Coincidence or conspiracy? Whiteness, policy and the persistence of the Black/White achievement gap

Adopting an approach shaped by critical race theory (CRT) the paper proposes a radical analysis of the nature of race inequality in the English educational system. Focusing on the relative achievements of White school leavers and their Black (African Caribbean) peers, it is argued that long standing Black/White inequalities have been obscured by a disproportionate focus on students in receipt of free school meals (FSM). Simultaneously the media increasingly present Whites as race victims, re-centring the interests of White people in popular discourse, while Government announcements create a false image of dramatic improvements in minority achievement through a form of ‘gap talk’ that disguises the deep-seated and persistent nature of race inequality. The paper concludes by reviewing the key elements that define the current situation and notes that they fit the essential characteristics used in law to identify the operation of a conspiracy. It is argued that conceiving the racism that saturates the system in terms of a conspiracy has a number of advantages, not least the insight it provides into the workings of Whiteness as a fundamental driver of social policy

Citizenship Education as Placebo: 'standards', institutional racism and education policy

The issue of 'Institutional Racism' briefly rose to the top of the policy agenda when, in 1999, the British government was faced with a damning report into the circumstances surrounding the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence (an 18 year old Black college student). The official inquiry found evidence of institutional racism throughout the London police force and argued that all key agencies in society, including education, had a duty to identify and combat racism (including unintended and indirectly discriminatory actions). This paper examines the evidence of institutional racism in the English educational system and argues that the promotion of citizenship education, as a solution to this problem, acts as a placebo in terms of policy intentions and outcomes. Citizenship education is now a required component of the national curriculum that must be taught by all state funded schools in England. It is constantly highlighted by policy makers as a major innovation that promotes social cohesion in general, and race equality in particular. At the same time, however, the government has continued to pursue a so-called 'standards' agenda that emphasizes a hierarchy of schools based on their students' performance in high stakes tests and promotes increased selection that is known to disadvantage Black students. Consequently, the principal education policy strategies are themselves revealed as potentially racist by the government's own definition. It is in this context that the promotion of citizenship education can be seen as a public policy placebo, i.e. a pretend treatment for institutional racism that gives the impression of action but is, in fact, without substance or effect. Meanwhile, the excesses of racialized educational inequality not only continue, but in some cases worsen

Rethinking White Supremacy: who counts in 'Whiteworld'

The article addresses the nature of power relations that sustain and disguise white racial hegemony in contemporary ‘western’ society. Following the insights offered by critical race theory (CRT), white supremacy is conceived as a comprehensive condition whereby the interests and perceptions of white subjects are continually placed centre stage and assumed as ‘normal’. These processes are analysed through two very different episodes. The first example relates to a period of public crisis, a moment where ‘what really matters’ is thrown into relief by a set of exceptional circumstances, in this case, the London bombings of July 2005. The second example relates to the routine and unexceptional workings of national assessment mechanisms in the education system and raises the question whether assessments merely record educational inequity or actually produce it. These apparently divergent cases are linked by the centrality of white interests and the mobilization of structural and cultural forces to defend white power at the expense of the racialized ‘Other’

WHITE HEAT: racism, under-achievement and white working-class boys

The article examines students' experience of inner-city education in one of England’s most disadvantaged areas. In particular, we reflect on the views of white working class boys, a group that has recently been identified by policy-makers and the media as especially at risk of educational failure. These young people recognise the educational disadvantage they face on a daily basis, made explicit in a tangible lack of resourcing and institutionalised through selection systems (like banding and setting). These injustices are re-worked through the students' perspectives, taking cues from national and community racist discourses of white victimhood. In this way the white students view their educational and class disadvantage as a Ôrace' issue. We conclude that this is an important but largely unrecognised way in which racism continues to work through a system that, despite changes in rhetoric, refuses to engage with the reality of racism as a deeply rooted and defining characteristic of the education system