‘Peppered with Ibram Kendi and Robin DiAngelo’ – Study Finds One in Four UK Councils Pushing Critical Race Theory in Schools

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 22: Pupils at Cleeves Primary School return to the classroom
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The head researcher of a watershed report into the imposition of so-called anti-racism training and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in British schools told Breitbart London that the movement is being heavily influenced by the far-left in America, saying that children are being taught material “peppered” with the work of CRT luminaries Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo.

This week, the campaign group Don’t Divide Us (DDU) released research claiming that one in four (23 per cent) councils in England and Wales — the majority of which were controlled by the left-wing Labour Party — are promoting a “model of anti-racism, based on division, in their education policies and guidance.”

The study found that those councils which actually responded, with many refusing to abide by Freedom of Information requests, were conflating “facts, opinions, and beliefs”. The report said that “ill-defined” CRT concepts such as “white privilege”, “unconscious bias”, and “structural racism” were pervasive throughout the councils studied.

“We conclude that the model of anti-racism — which asserts that Britain is a systematically racist society which automatically discriminates against racial minorities and denies the progress we have made in becoming a successful multi-cultural society — is being legitimised in schools through the reframing of equality policies,” the study stated.

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart London, the CEO of Don’t Divide Us, Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, said that the introduction of anti-racism education in Britain has been heavily influenced by America, noting that many of the training materials provided to schools are “peppered with Ibrahim Khendi and Robin DiAngelo,” two of the leading figures in the far-left CRT movement in the United States.

Cuthbert, a former educator herself, said that the introduction of CRT in the classroom is “hostile to freedom of speech” and is often “anti-educational” because it encourages teachers to impodr “dogmatic principles” rather than fostering an open inquiry for knowledge. She also asserted that it is ultimately “anti-democratic” because it assumes that the majority white population in Britain is somehow “privileged or part of a system of oppression”.

Alka said that like in some states in America, many parents are “deeply worried” about the introduction of the far-left material in the classroom, but she noted that “they don’t really have a voice and when they do try to raise it with schools, more often than not, they are treated rather contemptuously and it’s very difficult for them to get access to the materials.

“When I was trying to find out what the councils were endorsing, it’s not immediately obvious on the websites, you have to know what you are looking for and most parents won’t know.”

The report focused heavily on the involvement of so-called “third-party providers”, with 88 per cent of local councils pushing CRT-style curriculum being found to have partnered with outside groups to develop the coursework. One such organisation, the Equality Institute, published a “White Supremacy Pyramid” with mass murder being at the top. Other organisations have argued that children as young as three years old are already aware of racial hierarchies.

Describing the current education landscape as a “Wild West”, Alka told Breitbart London: “There has been a huge proliferation of third-party organisations, charities, small not-for-profits, and established charities as well are introducing elements of CRT or ‘active anti-racism and nobody has any oversight over it. The local councils don’t know, many of them told us that it’s up to schools, and the government doesn’t know.”

Therefore Don’t Divide Us has called on the government to mandate that schools list all the third-party providers of curriculum on their websites in order to allow parents to easily scrutinise those involved with their children’s education. Alka said that schools should also be required to provide all classroom materials to parents who request them “without question”.

Alka said that while she believes there are some good qualities about schools, namely for socialisation, she recognised why many parents would want to home-school their children in the face of the “indoctrination” occurring.

“If you had asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said probably not, but I can really understand why parents might do that today, if my kids were younger I might consider it.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.