1988 – South Wales
In 1988, As a 17 year old white kid from Pontardawe, with an Irish mother and Scottish father, another world opened to me when the Long Island New York rap group, Public Enemy released their second album “It Takes a Nations of Millions to Hold us back”. I will never forget the thrill of going to London on a 6th form school trip to visit Regent Park Mosque in July 1988 as part of my A level RE course and then in our two hours of designated free time, bombing down on the tube to Oxford Circus to visit the famous REDS record shop in Soho to buy the album on US import. I remember being on the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Summer course in 1988 and my claim to fame is getting a fellow member who was two years older than me from Baglan in Port Talbot, a then young aspiring actor called Michael Sheen (shameless name drop) into Public Enemy. I played it non-stop in room A on the record player in Dan-y-Coed education centre in West Cross, Swansea. He wanted a copy of it immediately.
Public Enemy played Newport Leisure centre in November 1988 with Run DMC. It is ridiculously hard to associate legendary giants of Hip Hop with the former venue of the Welsh snooker championship, but as Max Boyce says, “I Know Cos I Was There”.
Flavor Flav bounced on stage, with gigantic clock bouncing round his neck asking, “Are we in England?”
The crowd replied back “No.”
Flavor Flav was immediately corrected by Professor Griff (a member of the group, not a Welsh university academic) and informed Flav that he was in Wales and not in England. He apologised for “dissing” us. However, we all thought it was hilarious.
Public Enemy live was more than just a live concert. It was an anti-racist educational event. In between songs, frontman Chuck D, would lecture to a racially mixed young South Wales audience. He would explain what an Afrocentric view was, that historically homo sapiens originated from Africa and therefore as humans we were more united than divided. This was not surprising. Chuck D was a Graphic design graduate of Adelphi University in Long Island, New York. He was also educated by former members of the Black Panther Party in black history and politics at summer camps for black youths.
As we punched our arms and nodded our Kangol cap clad heads to “Don’t Believe the Hype” and “Rebel Without a Pause,” little did we know that a month later, on 7th December 1988, South Wales police would arrest, Stephen and Tony Miller, Yusef Abdullahi, Ronnie Actie, Rashid Omar, Martin Tucker. John Actie and Tony Paris for the murder of Cardiff prostitute, Lynette White. An arrest and subsequent court case that would lead to one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Welsh history and expose the institutional racism of South Wales Police.
Curriculum for Wales – Lack of clarity could lead to a lack of diversity.
The Anti-racist Wales Action Plan was published in June 2022. The plan is relevant to education in Wales as as it aims to ensure that the curriculum is anti-racist.
Wales prides itself on becoming the first UK nation to make teaching of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic histories and experiences mandatory in the school curriculum, across all subjects, not just history. The Welsh Government have designated a curriculum review group, The “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities Contributions and Cynefin Framework in the New Curriculum”. The working Group noted the lack of clarity in the Curriculum for Wales in its Interim report in 2020.
“Without a full list of prescribed topics in the new Curriculum for Wales and the autonomy of schools in designing their own curricula within a national framework, there is a risk these themes continue to be ignored or marginalised. While learning about diversity, identity and belonging, justice and equality, rights and social action will be mandatory in schools’ curricula, there is no statutory requirement to teach specific topics of central understanding to the histories of racism and diversity, for example, the histories of slavery or the Holocaust. This is of concern.” (2)
Therefore, if the knowledge we hope pupils to acquire to inspire their thinking is not specific enough, then essentially schools can choose whatever knowledge they want to teach. Some schools with the relevant expertise will enable the pupils to explore hundreds of years of Black history in relation to Wales and the wider world within their curriculum, However, other schools may just bolt on a stand-alone unit on the life of Dr Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks for a half term. Both Schools could claim they are teaching Black history. Yet the pupil’s knowledge of Black history will vary considerably.
In September 2022, a Welsh government spokesperson interviewed by ITV said
“Teachers will be able to design lessons around topics of their choosing. For example, pupils might learn about Betty Campbell MBE, an inspiring activist, and Wales’ first black headteacher, and Abdulrahim Abby Farah from Barry, the Deputy Secretary General for the United Nations who played an important role in the talks to free Nelson Mandela.” (3)
Note that the Welsh Government spokesperson said “Teachers will be able to design lessons around topics of their choosing. For example, pupils might learn…” Surely if you want to have young people in Wales becoming informed citizens of Wales and the world then pupils will, not might, have knowledge of Betty Campbell specified clearly within a coherent curriculum with a specific year group.
In September 2022, the Welsh school’s inspectorate “Estyn” released a report entitled Welsh and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic history and culture: a state of the nation report.
A minority of schools include Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic histories in their curriculum. Topics focus on international history and cultural diversity in countries other than Wales. Very few schools teach pupils about the contribution of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic individuals and communities to the history of Wales. (4)
A knee jerk reaction would be to say that it is the teacher’s fault, but it is not their fault. The Curriculum is at fault and needs clarity not ambiguity from the Welsh Government.
The Curriculum is not clear enough to be anti-racist.
Christine Counsell has been a leading curriculum developer in history for the past decade.
“Curriculum is content structured as narrative over time. Once we start thinking about content structured as a narrative we really get somewhere. A narrative (think novel, film, symphony, song …) is full of internal dynamics and relationships that operate across varying stretches of time. (5)
The Curriculum for Wales lacks clarity and is far too ambiguous and vague. I will outline two examples below from the Humanities AOLE (Area of learning Experience) and the Languages, Literacy and Communication AOLE.
Humanities
Here is an example of one of the “What Matters statement” from Humanities AOLE
Human societies are complex and diverse, and shaped by human actions and beliefs. Our natural world is diverse and dynamic, influenced by processes and human actions.
The “What matters Statement” should be then followed with subject and content specific mandatory guidance for teachers. For example, it needs to include guidance such as this.
Obviously, these are just my examples. As Christine Counsell says, we would have to look at the curriculum content structured over time.
The following example from the Curriculum for Wales is of a “Descriptions of learning” at progression step 4 (Age 11-14) on the humanities AOLE. They are there to provide guidance on how learners should progress within each statement of what matters as they progress through the curriculum.
I can analyse and explain the diverse stories, beliefs, and experiences of people in societies in my locality and in Wales, as well as in the wider world.
Explain why the convictions of Yusef Abdullahi, Stephen Miller and Tony Paris in 1989 was a miscarriage of Justice and evidence of institutional racism in the South Wales police force.
Languages, Literacy and Communication
Here is an example of one of the “What Matters statement” from Languages, Literacy and Communication AOLE
Literature fires imagination and inspires creativity.
The “What matters Statement” should be followed with subject and content specific mandatory guidelines. For example,
“English literature – All pupils in Wales at Year 9 will read a book from a Black Welsh author”.
The following example of “Descriptions of learning” at progression step 4 (Age 11-14) on languages, literacy and communication are to provide guidance on how learners should progress within each statement of what matters as they progress through the curriculum.
I can appreciate literature, showing empathy and understanding that literature can be interpreted differently.
Yet again, it is too vague. It lacks specificity, it can be interpretated in so many ways. If we intend to have an anti-racist curriculum, then I think a more effective description of learning would look like this.
Describe how Professor Charlotte Williams in her memoir “Sugar and Slate” explores her mixed-raced identity, and what it means to be Black and Welsh.
Describe how Eric Ngalle Charles in his book “Asylum” explains what it is like to be an asylum seeker in Wales.
In conclusion
It is the responsibility of the Welsh Government and legislature, Lynne Neagle, and her education advisers to ensure that an anti-racist curriculum is specific, knowledge content rich and gives clear guidelines to teachers in Wales on what to teach and what our young people need to learn. It needs to be specific. These statements are clear for the teacher and there is no room for misinterpretation. As E.D Hirsch says,
“The alternative to specificity is vagueness, which sounds virtuous , because it imposes nothing in particular”.
We have a duty as a nation to make sure miscarriages of Justice in Wales such as the “Cardiff 3” must never happen again by making sure that these stories,contributions and histories are taught throughout the revised Curriculum for Wales. The pupils that we teach may become the future police officers of tomorrow and they must know objectively that racism and discrimination is wrong and an affront to the dignity of all humanity.
This blog is written in memory of Yusef Abdullahi and Tony Paris.
REFERENCES
- https://www.voice-online.co.uk/black-british-voices/2023/09/29/time-to-bin-bame/
- https://www.gov.wales/working-group-black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-communities-contributions-and-cynefin-new-curriculum
- https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-09-22/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-black-history-curriculum-in-schools
- https://www.gov.wales/estyn-thematic-report-welsh-and-black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-history-and-culture-government
- (https://thedignityofthethingblog.wordpress.com)
- https://dianeravitch.net/2013/09/03/e-d-hirsch-jr-what-am-i-trying-to-sell/
Welsh Government documents
Quid est veritas 
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