anti‐racist education, multiculturalism and the new racism

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This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library] On: 10 November 2014, At: 22:49 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Educational Review Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cedr20 Antiracist Education, Multiculturalism and the New Racism Geoffrey Short a a University of Hertfordshire Bruce Carrington, University of Newcastle Published online: 06 Jul 2006. To cite this article: Geoffrey Short (1996) Antiracist Education, Multiculturalism and the New Racism, Educational Review, 48:1, 65-77, DOI: 10.1080/0013191960480106 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013191960480106 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/ page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: Anti‐racist Education, Multiculturalism and the New Racism

This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library]On: 10 November 2014, At: 22:49Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Educational ReviewPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cedr20

Anti‐racist Education,Multiculturalism and the NewRacismGeoffrey Short aa University of Hertfordshire Bruce Carrington, University ofNewcastlePublished online: 06 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Geoffrey Short (1996) Anti‐racist Education, Multiculturalism and the NewRacism, Educational Review, 48:1, 65-77, DOI: 10.1080/0013191960480106

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013191960480106

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions andviews of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. Theaccuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liablefor any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly inconnection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Anti‐racist Education, Multiculturalism and the New Racism

Educational Review, Vol. 48, No. 1, 1996 65

Anti-racist Education, Multiculturalismand the New Racism

GEOFFREY SHORT, University of Hertfordshire

BRUCE CARRINGTON, University of Newcastle

ABSTRACT Little is known about the impact on children in primary schools ofwhat is currently referred to as the new racism. This dearth of research is a majorconcern, for if young children are influenced by such thinking, the implications foranti-racist education are considerable. In this paper we present ethnographic dataon the development of understanding of British culture and identity among 128children aged between 8 and 11, drawn from a range of social and ethnicbackgrounds. An incipient awareness of the new racism was noted among the olderchildren. In the light of this finding, we advocate an intervention in primary schoolsinvolving both conventional anti-racist education and a reconstructed form ofmulticulturalism.

Introduction

A re-conceptualisation of racism was one of a number of ideological shifts thatmarked Margaret Thatcher's term of office as leader of the Conservative Party. The'new racism', as described in Barker's (1981) seminal work, was a self-consciousattempt by the right wing of the Tory party to redefine nationhood. Racism was nolonger considered a matter of prejudice (as manifest in negative stereotypes) or ofhierarchy, but was to be seen instead as a desire to protect the cultural integrity ofthe nation. Questions of culture have, of course, long been a feature of racistdiscourse in Britain (witness, for example, the submissions to the Royal Commissionon Alien Immigration in 1903). However, it is only in comparatively recent timesthat a form of racism has emerged in which culture assumes a pivotal role. Accordingto the new racism, it is part and parcel of human nature to create bounded socialgroups (or nation states) and for each group to separate itself from those it perceivesto be different. As far as states are concerned, the differences are cultural, taking theform of distinct ways of life. Homogeneous culture, the central concept of the newracism, is regarded as the life blood of the nation; it guarantees national cohesion.Anything that threatens to disrupt it, such as a substantial influx of immigrants withan alien culture, will inevitably be resented and, sooner or later, rejected.

Barker does not draw a distinction between racism and prejudice. It is evident,however, that when alluding to the new racism he actually has in mind a form ofprejudice, for nowhere in his thesis does he consider the structural dimension of racerelations in the UK. Rather less clear is whether Barker believes the new racism to

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have eclipsed the old or whether the two ideologies, to some extent, run in parallel.One thing, though, which is not in doubt is that new racist thinking has lost none ofits appeal to sections of the Tory party, despite the fact that migration to Britain fromthe Indian sub-continent and the Caribbean, the chief preoccupation of the newracism, has virtually ceased (see for example Cohen, 1994). Just a few years agoformer Tory party chairman Norman Tebbit made an oblique reference to the allegedthreat posed by ethnic minorities to national cohesion, when he advocated a 'cricketloyalty test' to assess the suitability of South Asians and Afro-Caribbeans as Britishcitizens (Sunday Times, 19 April 1990). More recently (in May 1993) the MPWinston Churchill said at a private meeting:

A halt must be called to immigration if the British way of life is to bepreserved. The population of many of our northern cities is well over 50%immigrant, and Muslims claim there are now more than two million oftheir co-religionists in Britain. Mr Major seeks to reassure us with the oldrefrain 'There'll always be an England'. He promises us that 50 years onfrom now, spinsters will be cycling to Communion on Sunday mornings—more like the muezzin will be calling Allah's faithful to the high streetmosque. (The Times, 29 May, 1993)

Churchill reiterated these views a couple of months later, when he stated:

We must not ignore or sweep under the carpet the impact on our societyand the British way of life of the arrival in our midst ... of three to fourmillion immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. (The Times, 20July, 1993)

In terms of their implicit definition of British identity, these comments are, inessence, no different from those voiced by Margaret Thatcher a decade earlier at thetime of the Falklands war. She said on that occasion that 'the people of the FalklandIslands, like the people of the UK, are an island race. Their way of life is British'(cited in Cashmore & Troyna, 1990, p.6).

What is readily apparent from the work of Barker and subsequent analyses ofBritish racism (e.g. Miles, 1987; Cohen, 1988; Modood, 1988, 1990, 1992; Solomos,1988; Penrose, 1993) is that right-wing conceptions of national identity tend to beimbued with exclusivist (i.e. cultural-racist) assumptions about what it means to beBritish. Such conceptions depict British society in monolithic terms as ethnically andculturally homogeneous, i.e. as white and Christian. Other groups, irrespective oftheir birthplace or lineage, are construed as an alien intrusion and a destabilisinginfluence. The impact of this particular form of cultural racism, as Tariq Modood,has noted, tends to be differentiated:

It is likely to be particularly acute if the minority community actually, andnot just defensively, wants to maintain some of the essential elements of itsculture or religion; if, far from denying their difference (beyond the colourof their skin or exacerbated social deprivation) they want to assert it anddemand respect just as they are. (Modood, 1992, p. 75-76)

As well as drawing attention to the baleful influence of cultural racism upon BritishAsians, especially Muslims, Modood is critical of anti-racist educators' responses tothe phenomenon. Calling for the development of an anti-racist pedagogy that issensitive to ethnic and cultural differences, he takes issue with any such approach

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Anti-racist Education 67

which 'narrowly focusses on colour and class and fails to engage with culturalracism' (ibid., 1992, p. 83). Arguing that multiculturalism will also have animportant part to play in challenging cultural racism (and exclusivist conceptions ofBritish culture and identity), he contends that it is incumbent upon schools tocultivate a climate in which differences can 'flourish' and where 'one can take acertain amount of commonality for granted'. According to Modood:

it must be the task of schools to make both these things possible. To do sois to extend and enrich our understanding of Britishness, a sense ofbelonging capable of embracing a number of hyphenated nationalities; butcontrary to those for whom Britishness is a reactionary, meaningless orirrelevant concept, I doubt if progress can be made without taking thisconcept seriously and engaging with it. (Ibid., 1992, p. 84)

Modood's observations on the lack of interest shown by anti-racist educators in thenew racism are well founded. For, with the exception of Gillborn's (1995a) recentwork, the new racism has been treated as an obiter dictum in anti-racist literature inso far as it has been treated at all. It has been mentioned in passing, rather thandiscussed, and its educational implications appear never to have been considered.The anti-racist mission has focussed instead on the need to eradicate both individualracism and racial inequality in education. In practice, this has meant targetting issuessuch as racial harassment, stereotyping, the recruitment and promotion of ethnicminority staff and the appropriateness of the formal curriculum.

Anti-racist neglect of the new racism is manifestly a serious matter, partly for thereasons advanced by Modood, but also because of the nature of its ultimate aimwhich, according to Barker, is nothing less than repatriation. In view of theseriousness of its consequences, the question that immediately arises is why the newracism has been ignored by anti-racists. We would suggest two possible explana-tions. On the one hand, the neglect can be seen as ideological, in that there has longbeen a tension within the anti-racist movement between those who continue to seeanti-racism as incompatible with multicultural education (e.g. Troyna, 1987) andthose who maintain that the two approaches are complementary (e.g. Leicester, 1986;Short, 1994a). In so far as the former view has tended to prevail, a reluctance totackle a form of racism predicated on culture is to be expected. On the other hand,it can be argued that as we currently have no evidence of the new racism in childrenof statutory school age, anti-racists have no incentive to engage with it. In otherwords, we do not know whether children attach any importance to assimilation to thedominant culture of a society as a denning characteristic of national identity. Thus,for both ideological and empirical reasons, the tendency has been for anti-racisteducation to treat otherness as essentially a question of 'race' rather than culture.

Bearing in mind the early onset, persistence and prevalence of 'the old racism', aswell as the lack of evidence of the new, it might seem perverse to take issue withthe priorities of anti-racist educators. However, should there prove to be evidence ofsome commitment to the new racism among young children, the value of anti-racistinitiatives, as presently constituted, will necessarily be called into question. Thestudy discussed in this paper was originally undertaken to explore children'sdeveloping awareness of their national identity. We were especially interested in theextent to which they conceptualise it in cultural terms for, underlying our concern,was an attempt to address the point raised by Sally Tomlinson as to:

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whether people of 'non-white' ethnic background, particularly those ofAfrican, Caribbean and Asian origin, will ever come to be regarded by thewhite population as equal citizens and whether they will be offered agenuine choice of cultural affiliation. (Tomlinson, 1990, p. 30)

We have focussed on children of primary school age. It is intended that thedevelopment of national identity and allied concepts among older children andadolescents will form the basis of a subsequent investigation.

The Study

The ages of the children involved in the survey ranged from eight to eleven. Theywere drawn from two schools in North East England and from one in the South East.Each school had a long-standing link, either with the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne or with the University of Hertfordshire. Altogether 128 children, from a varietyof social backgrounds, participated (71 boys and 57 girls). Of them 71% were BritishWhites, 25% were British Asians and the remaining 4% were either British Afro-Caribbeans or Africans. The overwhelming majority of those taking part (92%) wereborn in the UK.

Having spent some time getting to know the children, they were seen individually(by B.C. in the north and G.S. in the south). All were volunteers. They werepresented with a semi-structured interview schedule that for the younger ones beganwith the question: 'Have you heard the word "British"?' Those respondingaffirmatively were then asked the following.

• Are you British or are you something else?• What makes a person British?• Is everyone who lives here in this country British?• Is it possible to stop being British and become something else?• Is being British important to you?• What are the best and worst things about being British?

The same questions were presented to the older children. However, in their case theinterview began with the comment 'You have obviously heard of the word"British" '. (For a detailed discussion of the study's rationale, methodology andfindings, as well as the ethical issues it raises, see Carrington & Short, 1995).

Because this paper deals with the impact of the new racism on the way in whichchildren conceptualise their national identity, we present below only their responsesto the questions 'What makes a person British?' and 'Is it possible to stop beingBritish and become something else?'

The data presented in Table I reveal that only a minority of children in all threeage groups thought of British identity in terms of adopting a particular way of life(i.e. cultural habits). Although none of the responses of the 8 year olds (Year 3children) could be categorised in this way, new racist sentiments were articulated bya few of the 9 year olds, suggesting that the generality of children in the upperreaches of the primary school are able to think in these terms and are thus vulnerableto new racist arguments. The situation may, in fact, be rather more serious thanappears at first sight, for we cannot know for sure just how the children interpretedthe question. It is quite possible that some of them assumed it called only for a

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TABLE I. 'What makes a person British?': differences in response by age andethnicity (%)

8 and 9 10 year 11 year Ethnic Ethnicyear olds olds olds majority minority(n = 55) (n = 40) (« = 33) (n = 89) (n = 39)

Born in BritainLanguageLives in BritainTies of consanguinityRace/ethnicityCultural habitsCitizenship

654220251072

633920204

143

85191440

1212

66381821

6112

762520835

10

298

39163

1533301818

503222214

342140124

2629122316

TABLE II. Is it possible to stop being British and become something else? [1]: differences in responseby age and ethnicity (%)

8 and 9 10 year 11 year Ethnic Ethnicyear olds olds olds majority minority(n = 38) (« = 27) (n = 28) (n = 62) (n = 31)

Response related to:Place of domicilePlace of birthAbility to learn another languageAbility to acquire another culture

Unelaborated response (i.e. the childwas unable or unwilling to saymore than yes or no)

technical or legal definition. If so, the findings would tend to underestimate the extentto which the children construed British identity as a cultural phenomenon.

The same problem arose when the children were subsequently asked if it waspossible to stop being British and become something else.

We reproduce below some of the comments that display an awareness of newracist ideology. They were either made directly in response to the question 'Whatmakes a person British?' or in response to a follow-up question.

BC: If someone came to this country ... to live here could they becomeBritish if they wanted to be?

Rebecca: YesBC: What would you have to do?Rebecca: You would join in with all the British games and you would do things

like the British.(British White girl, aged 9)

GS: When you said that some people are not British who are you thinking of?

Kellie: Some people are Indian and all other religions.(British White girl, aged 9)

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GS: Are you British or are you something else?Asim: I'm Moslem.GS: You're Moslem. Are you also British?Asim: No.

(British Asian boy, aged 9)

BC: And if they wanted to become British could they?Harriet: YesBC: What would they have to do?Harriet: They could just join in with what other people do and be a citizen.BC: ... What makes a person British then?Harriet: Just you can live there and you can be British and live somewhere

else and you can just be like other people and speak languages andstuff.

(British African girl, aged 9)

BC: What makes a person British?Kairen: Their accent and the way they dress.

(British White girl, aged 10)

Mark: When they do the same things as the British and have the Britishaccent. (British White boy, aged 10)

Gary: Have to make sure they do the same as the English.(British White boy, aged 10)

GS: If I saw your parents walking along the street, would they be British?Nosheen: Well, not really because they'd be a bit British because they know the

English language and plus they have lived in Great Britain for abouttwenty years or something like that but they are from Pakistan sothey're really both but they're not like into the British religion. Theyknow about the religion but they're not into it.

(British Asian girl, aged 11)

GS: You're mostly Indian, and why do you say that you're mostly Indianand not mostly British?

Syreeta: Because for one thing we speak Gujerati and our religion is Hindu.(British Asian girl, aged 11)

Responses to the question of whether it is possible to change one's nationalityincluded the following.

GS: Is it possible to stop being British and to become something else?Sangita: It depends if you want to be. I know if you are English you can

change religions.(British Asian girl, aged 9)

GS: If you are British, can you become something else? Can you becomeFrench or German or Chinese?

Dipesh: Yes.GS: How would I become French, what have I got to do?Dipesh: Learn the language.

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GS: So if I just stay at home here ... and I learn the language, does thatmake me French?

Dipesh: No.GS: So what else have I got to do then to become French?Dipesh: Learn the religion. You would have to go there, you would change

your accent and change your lifestyle.(British Asian boy, aged 10)

GS: If you're British, can you stop being British and become somethingelse if you want to?

Sagar: No.GS: So you have to stay British all your life do you?Sagar: You don't have to.GS: Could I become French or Chinese if I wanted to?Sagar: Yes.GS: What would I have to do to become Chinese?Sagar: Live in China and speak the language and eat the same food as them.

(British Asian boy, aged 10)

BC: Is it possible to stop being British and become something else?Joanne: Well you'd always be sort of British in a way because you've lived

there and most people have been brought up there.BC: So if you emigrated could you become Australian or French or

American?Joanne: Well I don't know—your accent could change but ... myself I

couldn't change my ways.(British White girl, aged 10)

BC: If you wanted to stop being British and be something else, say beFrench, what would you have to do?

Tony: Have to learn the French accent and live the way the French peopledo.

(British White boy, aged 10)

BC: Is it possible to stop being British and become something else?Mark: Yes I think it is possible.BC: Can you tell me how you'd do it?Mark: Like speak different language, speak whichever language you want to

do and just go to that country and try to be the same, wear the sameclothes that they wear and doing the same kind of things.

(British White boy, aged 10)

GS: If you are British do you have to stay British for the rest of your lifeor can you change?

Christopher: If you're British you can change.GS: You can change can you? You can become French, American or

German?Christopher: Probably, yes. I'm not sure, I don't think you can really. It depends

really because if you go to certain countries for a long time you soonpick up all the habits over there that they do and sometimes peoplecan change like that.

(British African boy, aged 11)

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Discussion

It will have been noted (in Tables I and II) that in responding to both questions asubstantial number of children emphasised place of birth and language as definingcharacteristics of national identity. As there are no a priori reasons for believing thatthis way of thinking diminishes with age, one might be tempted to infer an optimisticfuture for race relations in the UK. For, over time, an increasing proportion ofBritain's ethnic minority population will be British-born and will also have Englishas their first language.

However, a rather less sanguine view emerges when the number of childrenconceptualising British nationality partly as a cultural phenomenon is taken intoaccount, particularly when it is recalled that this figure may be an underestimate. Themajority of these responses were in answer to the question of whether people couldchange their national identity. The fact that some of them were made by 9 year oldssuggests that an incipient form of the new racism may be firmly entrenched at arelatively young age. As with place of birth and language, there is no reason to thinkthat a tendency to construe Britishness in cultural terms lessens with age. If anything,the contrary is the case, judging by the prevalence of the new racism amongapparently well-educated adults.

Evidence that children between the ages of 9 and 11 are able to conceptualisenational identity in cultural terms highlights the need for primary and middle schoolsin particular to re-appraise their policies on 'race' and ethnicity. They must broadentheir concerns to include the new racism and consider specifically whether it can becountered effectively by a continuation of what may be called 'conventional multi-cultural education', focusing on minority lifestyles and the contribution made byethnic minorities to civilisation. Despite the prima facie relevance of the term,multicultural education, as currently conceived and practised is, in our view,inadequate as a solution. Indeed, as we illustrate below, there are a number of waysin which it is likely to play into the hands of the new racism.

Multicultural Education: reinforcing the new racism?

Historically, multicultural education has been predicated on the assumption thatprejudice against minorities is the result of ignorance. It has been further assumedthat in order to challenge and undermine it, all that is required is that the indigenouspopulation be made aware of the various cultures that exist in contemporary Britainand appreciate that their own has no monopoly on virtue or wisdom. Apart frommulticultural reading schemes and textbooks, one suspects that the implementation ofthis recommendation has most frequently taken the form of multi-faith teaching. Itis thus, perhaps, no coincidence that the influential Swann Report (DES, 1985),widely regarded as exemplary of multicultural education, argued for multi-faithteaching as an antidote to racism.

It is ... important to recall that. . . the origins of racism lie to a considerableextent in regarding groups of people as 'strange' and thus 'inferior'. Onthis basis religious groups within the minority communities which varyfrom an assumed norm of Christianity and whose religious beliefs aremanifested by various forms of dress or behaviour or by the celebration ofparticular festivals, may be particularly subject to racism if their faiths areneither understood nor accepted in their own right. Bringing about a

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greater understanding of the diversity of faiths present in Britain today canalso therefore we believe play a major role in challenging and overcomingracism, (ibid., 1985, p. 466)

Now in so far as familiarity breeds liking (Zajonc, 1968), there may be somethingto be said for persisting with this multi-faith approach. However, some prominentanti-racists (e.g. Troyna, 1987) have opposed a curriculum suffused with multicultur-alism partly on the grounds that familiarity may, in fact, be more likely to breedresentment. Their argument is that introducing minority religions to white childrendoes no more than demonstrate just how different and thus 'un-British' they are. Inother words, the effect is counter-productive; it reinforces rather than undermines theclaim that ethnic minorities have no place in Britain. Moreover, in teaching aboutother religions we not only run the risk of giving prominence to the 'alien' qualityof their adherents, we also risk inflaming hostility rather more directly by castingdoubt on the moral basis of ethnic minority cultures. Here we have in mind practicessuch as the ritual slaughter of animals demanded by Islam and orthodox Judaism (seefor example Carrington & Short, 1993; Short & Carrington, 1995a).

In addition to these problems, advocates of multicultural education have to facethe fact that despite their best intentions, they may actually foster prejudice evenwhen teaching the non-contentious aspects of other faiths. Our recent work onchildren's knowledge of Jewish culture underlines this danger clearly (Short &Carrington, 1992, 1995b; Short, 1994b).

We chose to focus on the Jewish community because of our concern at the currentresurgence of anti-Semitism across much of Europe and the dearth of informationavailable to teachers wishing to combat it (Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1991;Wistrich, 1992). The children involved in the study were aged between 8 and 13 andwere drawn overwhelmingly from either Christian or nominally Christian back-grounds. None of the children attending primary schools had engaged in a sustainedstudy of Judaism (in contrast to those from the secondary sector, who had done soas part of their religious education curriculum). As some of the older children hadrecently studied the Passover, they were asked what they knew about it. Theirresponses included the following:

We know about the Passover ... that they have to put blood on their doorsotherwise the oldest child of the family—the Jewish family—will die.

They have to put those things outside their door.... They put blood.

In the light of these misconceptions, it is easy to see how a pfoject designed topromote tolerance and understanding can misfire. But even if there had been no suchmisconceptions, the project is unlikely to have achieved its aims. For it wasundertaken without first exploring the children's existing beliefs about Jews andJudaism, some of which were subsequently shown to militate against any benefitsthat might otherwise have accrued from the teaching. For example, a number ofchildren subscribed to the unqualified view that it was the Jews who killed Jesus andmany were unaware that Judaism was a monotheistic faith. However, it is not justsimplistic or ill-founded beliefs of a historical and theological nature that canundermine the value of teaching about Judaism; an adherence to anti-Semiticstereotypes (noted in quite a few of the children) is likely to have the same effect.One 11 year old for example, when asked if she had ever heard anything unpleasantsaid about Jews, replied: 'Jews go for all the money, every piece of money they canget'.

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Recalling the findings reported earlier in this paper, teachers should also bear inmind the inferences their pupils might draw as a result of learning that some ethnicminorities pray in a language other than English. In a project on Judaism undertakenwith a group of 7 and 8 year olds, Grugeon & Woods (1990) commented on ageneral feeling that Jews were not English. As a number of the children thought thatHebrew was 'the language of the Jews' and that most Jews spoke Hebrew at home,their perception of this ethnic group as alien is hardly surprising.

Anti-racist and Multicultural Education: an antidote to the new racism

As culture is the key concept in new racist ideology, we see no alternative toinvolving multicultural education as a means of combating it. However, if multicul-turalism is to fulfil this role, it has to do far more than just inform white childrenabout the lifestyles and cultural achievements of ethnic minorities. Major changeswill be required if the weaknesses that we have identified are not to render theteaching ineffective.

Among the most serious of these weaknesses is the possibility of intensifyingprejudice as a result of teaching about cultural differences, especially those thatstretch the limits of tolerance to breaking point. One way of obviating this drawback,suggested by Lynch (1983, 1987) among others, is to emphasise similarities ratherthan differences; that is, to focus one's teaching on the beliefs, values and practiceswhich various ethnic groups have in common. Now, whilst we accept the importanceof children learning about similarities, not least because of research showing that weare attracted to people who are like us (Byrne, 1971), we are mindful that negativeperceptions of difference do not evaporate as a result of teachers choosing either toignore or underplay them. On the contrary, if unfamiliar rituals and beliefs are notdiscussed in a rational and informed way, there is a danger that children mayexaggerate their symbolic significance. There is also, of course, the spectre ofindoctrination hovering over any decision to suppress or play down cultural differ-ences. For both these reasons, we would reject any solution to the problems ofmulticultural teaching that deliberately emphasises similarity at the expense ofdifference. As we have pointed out elsewhere, when discussing some of thedilemmas which confronted us as 'action researchers' implementing a programme onIslam in an 'all white' primary school:

practices such as the ritual slaughter of meat by Muslims, even if properlyunderstood, may cause offence to members of other cultural groups.Teachers are faced with a stark choice: if they choose to keep their pupilsin the dark about such practices this is tantamount to indoctrination. On theother hand, to take up Lynch's (1983) position and to argue that 'not allcultural values are of equal worth' and that some, therefore, ought to beproscribed, could play into the hands of assimilationists on the New Right.For such a stance might be construed as lending support to populist imagesof Muslims in Britain as not only different but 'alien' (Troyna & Carring-ton, 1990). In the event, we did not have to deal with the dilemma as timedid not permit us to examine this particular controversial issue. But hadcircumstances been otherwise, we would not have considered it right tocensor such discussion. Our way out of the dilemma would have been tostress to the children that while they may well find some aspects of Muslim

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culture unacceptable and feel the need to argue for their proscription, it iswholly wrong to go further than this and discriminate in any way againstother aspects of Islam. (Carrington & Short, 1993, p. 172)

From the standpoint of countering the new racism, what is required over and abovethe acknowledgement of cultural differences is that children recognise that suchdifferences do not necessarily constitute a threat to the unity of the nation. Putsimply, they must learn to distinguish unusual behaviour that is harmful or offensiveto the interests of the wider community from that which is not. It follows from thisthat in addition to learning about cultural differences, children should be given anopportunity to debate openly (but with sensitivity and empathy) the merits of anycultural practice. The critical issue is that they appreciate both the illogicality and theimmorality of taking action against innocuous aspects of a minority culture as aresult of rinding some aspect of that culture socially or ethically unacceptable.

Before leaving the subject of cultural difference, we believe it important thatchildren realise that such differences are not reducible to ethnicity per se. If childrenare to engage critically with new racist strictures about ethnic minorities as an alienintrusion and de-stabilising influence in British society they must not only be taughtabout the underlying reasons for international movements of labour, they must alsobe helped to appreciate the benefits of pluralism (perhaps through an exploration ofthe history of cultural diversity within the ethnic majority population and a criticalexamination of such concepts as 'native', 'alien', 'immigrant' or 'outsider'). In otherwords, children should be taught that 'the shape and edges of British identity are ...historically changing, often vague and, to a degree, malleable' (Cohen, 1994, p. 35).They should be left in no doubt that the social fabric of the UK has long been ableto withstand the cultural variations stemming from different religious affiliations, aswell as those relating to social class, ethnicity, region and generation. In the light ofthis imperative, it seems to us that when it comes to the new racism some of thecriticism levelled at the National Curriculum may have been misplaced. A curricu-lum which embodies a nationalistic and patriotic leitmotif, heavily weighted infavour of 'British history, Standard English and the English literary heritage' is aninadequate one in many respects (see Carrington & Short, 1995). However, as far aschallenging the new racism is concerned, the chief consideration is whether thecurriculum offers scope for children to learn about the significant contribution thatethnic minorities have made (and continue to make) to the life of the nation. In sofar as the present curriculum provides such opportunities, it is to be welcomed.Teaching about the Second World War, for example, and particularly about thesacrifices made by Caribbean and Asian troops acts as a perfect counter to anysuggestion that minorities are necessarily a threat to Britain because of theirsupposed dual loyalties (cf. Tebbit, op. cit.).

Again, with the new racism in mind, there are major implications for multiculturaleducation that follow from our own research on children's knowledge of Judaism. Inthe first instance, the study makes clear that the potential benefits of teaching aboutother faiths will not materialise if children harbour misconceptions that contradict theteaching. A ground-clearing operation is essential. It is not just a question ofengaging with children's misconceptions about different cultures, but of doing soprior to imparting what is intended as new knowledge and understanding.

Nor is it only religious misconceptions that must be identified and corrected, for

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if children accept the validity of racist arguments they will be unlikely to respondsympathetically to any religious education they receive. As Chris Gaine puts it:

Teaching about cultures ... does not necessarily do anything to racistattitudes, since many pupils simply do not want to know or are applying(perhaps unconscious) filtering mechanisms. They do not listen to thedistinctions between Sikhs and Muslims, Gujeratis and Bengalis, WestIndians and Indians, because they are not interested; they do not want toknow because the most important thing to them is that these people ... areresponsible for all the unemployment, bad housing, etc. ... Because manypeople believe they are responsible, this has to be tackled first. (Gaine,1987, p. 86, emphasis in original)

Conventional anti-racist education exposing the mythical basis of racist argumentsand stereotypes would thus seem to be an essential prerequisite to the form ofmulticultural education we advocate as a means of undermining the new racism.

The other major implication of our study on Judaism is that teachers must checkon what their pupils have learnt from a lesson or series of lessons, rather than assumethat they have learnt what was intended. This caution would seem especiallyimportant for secondary schools, where children tend to study more religions, withthe attendant risk of greater confusion.

As we have made clear, in arguing for the value of a reconstructed multicultural-ism (focussing in particular on children's misconceptions) we do not underestimatethe need for anti-racist education. Whilst we accept Gillborn's (1995b, p. 35)contention that 'the new racism is a persuasive and subtle force for which conven-tional anti-racism is ill-equipped', we nonetheless believe that tackling racialinequality and racist myths deserves as high a priority now as at any time in the past.Our concern in this paper has been to do no more than urge the generality ofanti-racists to recognise the seriousness of the new racism and the contribution thatmulticultural education can make to eradicating it.

Correspondence: Geoffrey Short, School of Humanities and Education, University ofHertfordshire, Wall Hall Campus, Watford WD2 8AT, UK.

NOTE

[1] For a variety of reasons, including lapses in concentration, this question was not addressed to theentire sample.

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