Black history is British history – Jeremy Corbyn

Schools need to teach children about Black British history, and the history and legacy of the British Empire and slavery, Jeremy Corbyn will say on a visit to Bristol on Thursday 11 October to mark Black History Month. 

The Labour Leader will hail Paul Stephenson, the civil rights activist who played a central role in the anti-discrimination Bristol Bus Boycott in the early 1960s, as a British hero whose story should be as well-known as Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Jeremy Corbyn will announce plans to improve the teaching of Black British history and the history of the British Empire, colonialism and slavery, to help ensure their legacy is more widely understood across the country. 

Jeremy Corbyn will emphasise the importance of the stories of Black British heroes and heroines and role models, including Paul Stephenson, Walter Tull and Mary Seacole, who campaigned for racial equality and justice in Britain, as well as those who struggled for liberation from colonial rule and imperialism overseas.

In Bristol, Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Cabinet Minister for Women and Equalities Dawn Butler will meet and pay tribute to Paul Stephenson, and visit ‘Alone with Empire’, an exhibition of films from the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection, focused on understanding the history and legacy of colonialism.

Jeremy Corbyn will also outline Labour’s plans to support a new Emancipation Educational Trust, aimed at educating future generations about slavery and the struggle for emancipation.

Labour’s Emancipation Educational Trust will tell the story of how slavery interrupted a rich African and black history. It will deliver school programmes for young people, organise visits to historical sites, as well as focusing on African civilisation before colonisation, the resilience and sacrifice of those enslaved and the struggle for liberation.
 

Announcing the plans in Bristol, Jeremy Corbyn MP is expected to say:

“Black history is British history, and it should not be confined to a single month each year. It is vital that future generations understand the role that Black Britons have played in our country’s history and the struggle for racial equality. 

“In the light of the Windrush scandal, Black History month has taken on a renewed significance and it is more important now than ever that we learn and understand as a society the role and legacy of the British Empire, colonisation and slavery. 

“Black History month is a crucial chance to celebrate the immense contribution of Black Britons to this country, to reflect on our common history and ensure that such grave injustices can never happen again.

“That’s why the story of Paul Stephenson and the Bristol Bus Boycott is such an inspirational reminder that our rights are hard-won, not given – and of the fantastic example set by so many Black Britons. 

“Paul is a true British hero and his story should be as widely known as Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was the bravery and determination of people like Paul, standing up against injustice, that paved the way for the first Race Relations Act and the outlawing of such discrimination in our country.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

·       Paul Stephenson founded the West Indian Development Council to campaign against racism in Bristol in response to the ‘colour bar’ on employing Black and Asian people on Bristol’s buses in 1963. The bus boycott was supported by local MP Tony Benn and Labour leader Harold Wilson, who passed the Race Relations Act in 1965 outlawing discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins. This legislation was extended in the 1968 and 1976 Race Relations Acts, and subsequently amended by the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 and superseded by the Equality Act 2010.

In the wake of the boycott campaign, the Bristol Omnibus Company revoked its colour bar on 28 August 1963, the same day as Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. 

Paul went on to work for the Commission for Racial Equality and set up the Bristol Black Archives Partnership which promotes the history of African-Caribbean people in Bristol. Paul is a Freeman of the City of Bristol and was awarded an OBE in 2009. In 2017 he received a Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award. 

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-degrees/hondeg14/stephenson.html 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/paul-stephenson-who-is-bristol-707262 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/paul-stephenson-bristol-civil-rights-698560 

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/

·       A GCSE sociology textbook which claims that fathers and husbands are “largely absent” from Caribbean families has been withdrawn.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/racist-gcse-sociology-book-has-stopped-being-sold_uk_5bbb2f65e4b01470d0530387?utm_hp_ref=uk-news

·       In response to a petition calling for Black History to be made a mandatory element of the national curriculum in 2014, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government said that the current curriculum provides “plenty of scope for black history to be covered”.

https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/60635

·       Under a ‘back-to-basics’ shake-up of the curriculum, then Education Secretary removed Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole and former black slave Olaudah Equiano from the curriculum, who were introduced into the curriculum in 2007 under Labour. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254705/Gove-faces-war-equality-activists-axes-Labours-PC-curriculum-dropped-greatest-figures-history-lessons-Leaked-drafts-new-history-curriculum-emerge.html 

https://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/open-letter-rt-michael-gove-mp

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9790633/Will-Goves-posh-white-blokes-history-curriculum-ignore-women.html

·       In an article to mark Black History Month, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Women and Equalities Dawn Butler MP said: “It is no secret that I would eventually like to get to a point where we do not need Black History Month; a point when our history is not confined to 31 days, when all our shared history is celebrated, taught and recognised equally”. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/black-history-month-2018-slavery-interrupted-history-windrush-african-caribbean-heritage-a8571591.html

·       Labour will consult on the structure of the Emancipation Educational Trust with businesses, charities, academics and other with an interest in and knowledge of the slave trade while Labour is in Opposition, with a view to having the Trust ready to launch when Labour is in government.

·       Imran Khan, executive member of the Conservative Muslim Forum and a former Conservative councillor, writing in 2011, said: “The sooner black and Asian history is told loudly and clearly, the more quickly we can all benefit as a united nation”. 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/michael-gove-air-brushing-black-people-out-history

·       Jeremy Corbyn was one of 123 MPs who called for war hero Walter Tull to be awarded the Military Cross earlier this year.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/mps-demand-theresa-award-black-12235388