Celebrating British
st
Culture in the 21
Century
Being equal doesn’t mean being the
same. For equality to work all people –
men, women, black, brown – must feel
they are valued and not treated
unfairly
Our Problem
‘Britain is not and never has been a homogenous
and unified whole’ (Parekh, 2000)
We feel;
• Lack of understanding and communication
between different cultures creates a breeding
ground for racism and racist discourse
• This is further enhanced by a lack of awareness
regarding the nature of British culture today
and how such culture was formed
Our experience as university students has made
us realise that there is a lack of understanding
or knowledge about the:
• The racial and cultural history of Britain
- The chronology of the emergence of the
multi-ethnic society we live in
- Major events such as; the history of the British
Empire and arrival of the Empire Windrush in
1948 which shed light on the reasons we live
in the society we live in today.
How to overcome this issue?
We feel;
• Secondary school education should be revised
to incorporate vital parts of British and world
history.
• Further emphasis on religious studies
• Therefore encouraging a greater
understanding of the world we live in, the
cultures that surround us and people we live
along side.
By doing this we wish to
challenge intrinsic notions of
‘otherness’ and ‘social
difference’
However we are aware that
changing the curriculum is not an
easy or achievable feat.
Therefore we propose…
Plan of Action
Each term, secondary schools across the country
should dedicate a day to this topic,
British Cultural History
A series of lessons from visitors and teachers
which educate British racial, religious and
cultural history and celebrate Britains ethnic
and cultural diversity.
Other elements
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Music
Mixture of different foods
Religious education
Guest speakers
Workshops
This project must be taken cautiously and
sensitively
But our overall aim is to try and dispel the
omission of race related history in schools.
To educate and celebrate with young people,
the multicultural society with live in
‘Britain needs to be, certainly “one nation” but
understood as a community of communities
and a community of citizens’ (Parekh, 2000)
That is what this project aims to do.