Thread: Been reflecting on what's happening in the US. I often feel helpless as I feel I don't have anything new to add except outrage but I'm going to be brave & share some resources and what I've learnt about race & history education as, I hope, a way to help combat injustice.

We'd be naive to think race doesn't have similar salience in the UK & US. Stats speak for themselves. 4 books that have been seminal for me: Why I'm not longer talking to white people about race - Eddo-Lodge; Brit(ish) - Afua Hirsch; Natives - Akala; The Good Immigrant - Shukla

Also be v. wrong to think race doesn't permeate our education system, some documented phenomena include - disproportionate exclusion, teachers under-prediction of BME kids' grades, negative discourse & labelling of BME students', and noticeable absence of BME voices in curricula

All of which impact on BME students' sense of self & how their white peers view themselves. Prof. Gillborn's work has been very eye-opening for me in this respect. The @RoyalHistSoc Report (2018) on race, ethnicity and equality is a must-read for history teachers in particular.

However, this isn't to say things are hopeless. We can do our bit. As history teachers we have a unique and wonderful opportunity to do so. Our curriculum speaks volumes and we have the power to overturn harmful, exclusionary narratives to help to create inclusive, shared spaces.

Some extremely influential stuff for me when considering diverse history - @Justice2History Mohamud & Whitburn, @JJtodd1966's writing in the HA: https://www.history.org.uk/publications/resource/9671/thinking-beyond-boundaries is incredibly useful and highlights so many key issues

A quote from @JJtodd1966 that really forces me to push my thinking about history and history education's relationship with race: ‘the European project of modernity that helped to shape our subject simultaneously shaped notions of race and ethnicity.’

We do history a disservice if we allow absences to go unchallenged. We have a duty to seek out diverse voices and to question our existing knowledge and curriculum.

Finally, I firmly believe it will not do to ignore race. We must recognise our complicity and as history educators consider how we may be contributing to racialised injustice. We are lucky enough to have the opportunity to do some justice in the world. Let's not waste it.

P.S. Please feel free to add to this with your ideas, resources and recommendations for teaching Black history. I know I've left tons out. I am in the process of re-writing our curriculum and would be so useful to have some more input!