Racism Begins with a Pencil: An Insight to Racial Injustice through the Education Industry in the UK (With Poem)
Racism Begins with a Pencil is a poem I’ve written, which highlights certain aspects of schooling and education that need to be rewritten in the law books, as well as being driven about my personal experience of racism within school and about the public. I feel like now is the right time to publish due to the fact that this issue is not being talked and discussed about in the recent months, and constant pushing and regenerating the thoughts and perceptions of society is something that needs to be committed to around the clock.
For a brief background on education and schooling (students and staff) and its “relationship and “link” to racism, I’ve seen certain actions, oppressions, noises, hand gestures driven into schools and nothing, a dust’s worth, of action being done about it. Racism and education have never had the greatest bond with each other, and this thought was surely conveyed by one of the UK’s leading education platforms, TeachFirst, who wrote their own very article suggesting that the impact racism has had on pupils due to the likes of hand gestures, exam answer bias. One shocking and revealing truth on the fact that the UK’s education teaching system might have a say in this is that 46% of UK schools do not have ethnic minority teachers or staff.
Just from this stat alone, not a voice could try to debate that there isn’t a real need and desire for there to be a drastic change of staff, teachers, and educators. How would you expect students to interact strongly with you with the solid fact and reason that they might/could be being disrespectful to you because of your skin?
Another point I am willing to mention is the structural inequality that Teach First mentioned in this article, written in March of 2022, fresh and near to the current situation that we are at now. A significant and detrimental point which was mentioned was how the curriculum does not encompass and embody anything of the sort in reference to black people. None of the English GCSE exam board succumb to using a black author’s book to study, and from reading a whole bag’s full, there are a lot.
In a final stat before reading to highlight and underline the consequential disadvantage black students face is the fact that they are nine times more likely to be excluded from schools due to “behavioural issues,” in comparison to their white counterparts, hence suggesting there is no real valid reason for this.
The current issue and root of the problem lies within the education system if we are not in hold of black artists, musicians, dancers, camera crews, writers :), sportsmen, politicians, actors, hairdressers, mathematicians, scientists, journalists :) — you could tell from this list that I could go ranting and writing about this all along. If we have significant issues such as the exclusion of black people from education, how could you expect a portion of them not to drop formal education at all?
After all, without education and understanding, you can’t achieve and build the dream ambition and achiever you want to be.
Let’s make change. Let’s be bold. Let’s be active.
Racism Starts With a Pencil
It all starts off with a pencil
So minuscule and desultory
In meaning
-
The “friend” brings pale hands forth
Like a thief waiting to pounce
And seizes his “item”
For the colour of my skin
-
School, a place to learn and build
Stood behind a shady background
Of racism, hurt and neglect
-
My life begins to rot
Wherever usual
Noises expectant of deprecatory
Animal noises
-
Students walk by
“Crisp and sharp in colour”
They know
Their fate solely in their hands
And their hands only
-
Tell me how it feels
To have to tread through
The ignorance and insanity
Of such people?
-
You start to disbelieve
You start to lose count.
You start to lose hope.
-
It becomes a joke to them.
A hysterical view!
-
A black face! They point.
Before bursting their thoughts
With a single sound
We all know the true meaning.
-
Blood and sweat and tears.
Two faces, matched perfectly to the exam sheet
Laid innocently beside them
One is seen:
Angelic, pure, the creation.
-
Same scores.
Same sheet.
Same grades.
-
Same problem.
-
Some devilish eyes
Pierced with fiery destruction
-
They’ll do anything
To make sure
They pin the blame on one person.
You.
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