Lessons on so-called “white privilege” are needed to combat “racial prejudice” within children, according to new guidance drawn up by a group of education charities and unions.
The guidance came in the form of a 128-page paper entitled ‘Birth to 5 Matters from the Early Years Coalition’, which was developed over the past six months by representatives from the National Education Union (NEU), the National Day Nurseries Association, and the Association for Professional Development in Early Years.
The paper claimed that “talking about race is a first step in countering racism. It is a mistaken assumption that treating all people in the same way and ignoring differences in race is a sufficient response to racism.
“This approach simply allows the continuation of bias in society which disadvantages people from black and minoritised groups. Instead of a colour-blind approach to race, more proactive anti-racism is needed.”
“It is also time to challenge the widespread notion that ‘children do not see race’ and are colour blind to difference,” the guidance continued, adding: “When adults are silent about race, children’s racial prejudice and misconceptions can be maintained or reinforced.”
“Encouraging dialogue and conversation about difference can evoke children’s strong sense of fairness and break down false assumptions about everyone being able to succeed on their merits, so that children recognise racist behaviours and develop anti-racist views.”
A spokesman for the Department of Education said that the guidance is not government policy, and the paper has not been endorsed by the government.
WATCH: BBC Pushes ‘White Privilege’ Through Bitesize School Education Service https://t.co/5iYmMtJhnX
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 5, 2020
The chairman of the House of Commons Education select committee, Robert Halfon MP, said: “This is just unacceptable. This dogma and doctrine is totally out of place. We have all got to combat racism but this is the absolute wrong way to go about it, and insults white working-class people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“The whole purpose of children learning is to learn, not for some kind of political Soviet indoctrination session.”
London mayoral candidate and Heritage Party leader David Kurten added: “This is wrong. Children must not be subjected to poisonous Cultural Marxist critical race theory.”
Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said that most parents would be “horrified” by the notion that their children would be told how “privileged or underprivileged they were depending on their race.”
“If you tell some children they are privileged you have to by definition tell some others that they are not, that they are somehow disadvantaged or underprivileged. It is really destructive to the welfare of children,” Sir John conlcuded.
In September, a report submitted to the House of Commons Education Select Committee found that white working-class students have been the most systematically disadvantaged in Britain’s education system, as more emphasis has been placed on helping children from minority backgrounds regardless of class.
The following month, a political science professor, Matthew Goodwin, told the same committee that the proliferation of leftist ideas such as “white privilege” and “toxic masculinity” has resulted in working-class boys being further left behind, with educators more interested in focusing on the “historical grievances” of other races.
Teacher: Schools Pushing ‘White Privilege’, ‘White Fragility’ Could Be Breaking Political Neutrality Laws https://t.co/pp0MoHduLv
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 11, 2020
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