider the impact for example of (working) class, of Englishness, Scottishness etc, of local cultures, accents and dialects, of youth culture and the different strands. There may be a missed opportunity for a child to discover more about their identity and history.
Sixth that if the purpose of the event was to celebrate cultures, then a speech making a political point may well have been out of place. To quote from it
But sometimes at school, we only hear about other cultures – which is great because learning about different countries is interesting and important. But it can feel like being British doesn’t count as a culture, just because it’s the majority.
I think culture should be for everyone – not just for people from other countries or backgrounds. Being British is still a culture, and it matters too. It’s part of who I am.
Those may be the pupils’ feelings and a legitimate opinion to express. However, it is legitimate for the school, to say that this event is not the place for that protest.
Faithroots 