Hi! I am a member of a race education group in my school (11 to 18). We were discussing instances of racism and came to the conclusion that the school - teachers, especially - were not giving proper or effective repercussions for racist incidents. Racism in the school is quite normalised, especially against Black and Asian students, including:

CW: list of racist incidents
  • Calling black people "monkeys", unnecessarily calling them "fast" and that they "should be at the back of the bus"
  • Playing stereotypical Indian music and linking brown people to "curry" and tech-support scammers
  • The Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees chant and mocking the Chinese language

Most teachers report the incident, triggering an investigation into what happened; the student(s) are usually suspended - possibly being temporarily transferred to another school - the offending student(s) are talked to by senior staff members and attend anti-racism sessions. This approach feels appropriate, although I want to hear your thoughts on it as racism is still a significant issue in the school.

In addition, quite a few teachers instead push to "settle the matter" in-class (say sorry, shake hands) or give lesser punishments that are intended for things like swearing or talking over the teacher. These are not appropriate punishments and shouldn't be tolerated. Bigotry is never equivalent to just rude behaviour or minor arguments (that includes bullying).

The school administration has been made aware of our thoughts and fortunately they are very open to the idea of writing a clearer and more effective policy on racism in the school.

Do teachers need to be trained better on their tolerance of racism? Is the policy not corrective enough? How would you write a racism policy for a school for 11 to 18 year olds?

Thanks again!

  • CommunistCuddlefish [she/her]
    ·
    5 months ago

    Thank you. Yeah I didn't jump to violence, it took a lot of violence being done to me to teach me that you can't pacifiistically talk racist fucks who view you as subhuman into considering you their equal. They know innately that the power dynamic is on their size and says they're our superiors.

    But the moment the power dynamic flips, they suddenly get it. Bloody their nose? Put them on the ground and make them beg you to stop kicking them? They learn really quick and they'll never bother you again.

    Edit: Ok I just saw my first comment got removed by mods with the hilarious but understandable reason, "do not advocate for children to beat the shit out of each other." I've got mixed feelings about that but for the sake of complying with the commissars of discourse I am will clarify I am only talking about my personal experiences trying to deal with racism in a system that was profoundly racist and denied me proper channels. If OP has other options then good for them, I hope those other options work. I'll say more in a response to them.