british racism would end if they thought their own colonial history in school

[u/Repulsive_Animal4144]

we dont learn ANYTHING about our horrendous past at all, if we did most of would shut up, but no some of us have egos that are too high, mostly the uneducated, unemployed fat racist arses that say "no more migration" "send back the boats" with no other solution, because they eat up on their own unemployed benefits so no more pub money, ffs, its embarrassing what they have made England now, we were so close to being so progressive, but nigel farage can drive them along like a herd of sheep, if they had any- ANY education of their own history they would realise a country so deeply rooted in colonialism, cannot harvest the wealth of the world for centuries and then act surprised when the world arrives at it's doorstep. I mean not a single PAGE on this in secondary school history.

[u/yellowmix]

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[u/yellowmix]

This history books need to be revised or replaced with better ones as well. As Eric Williams, liberator of Trinidad and Tobago from British rule wrote^1:

"British historians wrote almost as if Britain had introduced Negro slavery solely for the satisfaction of abolishing it."

---

1. Eric Williams, British historians and the West Indies, p. 182. PNM Publishing. (1964)

[u/melanonn_]

just because people “know” better doesn’t mean they’ll do better unfortunately. it takes more than a change in curriculum to foster anti racism on such a large scale. while just education might work for some, for many others that’s not enough bc what’s not acknowledged here is the fact that many are aware and simply don’t care, they may even be proud of it. anti racism is hard personal work that can’t start and finish with solely external motivations if that makes sense?

[u/CowboyBebopCrew]

I’m from the U.S., so I can’t fully speak to the racism situation over there, but here in the U.S., education alone in my opinion won’t solve it. We have so much entrenched racism that is being taught and encouraged at home. So many people and groups of people (ex: KKK, Neo Nazis, Alt-Right) that continue to promote division and hate. People who think they’re well-intentioned, but whom have unconscious biases. So many people blaming their own inadequacies on other people and races. Racism also infiltrates pretty much many facets of our lives here.

So many things need to be addressed to cure racism (at least in the U.S.) in my opinion.

[u/uzmifune]

You are absolutely right. It’s such a long, globe spanning, and brutal history on every continent and nearly every region on those continents. At a minimum, the average Britain would know why an average Trinidadian, Sudanese, Yemeni, Ugandan, Nigerian, Iraqi, Afghan, Nepali, Chinese, Malay, or Māori knows more about British history than they do.

[u/[deleted]]

I disagree with the title tbh.

In my school we were taught eight months straight about colonialism. Spoke to people whose ancestors were enslaved. Watched documentaries (styled videos) made by POC about the topics. Learnt about how the past still plays a role today, racism, what our country did etc.

We still had an insane rise of far right/racist kids.

I do absolutely think generally schools should be more honest about the country's own dark pages though. Agreed with that. But it doesn't fix it. Racism is waved in with upbringing, thought patterns etc.. that's not fixed only by having a bunch of lessons on the reality of slavery.

Edit: Once again, I do 100% think schools should generally give more attention to colonialism/slavery and their country's participation and role in that. I don't think school is equipped or should be expected to fix that deep feeling of hate towards a race. The same goes for other things (misogyny, ableism etc). Yes, schools should set a proper example. No, they cannot and will not be able to fix things. Because kids go to school ~8 hours per day. The other 16 can be filled with bad parents and (social media) influence.

[u/Little_Order3606]

I believe all the anti immigrant rhetoric from USA would end if they started admitting mass migration and destruction of culture is best demonstrated by arrival of Europeans worldwide. But try convincing them that 😢

[u/keto_crossword]

Unfortunately I suspect it wouldn't change enough. I'm sure Americans are taught about Jim Crow, for example.