Importance of the teacher's perspective
In 'We’re All White Thanks: the Persisting Myth about 'White' Schools' (Trentham Books, 2005), Chris Gaine describes what is unique about racist insults:
A study carried out 20 years ago in East Anglia showed that teachers’ responses to children’s complaints of racism often operated in a ‘three stage denial’:
It’s not happening.
All right, it’s happening but it’s not racial.
Okay, it’s racial but it’s not serious.
As part of the review undertaken in developing this website, very few teachers were in agreement with the Macpherson definition of a racist incident. Most were uncomfortable with not being able to interpret and reach a decision as to the nature of the incident and felt that the definition went too far in enhancing the perception of the ‘victim’ over anyone else’s judgement:
'... don’t know if I’d report it. I know I’d make my own judgement if it’s racist or whether it’s just personality or ignorance and it just popped out.'
Gaine argues that a lack of support for pupils and parents remains because this denial still persists. Therefore, the ‘denial' response by many teachers might actually be serving to perpetuate the problem and to place further stresses on addressing good race relations.
The following is taken from 'Bullying Around Racism, Religion and Culture' (DfES, 2006):
'As mentioned in a recent Ofsted report many teachers do not feel confident when dealing with racist incidents. One of the problems is that they do not feel sufficiently clear about how racist behaviour amongst pupils differs from other kinds of unacceptable behaviour.'
The following similarities and differences aim to clarify matters.
Similarities
Pupils who are targeted experience great distress. They may become fearful, depressed and lacking in self-confidence, and their progress at school may be severely damaged.
The distress is connected with feelings of being excluded and rejected.
The distress is because a characteristic is picked out as a justification for the bullying that the person attacked can do nothing about - their size, whether they wear glasses, the colour of their hair, the colour of their skin, their religious or cultural background.
Since all kinds of bullying cause distress, all are wrong.
Those who engage in bullying develop a false pride in their own superiority.
Teachers and even parents are sometimes not aware of the miseries that are being inflicted, or of the cruelty that is being perpetrated.
When dealing with incidents, staff must attend to:
(a) the needs, feelings and wishes of pupils who are targeted
(b) the needs, feelings and wishes of their parents and carers
(c) the children and young people principally responsible for the bullying
(d) any supporters they have
(e) any bystanders and witnesses.
Differences
Racism has a long history, affects millions of people and is a common feature in wider society. People are seriously harmed and injured by it, and sometimes even viciously attacked and murdered.
The law recognises the seriousness of racism by requiring that courts should impose higher sentences when an offence is aggravated by racist or religious hostility.
The distinctive feature of a racist attack or insult is that a person is attacked not as an individual, as in most other offences, but as the representative of a family, community or group. Other members of the same group, family or community are, in consequence, made to feel threatened and intimidated as well. Therefore, feeling unwelcome or marginalised is not limited to the immediate victim.‘When they call me a Paki,’ explains 9-year-old Sereena, ‘it’s not just me they’re hurting. It’s all my family and all other black people too.’
Racist words and behaviour are experienced as attacks on the values, loyalties and commitments central to a person’s sense of identity and self-worth. Often, therefore, they hurt more deeply as well as more widely. ‘They attack me for being an Arab,’ remarks Ahmed. ‘But I’m an Arab because my father is an Arab, and I love my father. Do they think I should stop loving my father? I couldn’t do that, ever.’
Whether those offenders who commit racist attacks see themselves as representatives of their own community and taking the law into their own hands, this is how they may be seen by those at the receiving end. So a Traveller child, for example, may then fear and distrust all settled people, not just those who engage in bullying.
Most bullying involves a series of incidents over time. In the case of racist bullying, however, a single one-off incident may have precisely the same impact as a series of incidents over time. This is because it may be experienced by the person at the receiving end as part of a general pattern of racist hostility. It can in consequence be every bit as intimidating, rejecting and hurtful as a series of events over time.
The connection with experience in the adult world can be seen through the conclusions of research undertaken for the Scottish Government in 2002 which summarised key messages from previous studies:
Racist crime has a damaging effect on individual victims and their communities as well as the development of a multicultural society. If it is tolerated and if government and justice agencies do not respond appropriately, victims’ vulnerability is increased and mistrust grows.
Racist crime is widespread and versatile, for example in terms of location it can take place at work, in school, in public places and where people live.
There is a high rate of non-reporting of racist crime.
There are a variety of ethnic groups in the country and this diversity must be recognised if appropriate responses are to be given to victims of racist crime.