Home » World News » Troy Deeney demands more ethnic minority history in school curriculum

Troy Deeney demands more ethnic minority history in school curriculum

23/02/2022

Birmingham City captain Troy Deeney writes open letter to government to demand national curriculum includes more history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minorities in Britain

Striker believes the current curriculum is failing children from ethnic minorities
His letter to Nadhim Zahawi included details of his own struggles in school
Deeney says ‘eerie quiet seems to have descended on national cultural debate’
He was driving force behind players’ decision to take the knee before matches

Footballer Troy Deeney has written an open letter to the Government, demanding the national curriculum includes more history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minorities in Britain.

Deeney – who was a driving force behind Premier League players’ decision to take the knee before matches in their fight against racism – believes the current curriculum is failing children from ethnic minorities.

He commissioned a YouGov survey which found the majority of British teachers think the school system has a racial bias and only 12% said they feel empowered to teach diverse topics.

The father-of-four’s open letter to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi included details of his own struggles in school where he was expelled at the age of 15 and told by one teacher he would die before his 26th birthday.

Deeney, who has been a professional footballer for the last 15 years, has been encouraged by the Welsh Government, which will have a new curriculum framework in place from September where the stories of black, Asian and ethnic minority people will be taught.

‘I believe the current system is failing children from ethnic minorities,’ he said in his open letter.

Footballer Troy Deeney (pictured taking the knee for Watford in 2020) has written an open letter to the Government, demanding the national curriculum includes more history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minorities in Britain

The 33-year-old struggled with his identity growing up, feeling ‘neither white enough for the white kids or black enough for the black kids’ after having a black Jamaican father and a white mother with Irish heritage

Troy Deeney: The footballer once jailed for affray who is now a leading anti-racism campaigner

Born in Birmingham in 1988, Troy Deeney has often spoken of his difficult upbringing, which included a visit from social services after he and his mother were assaulted by his father, a drug dealer.

He has also recalled stories of his father picking him up from football with a man locked in the boot of his car.

The 33-year-old was expelled from school aged just 15, and while he later returned to education, he left without any GCSEs – until 2012 when he earned qualifications in English, Science and Maths. Teachers also told him his behaviour would likely see him dead before his 26th birthday.

His football career began at non-league Chelmsley Town, before moving on to Walsall and then Watford, where the striker made himself a household name.

Famously, he scored a last minute winner to send the Hornets to Wembley and, ultimately, the Premier League in 2013 – just seconds after goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved a penalty at the other end.

The previous year, however, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for taking part in a savage attack on a group of students outside a nightclub.

Deeney was caught on CCTV as he kicked one of the victims in the head during a night out. The striker, who pleaded guilty to affray, was arrested shortly after the fracas, which left one man with a broken jaw and another requiring 20 stitches to a mouth wound. He was released from jail after serving three months inside.

The forward, now at Birmingham City, cited his grief surrounding his father’s death from cancer in May 2012 as a reason for the behaviour leading to his arrest.

In recent years, he has become known as an outspoken figure, speaking passionately about issues such as race and equality.

He was a driving force behind Premier League players’ decision to take the knee before matches – a gesture designed to be a symbol of unity against all forms of racism and discrimination.

But he revealed last year how he had to intervene in a meeting between league captains and executives to force a conversation on the issue.

The topic, written on the agenda for the meeting, was almost entirely overlooked because others on the call ‘didn’t want to provoke an uncomfortable conversation’.

But Deeney told the group over Zoom: ‘Actually, I’ve got a huge problem. What do we think about this, why are we not saying this, why are we not doing that, why for the NHS do we do this, this and this but for race we can’t do that? Eight minutes later I’m like “that’s me done”.

‘Next thing you see, [Manchester City captain] Kevin De Bruyne’s popped up, “Troy’s absolutely spot on, I’m with Troy”. [Liverpool captain] Jordan Henderson, [Everton captain] Seamus Coleman, before you knew it I had all the teams saying, “I’m with Troy.”‘

Meanwhile, Deeney’s wife helped design the BLM badge that was emblazoned on shirt sleeves in games played during the first lockdown in 2020.

Deeney now captains Birmingham City, the club he supported as a boy, and has also spoken recently of his belief that there is at least one gay player in every football team.

He told Louis Theroux’s Grounded podcast he thinks gay footballers are worried about shouldering the responsibility of publicly coming out but feels one doing so would lead to masses following their lead.

‘I’ve found I’m not the only one to feel strongly about this subject – over the past 18 months or so, nearly 400,000 people have signed petitions calling for changes to be made to mandate more diversity on to the national curriculum and numerous debates have been conducted in Parliament.

‘Yet the teaching of black, Asian and ethnic minority histories and experiences in schools still remains optional and your Government’s stock response has been that the topics are already there and it is down to teachers and schools to teach them.

‘Mr Zahawi, I urge you – as Secretary of State for Education – to review this topic again and make the teaching of black, Asian and minority ethnic histories and experiences mandatory throughout the school curriculum.’

In June, a report commissioned by Penguin and the Runnymede Trust found fewer than 1% of candidates for GCSE English literature answered a question in 2019 on a novel by an author from an ethnic minority background.

The Education Secretary months later applauded the efforts of teachers who were using more diverse text in classes but insisted he was against ‘pushing any sort of agenda on children’ with regard to topics such as Black Lives Matter, which was responsible for a number of solidarity protests in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in the United States.

Only last week Mr Zahawi was behind guidance published by the Government on political impartiality in schools which added that campaign groups such as Black Lives Matter may cover ‘partisan political views’.

Deeney added: ‘Nearly two years on from the death of George Floyd and the tidal wave of outrage that followed, an eerie quiet seems to have descended on national cultural debate, the issues raised have receded from the news agenda, and, if we are to believe the conclusions of the Sewell Report, the UK does not have a systemic problem with racism at all.

‘Yet in that time both myself and my family have continued to experience vile racist abuse on social media and, at times, in public, emboldening me even further to use my platform to keep the conversation at the forefront of people’s minds, campaign for change and not to let this movement and its momentum just fade away.’

‘As the proud father of four children, three of which are currently in the education system, this topic has moved front and centre in my own life,’ he said.

‘I have seen more and more how important it is for my children to be able to see themselves represented in what they are being taught and learn about the contribution and background of people who look like them.

‘The importance of education at an early age to inform identity and combat racist beliefs and stereotypes cannot be understated.’

Earlier this month, Deeney commissioned a YouGov survey which found that 54% of 1,107 teachers polled said they believe the national curriculum has a racial bias, and 72% think the Government should do more to support the teaching of cultural diversity.

Among the ethnic minority teachers surveyed, 93% said they think there is a racial bias in the current school system.

‘As the findings show, despite your Government’s assertations that diverse topics are already in place on the curriculum and sufficient teacher training is provided, clearly that is not enough and the support and desire to do more is there,’ he said in his open letter to Mr Zahawi.

‘It can be done – we have seen that in Wales, who have recently become the first UK nation to make the teaching of black, Asian and minority ethnic histories and experiences compulsory across the school curriculum.

‘It is for these reasons that I want to reignite this conversation and put it back on the agenda.’

The father-of-four’s open letter to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi (pictured) included details of his own struggles in school where he was expelled at the age of 15 and told by one teacher he would die before his 26th birthday

Deeney – who has often spoken of his difficult past, which included him and his mother being assaulted by his drug-dealing father and a prison sentence of his own for taking part in a savage attack on a group of students outside a nightclub – has become a prominent anti-racism campaigner in recent years.

But he revealed last year how he had to intervene in a meeting between Premier League captains and executives to force a conversation on the issue.

The topic, written on the agenda for the meeting, was almost entirely overlooked because others on the call ‘didn’t want to provoke an uncomfortable conversation’.

Meanwhile, Deeney’s wife helped design the BLM badge that was emblazoned on shirt sleeves in games played during the first lockdown in 2020.

Deeney now captains Birmingham City, the club he supported as a boy, and has also spoken recently of his belief that there is at least one gay player in every football team.

While football is widely acknowledged to have come a long way in fighting racism since the particularly grim days of the 1980s, the sport has been marred by a series of recent high profile incidents.

Most notably during the European Championships last summer when Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho – all black players – were racially abused on social media after missing key penalties for England in their defeat to Italy in the final at Wembley.

Manager Gareth Southgate hugs Bukayo Saka after he missed his penalty, that sparked an torrent of foul online abuse now revealed to be mainly from racists abroad

Boris Johnson and Prince William were among those to condemn the mindless racists who bombarded the footballers with monkey, gorilla and banana emojis last summer.

But a BBC investigation later revealed the vast majority of those who sent racist abuse were not from the UK at all.

Most were non-Britons living abroad, many with far-right sympathies, including trolls in Russia, across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The racist abuse in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final saw England labelled a ‘racist country’ with an ‘ingrained culture of intolerance’, some claimed was made worse by Britain leaving the EU.

While some said the BBC investigation disproved this suggestion, there have still been further incidents in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Barnet’s players were locked in a remarkable row with their club over an allegation that a member of their coaching staff made a racist comment.

It was alleged the coach’s comment was made during the team’s recent home defeat by Stockport at the Hive London and was aimed at visiting player Ryan Johnson. The claim is that the 25-year-old defender was called a ‘monkey’.

The fallout saw Barnet’s players request that the member of staff involved in the alleged incident not attend training the following Monday.

Meanwhile, police probes were launched recently amid claims black pundits such as Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand have also been racially abused.

And at the end of December, a fan was the subject of an investigation by Norwich City after alleged racist comments were directed at Crystal Palace players during their 3-0 defeat at Selhurst Park.

The club also reported online racist abuse aimed at some of their own players to Norfolk Police and pledged to impose ‘the strongest possible sanctions against perpetrators of this behaviour’.

It was announced at the end of last year that racist online trolls and people committing other football-related abuse face a match ban of up to ten years.

They will be barred from attending matches under extended ban orders, which are already available for violent thugs and those convicted of racist or homophobic chanting.

Home Secretary Priti Patel pressed ahead with the measure in the wake of the abuse directed at Saka, Rashford and Sancho after the Euro 2020 final.

Source: Read Full Article