Welcome back and I hope you are managing to enjoy the new normal. It is great to have you back. The most obvious thing for me to talk about today would, you would think, be something related to COVID-19 but I want to take this early opportunity to speak to you about an entirely different set of issues which have been almost ever-present in the newspapers across the world since we were last together as a school, namely those encapsulated by the phrase “Black Lives Matter”.
Since the death of George Floyd at the hands, or perhaps I should say at the knee, of US police on May 25, there has been protest and anger on both sides of the Atlantic at the continuing prevalence of systemic racism and discrimination in the US and also in the UK. A number of horrific incidents have occurred since then, too, notably the near-fatal shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on August 23. Clearly, as a white, middle-class, privately educated man I am hardly in an ideal position to lecture anyone about diversity, but fortunately, I have no intention of doing that.
I simply want you to know that I absolutely see the urgency and relevance of these issues, and that I am determined to become a committed and informed ally for those seeking change and justice. As a first step, I have devoted a good chunk of lockdown trying to educate myself as much as I can by reading widely on the issues related to race and structural racism, especially as they continue to be experienced in the UK. I have been particularly struck by the book: “Why I am no longer talking to white people about race” by the Black British woman, Reni-Eddo Lodge.
Now, simply reading a few books cannot transform you into an ally – but educating myself on the evidence, the record of what black people have been saying for decades, is one step towards it. I will put on the website for your interest a list of some of the books I have read or am reading in case you want to find out more, which I hope you will. But I am by no means an expert, and my self-education is ongoing; alongside reading, I am speaking to many people, including to Old Leysians from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, to try to ensure I have as good an insight as I can of their experience of race and racism both in wider society and here at The Leys.
Schools, like all institutions, need to be mindful of their role within society, and I am determined at The Leys to address these challenges head on. I also wrote to parents at the end of term because they also have a part to play in this, of course: those conversations at home – around the kitchen table – have such a vital role in this. I do hope my letter has sparked a few such conversations already.
This is a challenge we need to rise to – and it is a challenge which I welcome. We expect you, our pupils, to ‘be the best that you can be’ – we must also look hard at our own delivery in this area, to ensure that we as a School are the best that we can be, too. Some of you may know that I received a letter from OLs and others – indeed, some of you may already have seen it or signed it – and you may also have seen my response. With your help, my goal is to ensure that The Leys can play its part in tackling systemic racism and in working towards a fairer, more equal society.
The letter I received was excellent, helpful and constructive. It urged the School to consider the way it teaches about colonialism, slavery, empire; to consider whether we appropriately acknowledge the vast contribution that people of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people have made to British and wider society and to use our influence within education to promote an understanding of issues of systemic and institutionalised racism, the underlying causes of racism (intentional and unintentional), racial discrimination and inequality.
I want you to know that this process of reflection and improvement is already underway. I want to ensure that what we do here will encourage Leysians to be actively anti-racist through their enriched empathy and understanding; such change can only serve to have a lasting, positive impact on pupils at The Leys. Our goal is to ensure that The Leys is an anti-racist institution which sends out into the world well-informed individuals who are not merely tolerant of those from different backgrounds but who are actively anti-racist in their own values and behaviours.
These issues have been discussed right up to Governor level – we are determined to address this challenge head-on. To do so properly will take time and energy, but the first step is for us to conduct an audit of our current provision across the board, looking at all areas where we can see things we can improve and build upon. We also want to listen closely to the experience and thoughts of you, our pupils, so that your voice can add impetus to our planning for change. I want to go further, and to incorporate not just curricular concerns but also our wider curricular offering, and the pastoral care on which we base all that we do. We have a number of societies within the school – notably the “We are Everyone” group – which can help us in this task. There are other things we can do, too: for instance, I want to review our recruitment processes, both of staff (teaching and support) and of Governors, to make such processes attractive to a more diverse range of backgrounds.
I will finish, however, with a positive image – one I am sure you have seen before, because it has quickly become an iconic picture – indeed, it is one of the stand-out pictures of this seismic summer of 2020.
It is of Patrick Hutchinson, one of the Black Lives Matter protestors, rescuing a counter-protestor, a man called Bryn Male, a former officer at British Transport Police, who had become trapped and endangered as he encountered BLM protestors in London. Hutchinson, a personal trainer, hoisted Male to safety after the 55-year-old white man had been surrounded, knocked to the ground and beaten as tempers flared at Black Lives Matter protests and counter-protests in London. Hutchinson and a group of his black friends recognised the danger Male was in, and they went in and rescued him; Hutchinson carried him to safety as his friends formed a cordon of safety.
What was Male doing in London that day? An avid supporter of Millwall FC, Male had been amongst the football supporters who had travelled to London on the day when BLM protests were due to take place. An acquaintance describes him as “a patriotic Brit, England through and through”. Male himself says he was there to protect monuments after seeing graffiti at previous BLM demonstrations. Hutchinson and friends, meanwhile, had attended an anti-racism protest in London with a view to protecting younger allies from far-right counter protesters. Bryn Male claims he is not a member of the far right – perhaps it is fair simply to conclude that he seems to have been more exercised by the fate of monuments than by the issues highlighted by Black Lives Matter.
Hutchinson was later asked what he thought of the fact that the person he was saving from potentially life-threatening danger might be hostile to the cause for which BLM supporters were protesting. Of course, he said, he was aware that the man he was rescuing was a white counter-protester. Of course, he was aware that this was someone whose views on the issues addressed by BLM might be starkly divergent from his own.
But what he saw was not what divided them but what united them: the man’s intrinsic humanity and, added to that, his urgent need for help at that time.
A few days later, in a newspaper interview, Bryn Male thanked Hutchinson, claiming he would not be here if it were not for his intervention.
“I would love to stand there and shake that man’s hand who saved my life. I take my hat off to his cause.”
We live in a time when society seems polarised and divided. In many ways one might imagine that these two men, one a BLM protestor, the other a counter-protestor, would have nothing in common. But, as Hutchinson recognised in the heat of the moment, they did have something in common, and that perhaps the most fundamental thing of all, namely their shared humanity.
Thank you for your attention.
Book recommendations:
“Why I am no longer talking to white people about race” – Reni Eddo-Lodge
“How to argue with a racist” – Adam Rutherford
“Black, Listed” – Jeffrey Boakye
“Black and British: A forgotten history” – David Olusoga
“How to Be an Antiracist” – Ibram X. Kendi
theleysheadsblog 