Critical race theory is a set of ideas that sets out how racism is inherent within many of the societal structures that we exist within, whereby policies have been designed by white people in power and create unfair disadvantage for people of colour. Several of the resources provided serve to highlight structural disadvtanges which are present from an early age as evidenced in the Bradbury (2020) article as well as the video resource showing the privledge walk exercise featuring children from diverse backgrounds (The School That Tried to End Racism). The Bradbury article specifically focuses on those who have english as a second language and the way in which this creates disadvantage in the context of primary school attaiment tests. These resources demonstrate how children from non-white backgrounds can be negatively impacted educationally at the earliest stages which continues throughout the educational journey as evidenced by the very real attainment gap in university awarding within the UK (Richardson, 2018). I was also shocked to read that only 0.7% of professors in UK Universities are black compared to their white counterparts at 90.1% (Garrett, 2024). This is clearly a problem which the sector needs to address. There were lots of excellent points included Sadiq’s (2023) Ted Talk which are beyond the scope of this word count to discuss in depth but they include the fact that a lot of diversity training is based on stereotypes and that it is not the responsiblity of someone of a particualar background or faith to educate others and represent an entire identity grouping.

By way of contrast, the video resource from the Telegraph (Orr, 2022) presents a different view, arguing against the existence of structural racism and platforms two academics from Cambridge University from diverse backgrounds. The first, Professor Arif Ahmed, puts forward the idea that anti-racism training is “worse than a waste of money” and fundamentally doesn’t work. His view is that universities should be neutral on any matters on which there is controversy. Since this film was made Professor Ahmed MBE has been promoted to Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom of the Office of Students. His view is that freedom of speech should be held as the highest priority and that an institution should not take a position on what could be described as ‘culture war’ topics. The second academic featured is Dr Vincent Harinam who says that the evidence points to there being no issue with instutional racism at Cambridge University based on there only being an average of one report of racism annually within the institution. It could be argued that this is an issue with the reporting mechanisms or perhaps that stuff and students feel that there is no point in reporting incidents when the insitition believes they have no issue with racism. The Telegraph is a right wing media outlet which supports conservative viewpoints, evidenced in the concluding statement by the white male presenter, also a Cambridge academic, that “Britain won’t hold onto it’s position in the world if if it stops prizing excellence over idelology” and he goes on to say that he believe “diversity beurearcary” has a corrosive impact on freedom of speech within Universities. The title of the piece uses the descriptor ‘woke’ as a perceived negative characteristic – a dangerous and key characteric of the ‘culture wars’ which have been a feature of UK media in recent years (Akala, 2018).

In my own context as a lecturer on MA Arts & Cultural Enterprise, I found the article by Sally Everett (2023) on ‘Decolonizing the Business School Curriculum’ insightful. Sally puts forward the idea that we if we want to truly create meaningful change, simply diversifying reading lists, using inclusive imagery and choosing language carefully isn’t enough. We need to actually look at the theories and ideas we are putting forward to students and critically question them with an understanding of how “plantation economy” led to wealth creation and capitalist theories, particularly within the UK. I really like how Sally puts forward a list of practical steps which can be taken to broaden perspectives and critically question existing theories. Although I have taken several of the recommended steps already including inviting a diverse range of external speakers, there are definitely practical steps which I can implement further including inviting diverse students voices to contribute more to the class content. My students are from a range of international backgrounds and contexts including 25 students from Hong Kong University (taught online) so there is an ample opportunity to draw more formally upon student experiences.

References:

Akala. (2018). Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire. London: Two Roads.

Bradbury, A., (2020) A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), pp.241-260. 

Channel 4. (2020) The School That Tried to End Racism. [Online}. Youtube. 30 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg 

Everett, S. (2023) Decolonizing the Business School Curriculum. Available at: https://www.aacsb.edu/insights/articles/2023/02/decolonizing-the-business-school-curriculum (accessed on 13/06/24)

Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, pp.1–15. 

Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx [Online}. Youtube. 2 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw 

Orr, J. (2022) Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. The Telegraph [Online]. Youtube. 5 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU

Richardson, J. T. E. (2018). “Understanding the Under-Performance of Ethnic Minority Students in UK Higher Education: The Role of Socio-Economic Status and Educational Background.” Studies in Higher Education, 43(5), 487-504.