What it means to be black in a British boarding school

“If I carry it every day, it will break me... In a way you’re made to feel like you’re lucky because you’re not in America.”

– Prathia* (Brighton College, 2007 – 2009)

Racism is a central problem in the western world, but many still deny its existence in the UK. Modern, structural racism is insidious, but before it can be eliminated it must be understood. Boarding schools are a British institution. They are a rite of passage for the elite of this country. The relationships, world views, and ultimately the education that is gained in boarding schools is increasingly important to analyse especially when considering how many of the leaders and policy makers of our country attended these schools. Understanding how complex and widespread the problem is the first step in abolishing structural racism for good.

The Sutton Trust found that Britain’s most influential people are five times more likely to have been to private school. Influential people that attended private school include members of the government, judges, lawyers, armed forces officers, MPs, Whitehall permanent secretaries, and top CEOs. Additionally, The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission found in 2019 that ‘class privilege remains entrenched’, and so it becomes glaringly obvious that privilege is concreted in the very foundations of our society. School years are the most formative of a person’s life, and as a result, we need to be doing more at this age to stamp out racist thought, ideology and abuse. Debunking the negative stereotypes and narratives that lead to racism is key. This is necessary to ensure that anti-racism ideology penetrates this bubble and is fed down from the upper echelons of society. 

To establish a clear picture of the extent of racism in boarding schools, we spoke to 30 black and mixed-race people that attended some of the top private boarding schools in the UK, these include Marlborough College, Harrow School, Eton College, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Shrewsbury School, Charterhouse School, Stowe School, Brighton College, St. Margret’s School, Edge Grove School, New Hall School, Winchester College, Oundle School, The King’s School, Canterbury and Kent College Canterbury. We asked these individuals about their experiences of racism at school from teachers, the school itself, and their fellow students.

It became ever more evident from conducting these interviews that the black experience is not monolithic. But it is useful to note that similar themes, experiences and feelings were felt by all, and whilst not every individual claimed to have experienced direct racism they did acknowledge that on reflection covert racism flourished in these schools.

“It was sink or swim.”

– Dora (Marlborough, 2007 – 2012)

Boarding school is a microculture

Attending boarding school is a unique and alternative experience, which can have a huge long-term impact on students. At a very young-age children move out of the family home and are required to establish entirely new social networks in an environment that some have described as harsh. The majority of our interviewees conveyed that racism was not the only injustice that occurred in their school, as homophobia, sexism and ‘general’ bullying were also rife. Dora described her time at Marlborough as “emotional openness. People didn’t really talk about mental health that much. Two of my friends left the school for sixth form because of the bullying. All of the boys in my year actually had to go and have a talk about sexism because the bullying and sexism had got so bad. But [otherwise] it wasn’t something that the teachers regularly spoke about. It wasn’t something that was prioritised – people’s happiness. It wasn’t an easy place to be happy… it was sink or swim.”

When questioned on the prominence of racism in his school, and whether he discussed it with other black students at Charterhouse at the time, Kwaku replied that the conversation would have been as pointless as discussing “how wet this water is”. It was constant and widespread. As the first black student to attend Harrow School in the 1970s, Michael was aware that his skin colour made him conspicuously different. Consequently, on the relatively few occasions when racially-motivated jibes from other boys came his way, he was left in no doubt that they were aimed at him. However, the type of racism experienced more recently in British boarding schools is so insidious that students are left questioning their own sanity as to whether it is even happening or not.

A number of our interviewees likened their experience of racism to gaslighting, both in schools and in the wider world. During recent discussions following the death of George Floyd, Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College, 2007 - 2009) has had white people say to her, “he did have a criminal record though…” as if to justify his execution. When black people speak up about the racism that they have experienced they are posed with questions from their white counterparts such as, “Are you sure that’s what it was about though?”, “Was it actually about skin colour?”, “I don’t think that was to do with racism”. The black experience must not be undermined. It is time to stop asking black people to justify how they feel, and to instead just listen.

“It was always very intimidating being the only black person in sight. It wasn’t direct abuse, I just felt like forever an outsider.”

- Kwame (Eton, 2011 – 2016)

Being the minority  

To be black in the UK is to be in the minority. This is a lived reality that white people in the UK never have to consider. However, for black people this feeling of being ‘the other’ is commonplace and heavily contributes to how they feel at school, especially when on the receiving end of racism, ‘banter’ or bullying. Former Kent College Canterbury student, Nelson* (2014 – 2018), said on this “you can’t say anything because you are massively outnumbered. You either have to lose your identity to fit in or you get looked at as that guy who is anti-social because he isn’t comfortable with that sense of humour.” Similarly, a current student at Stowe school, Walter* (2018 – present), said that “it’s hard to defend yourself because you don’t know who will support you.” Wole* (Charterhouse, 2005 - 2010) explained of the bullying culture at boarding school, “because it was so normalised you didn’t feel comfortable [enough] to challenge it.”

As black people are already on the periphery, it is clear that if they were to highlight their unhappiness with the status quo, making it known that they are uncomfortable with the jokes being shared, they would potentially further exclude themselves from their peers.

“I was shocked to find out that one of my teachers reported me for being ‘intimidating’ when I was one of the quietest in the class.”

- an anonymous friend of Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College, 2007 – 2009)

There is a commonly uttered phrase about a group of black people looking ‘intimidating’ or ‘aggressive’. There were countless examples from our interviewees of them and their black friends being told to disperse because of how it made their white counterparts feel. It is evident that this same consideration is not applied to black people when they are entering a room with a sea of white faces.

Black students such as Walter* (Stowe, 2018 – present) received comments from white students asking why all the black guys are sitting together at lunch, and were visibly annoyed that they would want to sit together at all. Yet more students, such as Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College) recall specific occasions when teachers would break up groups of black girls as they “looked intimidating” whilst on their lunch break. Nefe who also attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College told us that her housemistress would break up the black girls when they were simply conversing with one another as they looked like they were “getting up to stuff”, a clear example of persecution, daily harassment and microaggressions.

“Black was not a colour, it was a personality trait.”

– Malcom* (Harrow School, 2010 – 2016)

Stereotypes and incorrect assumptions

Some of the people that we spoke to told us that they were the first black person that their peers had ever encountered, and so they were painted with an abundance of stereotypes. There are two facets to stereotyping at boarding schools, the more prominent being of what black people are like, and the other of what Africa is like. Interviewees implied that their teachers are more detrimental to the latter, but it is with both that they have significant influence and could work to positively shape white students’ perception and understanding of black culture.

Black students are often met with the reputation of being good at sports. However, the common stereotypes still prevail: black people can’t swim, they run really fast, they play basketball, they can dance really well. Booker*, a former student of Harrow school (2014 – 2016), commented on this, “anything that wasn’t typically ‘black’ was seen as weird’. Nana (2010 – 2015) who also attended Harrow told us, “I was a good swimmer – [white] people were really confused by this. In rugby or football, I was always put into certain positions because they automatically assumed that I was a fast runner.” Former King’s School Canterbury student, Rennie (2006 - 2013), described a stand-out moment of stereotyping, in which she was not invited along with more than 40 of her fellow students on a ski trip for a classmate’s birthday because she thought that “black people did not ski”.

More complex still is the experience of mixed-race people, whereby their ‘blackness’ is regularly questioned. Dora (Marlborough, 2007 – 2012) explained that whilst at school she never felt comfortable with being mixed-race as people assumed a lot about her, including the music she liked and the food she ate, though the people assuming these stereotypes about her never once asked her how she actually felt about it – “I was totally overlooked as a black person”.

Fela (Charterhouse, 2008 – 2010) Illustration: Natalie Hapeshi

Another former Marlborough student, Medgar* (2003 – 2008), recalls a friend saying to him “you’ve become more black since you’ve left school.” He now recognises this to be coming from a place of prejudice, something he did not realise whilst at school. He elaborated, when someone says ‘you talk white’ it generally means that you sound educated.

Further unfounded and frankly lazy stereotypes are parroted by the educators themselves. Many of the negative stereotypes of Africa are rooted in the white saviour complex. The offensive idea that Africa needs ‘saving’ by white people has been around since the days of colonisation. We are bombarded with images of dying, starving black children on adverts on our televisions screen. While this is a very real issue in some countries in Africa, is not an accurate or fair representation of the entire continent. Let us remember that child poverty is a real issue in the UK itself, so it is perplexing how concerned white people are with African matters. British people need to be better educated on this topic, to both understand where these negative stereotypes come from but also that they are fundamentally racist.

Nelson*, a former Kent College Canterbury student (2014 – 2018), recalls when a fellow student didn’t finish his dinner one evening and a teacher said to him “why aren’t you finishing that? There is a poor child in Africa that could have eaten that.” Similarly, Kwame (Eton) recalls debating regularly with a student in his politics class who kept lambasting Africa, claiming that no country there would ever be politically stable. Africa undoubtedly has its issues, but as does every continent with a melting pot of cultures, religions, and people – namely, America.

 “Go back to your shanty town”

– A ‘joke’ from a student to Thurgood* (Eton, 2011 – 2016)

Boarding school banter

 ‘Snowflake’ is a label that has been branded on a whole generation, meaning fickle, over-sensitive, political correctness gone too far. But it is not being oversensitive to take racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic jokes seriously.

‘Jokes’ laden with stereotypes and preconceived ideas about being black were something many of our interviewees experienced. Although, this ‘banter’ was laughed off at the time, it is now understood to be a covert form of racism. Kwaku (Charterhouse, 2002- 2007), said whilst he didn’t experience any direct racist abuse, he did say “all of the stories that I can think of are in that space: lazy jokes and microaggressions. [My blackness] was always available for people to talk about.” He recalls a commonly made joke at him and other black students was “you can’t be a prime minister because you’re black” which was made additionally hurtful by the echoes of laughter from his peers. Dora (Marlborough) recalled a similar scene when someone in her year made a joke about how black people smell because their sweat smells differently to white people. Again, everyone laughed. “I was really taken aback by it. The fact that he would say it in front of me, and no one would even think that it would be personally offensive to me.”

Fela* (Charterhouse, 2008 – 2010) told us of an incident when he was playing football. He bent down to adjust his socks when a teammate ran past shouting “why are you rubbing your ankles? Are your shackles too tight?”. Fela understands that this was intended as a joke, but now on reflection that he sees how far some of these jokes are actually rooted in racism.

“Most of it was probably what you would consider more covert forms of racism. Most of it was probably ignorance”

– Fela* (Charterhouse, 2008 – 2010)

The line between ignorance and racism 

It is worth recalling these incidents occurred amongst children between the ages of 11 – 18. It is understandable that at this age life experience is limited, and interactions with different groups of people is sometimes minimal and so it is commonly believed that a lot of the ‘banter’ and the stereotypes now tagged as racist are likely rooted in ignorance.

We interviewed three women who attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College and the same story was repeated about a mufti day (casual clothes day). This particular year had a theme of Africa and there was an onslaught of stereotypical and ignorant comments from white students. One girl asked how she could “dress up as AIDs?”, another told a black student that she actually “looks like she has AIDs”. There were also multiple instances of blackface. All of this went on with no reprimand, repercussion or even query from the teachers. This is a highly problematic scene both for the fact that this is what Africa was understood to be by the students, but also how their teachers did not dispel any of these perceptions.

Kofi* (Shrewsbury, 2012 – 2017) described ignorant comments as being commonplace. He recalls walking back from dinner one evening and a friend joking that he couldn’t see him as it was too dark. Harriet* (2008 – 2010) who attended Brighton College, said that what she witnessed at school definitely came from a place of ignorance. “As human beings we like to be comfortable. There is a fear of ‘the other’ when someone looks a bit foreign, or they actually are foreign, and some [white] people like to immediately ‘other’ them to make themselves feel more comfortable.”

Whilst at school, Dora (Marlborough) understood racism to be calling “[her] names directly. Because I didn’t really experience this I didn’t think that racism was applicable to me.” Nana (Harrow 2010 – 2015) said that “even [he] would laugh with it too because everyone just saw it as okay.” Two people that we spoke to recalled being called a “kaffa” by a white student, which they didn’t even realise to be a derogatory term used in South Africa by white people to black people. It becomes glaringly apparent that some schools are not providing students, black, white or otherwise, with the tools that they need to understand and combat racism.

Ignorance is a convenient excuse 

The more stories that we heard from these 30 people, the more it became evident that some incidents were not rooted in ignorance. Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College) relayed a story to us that occurred to her friend’s sister, whereby a white student wrote the word slave on her arm. The same girl had another white friend tell her that she would “never know the good life because [she] is black.” These comments have a highly charged racial undertone, and with enough understanding to know that black people were slaves, a choice is being made to communicate in this way.

Nana-Ama (Charterhouse, 2007 – 2009) Illustration: Natalie Hapeshi

Nana-Ama, former Charterhouse student (2007 – 2009), recalls a boy approaching her after Barrack Obama had just won the presidential election in 2008 and said “I hope you don’t think that means you’re going to amount to anything in life.” This is such a loaded statement to make to someone and shows an understanding of race and how it functions in this country – that black people are ‘below’ white people. This boy later went on to become head boy.

Nana-Ama told us another story of when she was at dinner on a large table with students and teachers and after she laughed at a joke, a white student told her that she was “laughing like a gollywog”. Gollywog is a portmanteau of ‘golly’ and ‘polliwog’ and was a largely popular children’s toy in the 1970s which has highly racist connotations along with pickaninnies, minstrels, blackface and other caricatures of black Africans. For a student to know what a gollywog was, they would have also known that it is characterised by black skin, dark eyes, red lips and frizzy hair, and so would have likely known the racist connotations that were attached to it.

Michael (Harrow 1972 – 1975) said that whilst he never experienced direct racism at the school from teachers, he recalls walking to class by the main road and an English man shouted from his car “what’s that black wog doing in Harrow?”. Wog is a shortening of gollywog and this account proves the long history that we have in this country of using it in a negative manner.

A former Edge Grove School student, Bayard* (1999 - 2002), explained that his time at school did cover some aspects of black history. As a way of teaching the children about slavery the film Roots was shown. As the only black boy in his year, Bayard then became known as Kunta Kinte (one of the main characters in the film, an African slave). This went on for months, he received a birthday card that did not feature his own name, instead it was labelled Kunta Kinte. His mother was horrified and eventually the school was made aware. The boys were all forced to apologise and the name calling stopped. It is clear that even when students were being taught of the true horrors of racism, slavery and oppression they make choices that demonstrate racist ideologies.

Prathia* (Brighton College, 2007 – 2009) said “if the future is going to be better, we need it to be [better] from now. People can hide racism or disguise it as ignorance, but there is ultimately a fear of the unknown. You’re doing certain things because of my race. The information is all out there, if you choose not to read it then that is a choice.” Ignorance, in some cases, is just a convenient excuse for perpetuating racist ideologies.

“People would try to call me ‘my n****r’”

 – Hosea*, (Oundle, 2001 – 2005)

The N word

The most shocking discovery during these interviews was the prolific use of the word n****r in boarding schools. N****r is a derogative term that first appeared in the 1800s. It is a manifestation of white on black racism, signifying the hatred that has been historically directed at black people and embodies the stereotype of the ‘lazy, stupid, dirty, worthless body’. Therefore, it is exasperatingly problematic that it is still used so much today.

In the context of boarding school there is an additional layer of privilege, due to the substantial economic wealth that exists in these schools. Nelson* (Kent College Canterbury) told us that he was constantly asked by certain white students why they couldn’t call him n****r. Despite knowing the connotations of the word, the students in question still found it hard to understand why they were not allowed to use it. Kwaku (Charterhouse) said that older boys would just use the word freely in conversation. Kwame (Eton) told us that some white boys would use it in reference to him as freely as they would his own name.

There were two instances that we heard of where this word was used and teachers were aware of it happening, but their response was to do nothing. Richard (Brighton College, 2005 – 2009) looked at his bag when he got to class one day and discovered that someone had stuck a sticker on it which said “know your place n****r”. He was shocked and couldn’t concentrate throughout his class. Eventually he became so frustrated that he stood up in his class and interrupted his teacher, he explained that he had found this sticker on his bag and he was really upset by it and asked the class if they knew who did it. Granted, the teacher allowed him to speak and seemed to respect him for the way that he handled it, but this is where the adult intervention began and ended. Later in the day the boy came forward and apologised to him directly. Richard was never once approached by the teacher asking if he was okay, and the situation was never escalated or brought up again.

The second instance was handled equally as nonchalantly by the teachers. Medgar* (Marlborough) was playing hockey one day when his peer missed a shot. Along with everyone else Medgar laughed. The boy turned around sharply and said “you f*****g n****r”. All of Medgar’s friends heard this and were completely disgusted by the comment, and vilified the boy as a result. The boy was continually berated for days after the event by students who clearly would not tolerate his racism. However, it was Medgar and his friends that were eventually called into the headteacher’s office and they were accused of bullying and influencing the bullying of this boy. The entire situation was explained, and there were even sports teachers present when the racial slur was used, but this act of racism against him was not taken seriously and no reprimand was given. Instead, Medgar and his friends were labelled as bullies and it was never discussed again.

“The fetishisation of black people is still a form of racism.”

– Medgar* (Marlborough)

Understanding the differences

There have been countless accounts from black people on the microaggressions that are centred on their hair, including entire books published on the topic (Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri, Don’t Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller and Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke). Ultimately, black hair is a point of difference, but should not be a point of contention and white people should be better educated in this aspect.

In African cultures, short hair on men is seen as smart and presentable, but in the UK extremely short hair is seen as unprofessional. Schools need to acknowledge that there is a fundamental difference in the characteristics of black hair to ‘white’ hair – it has a different texture and it needs different products to keep it healthy. Kwame (Eton) told us that in his first year at school he got a new haircut which didn’t fit within the school guidelines because it was too short, with no real discussion he was sent home and was not allowed to return to school until it had all grown back.

Kwame also recalls a boy he knew at the school who was Rastafarian, this boy was repeatedly asked by the school to cut away his dreadlocks and he constantly repeated that this was part of his religion and his culture and he could not. Kwaku (Charterhouse) braided his hair one year and on his return a teacher said to him “because I know you it’s fine, but if I didn’t then I would think you were out for trouble.” This is a clear example of a negative stereotype being used and the characterisation of black people as ‘intimidating’.

Both girls and boys that we spoke to recalled of countless occasions of people touching their hair unwarrantedly. Kwame described this as the most common day-to-day problem that he faced – “the constant requests to touch or stroke my hair like it was on display.” Even after reminding his peers that he found it “creepy” and that no, they couldn’t touch his hair, they would do it anyway and at times this led to confrontation. Ewurabena, a former student at St. Margret’s (2003 – 2008), also spoke of people constantly touching her hair at school, which is something that she has seen also in her current workplace. Schools need to update their dress code policy to allow for the fundamental differences that exist between ‘black hair’ and ‘white hair’. But further than this, they need to elevate the level of understanding of these differences, and make a considerable effort to comprehend the cultures of those in their school.

The narrative that black isn’t beautiful appears to be widely felt by black women in particular. Female standards of beauty are significantly higher than men’s, and the pressure on women to fit in and live up to these high standards is felt even more when at school, especially by black girls. Dora (Marlborough) told me how she was eventually coerced into letting her friends straighten her naturally curly hair. “Lots of my friends were fascinated by what I would look like if I had straight hair… I felt really self-conscious with straight hair… I felt like an exhibition.”

Worse still, Dora explained how her situation was exacerbated by the lack of any other black female figures around her (she was the only black person in her year group until sixth form when one other black student joined). She said she had no reference point to show her that her curves were normal. Her bigger thighs were just her body shape, but all she was able to compare herself to were the ‘perfect’, skinny bodies of her white peers. Ewurabena (St. Margret’s) actually found that her school allowed her to embrace her culture more so because she was no longer the only black person in her year, like she was at primary school, and instead was surrounded by other black girls also.

“There was never a fear that there would be repercussions to racism”

– Martin* (Shrewsbury School, 2016 - 2018)

Racism is going on unpunished

There were further stories relayed of when racism occurred at school and the school did not impose an appropriate punishment. Martin* (Shrewsbury) told us of an incident at a football match against another school (King’s Chester). A scuffle broke out amongst some of the players and so he went over to try and calm it down. He was immediately at the receiving end of a comment from a player on the other team: “why don’t you just go back to Africa”. When Martin confronted him later on in the day it was Martin who was told off by teachers. He was told that he was at risk of being suspended. Nothing was said for the boy who made the racist comment.

Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ , 2007 – 2009) Illustration: Natalie Hapeshi

Nelson* (Kent College Canterbury) shared a story with a similar response from his school. A white girl created a post on her Instagram account with the caption expressing how much she “hated all of the n****rs in the school” and how she wished all of the Chinese students at the school would be in a plane crash on their way back to the UK. When teachers were made aware of the post they held an assembly on the issue, which on the surface seems positive. However, Nelson recalls the key messaging being that they are a forgiving school, and although it was an ‘unfortunate incident’ they believed in second chances. This sent out the wrong message to students: racism is okay and will not incur a serious punishment. The girl was later excluded from the school for a separate incident during a sporting event (as far as we are aware this had nothing to do with racism).

Nelson also recalled a teacher at the school who had several students as friends on Facebook, who had images of himself in blackface on his page. Teachers and their social media accounts should be vetted and schools need to make it clear that no form of racism is tolerated.

Many students that attend boarding schools are there from a very young age and so a further layer of responsibility is granted to teachers and they take on an increasingly parental role – especially with younger students when they first arrive at the school.

Rosa* (St. Margret’s, 2005 – 2009) compared her experience at this particular boarding school to child abuse. “It started with the housemistress deciding that she didn’t like me. That I was a bit too boisterous… There was this narrative that I was a problematic, difficult child, who didn’t want to follow the rules, that I was doing all I could to flaunt that. Even my parents were saying that my previous school’s report card said that I was the politest kid at school. Why did she feel like she could pick on me this way?”. Rosa shared countless stories of how she was consistently singled out and picked on by teachers, even once being told by her housemistress that all the teachers were laughing at her, “they’re calling you saggy tights”.

The worst story of racism was not only being allowed to happen by teachers, but was instead instigated by a teacher and was relayed by three separate students of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. There was active segregation in the school house. Each year the housemistress asked the girls to fill out on a piece of paper the names of the other girls that they wanted to have their rooms next to, and each year this was disregarded. The racial segregation became so part of the norm that white students began labelling the floor with black students on as “the ghetto”, the floor with Asian students on as “Chinatown” and the floor with white students on as “the suburbs”. When some of the black students complained to the housemistress about this and asked why they were not with some of their white or Asian friends, she replied “I thought you wanted to be with your people.”

Nefe also recalls the same housemistress calling her a monkey. When she replied, “you do realise that’s racist” the teacher responded that she “just means cheeky… like cheeky monkey”. Nefe replied “why don’t you just call me cheeky then?”.

Acknowledging racism establishes trust

Not all interviewees had negative experiences with their teachers, but it became apparent that positive relationships flourished when a teacher had spent time in Africa (or other), had an active interest in African (or other) culture and history, or just simply understood racism to be a real problem. A broad education is clearly important. Harriet* (Brighton College) felt extremely supported by some of her teachers, and recalls when her housemaster let them all stay up late to watch the election of Barrack Obama in 2008 – which is widely acknowledged as a cultural landmark for people all over the world.

Kofi’s* (Shrewsbury School) housemaster had spent a lot of time in Kenya and so took more of a protective stance over the black boys in his house. He explicitly told them that if they experienced any racial slurs or racism then they were to go straight to him. This is such a simple and easy gesture, but clearly allowed for a level of trust and comfort to grow between the teacher and his black students. Plus, it further proves an in-depth understanding of the deep history of British racism and allows it to be a problem that can be discussed in an open space.

 “The education system needs to be reviewed otherwise there will keep being these cycles of hate.”

– Richard (Brighton College)

Proving an unexpurgated education

There are plenty of resources floating around online at the moment, including books, documentaries, tv shows, films and podcasts all in a bid to allow people to educate themselves on race and racism. But why is the responsibility being placed on the individual? We send children to school to learn about the world and to learn how to interact with people properly, and so it is disconcerting how infrequently race, racism and black history is ever taught at schools in the UK.

Sojourner* (Charterhouse, 2007 – 2009) expressed confusion about the lack of education of different cultures: “it’s hard to believe that at a £40-45,000 a year school, people think that everyone in Africa lives in shanty huts – despite rugby tours to South Africa or safari trips to Zimbabwe.” The families that attend these schools largely pride themselves on being cultured and well-travelled, so it is surprising how truly uncultured and uneducated some tend to be on Africa and other non-white nations.

Some people that we spoke to remember learning a small amount about slavery or the civil rights movement – but usually always in the context of America. There is a further problem here too. Walter* (Stowe School) remembers studying a speech by Martin Luther King in his English class, but it was studied in isolation and without any real context. He spoke about his frustrations at the moment as “people need to understand why black people are angry. People in my school are already making jokes about the Black Lives Matter movement. People are just trying to look good and have been posting their black square on Instagram, but they are the very ones making the jokes.”

Kwame (Eton) pointed out that “people love to perpetuate the fact that Britain was the first country to abolish slavery, when in fact it was Haiti. Conversations would happen even at the breakfast table with boys bragging about how amazing Britain was and all the incredible, positive things that they did with Empire.”

It is important that black history isn’t solely taught as one of slavery and protest. Students need to be provided with positive black role models. Black inventors, black historians, black influencers need to be taught. Schools should be taking advantage of Black History Month and allowing a conversation to start on black culture and black history. Black history is not solely important for black students, but it is a necessary requirement for all students to unlearn the dangerous stereotypes and perceptions that they have of black people.

Boarding schools have further opportunity and responsibility to educate their pupils as they have exclusive control over their lives for so much of the year. As boarding school students live at the school they often have extensive options for extracurricular activities, sports, debating, poetry, talent shows and speeches all of which are still failing to tackle these topics. Booker* notes that there are opportunities in the elective options and the ‘way of life’ sessions at Harrow to talk about race and different cultures, but currently these sessions are used for other topics such as drugs and alcohol.

“There is no point in being in a diverse environment if you are not learning from it. These schools are raising global leaders and so they need to understand global issues.”

– Nefe (Cheltenham Ladies’ College)

Diversity is more than a box to be ticked

Many of the people that we interviewed spoke of this idea that diversity functioned in their school as a box to be ticked. Malcom* (Harrow) highlighted his confusion with how his school “[brings] diversity into old English traditions and it is a mismatch. It doesn’t work.” Perhaps it is time that new traditions are formed, which allow for other cultures to flourish and be celebrated – rather than continuing to glorify the white majority, especially when many of these schools seek out international students and offer scholarship programmes for sport.

Richard explained that one year Brighton College hosted a talent show and so him and his friend (another black student) proposed doing a hip-hop dance together. Later on, his friend proposed a different performance, whereby they would show black people throughout history that have invented things and give a talk on black history. This was not met with enthusiasm from their housemaster, he said it was a bad idea and that people were already looking forward to their dance. Richard felt that his housemaster didn’t want to have to deal with the “awkwardness” and after this incident he grew apart from him as a teacher.

Dora (Marlborough) told us that “whenever the school had photographers in, I was always picked to be in the photographs. I was always in the group if there were special visitors.” This was a common theme, and Rosa* recalled being the one to show visitors around at both Brighton College and St. Margret’s. It is interesting that diversity is something to be praised externally, but no student recalls feeling praised for their difference within the school itself.

“People assume that [I] am the client and not the barrister.”

– Kwaku (Charterhouse)

The perpetuation of racism from school to work

Almost every interviewee described boarding school to be like a “bubble” and something that they had to work hard to get out of when they graduated from their respective school. Kwaku elaborated, “you can go from these schools, to university, to work, to the bar, to parliament and have never changed your environment or the type of people that you surround yourself with.” When students leave school, the bubble is then reinforced at university. Dora (Marlborough College, 2007 – 2012) told us how even when she arrived at the University of Edinburgh to her randomly allocated student accommodation she found herself on a corridor with four other Marlborough students and four boys that attended Eton.

The boarding school bubble then continues to extend throughout a great number of industries. Rennie (The King’s School) has found it similarly challenging to elude the bubble in her career. “Everyone in the art world has been to private school. Boarding school teaches you that you can communicate with everyone… [But] I’ve been to work events and people assume that I am a waiter. People [at work] ask me to translate slang for them.” It is apparent that the negative stereotypes and perceptions described from school years do not simply vanish in adulthood.

Harriet* (Brighton College, 2008 – 2010) told us that the microaggressions that she experienced at school “prepared [her] for what [she] would experience later in life.” As aforementioned, one of the most common microaggressions that black people experience is centred on their hair. The obsession and ignorance with black hair is a part of daily life for many of the people we spoke to. Nefe (Cheltenham Ladies’ College, 2007 – 2009) told us that her manager whilst on the graduate scheme at Deutsche Bank would constantly make references to how unprofessional her hair looked.

Maya* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College, 2007 – 2009) explained that the microaggressions in her workplace actually feel increasingly aggressive when compared to school. One of her colleagues was questioning her hygiene routine and asked “how many times a day do you shower?”, to which she replied “at least once a day – it depends if I go to the gym or not” and the woman said “oh well, your skin is different anyway.” Maya believes that racism has a part to play in why black talent does not get retained or stay on to be in managerial roles.

Dora (Marlborough, 2007 – 2012) said of this, “it’s perpetuating a really damaging and outdated tradition where wealthy people get better jobs and end up earning more money and having more power because they already know people in government.” The ideas of power, wealth and privilege are so central to this discussion on racism in boarding schools. The stakes are higher when discussing the people that attended these boarding schools as they have an increased opportunity to go on and hold influential positions, and for them to hold racist views like these poses a risk to society.

“These schools are run like a business. They love working out the ways that they can improve, and race is definitely something that they need to work on.”

– Booker* (Harrow)

The path to change

The cost of a boarding school education is the same for each and every student despite their race. However, it appears the quality of education is not as consistent when discussing matters of race and racism. There needs to be improved diversity across the curriculum, with a better image painted of what British colonialism was actually like, students need to learn why it is that some parts of Africa are so heavily impacted by poverty and to know that this is also not a true reflection of the entire continent. Coretta* (Cheltenham Ladies’ College) told us that “after countless questions about mud huts, corruption, pet lions and monkeys … all the black students had to get together to do an assembly for the whole school on how Africa is not a country etc.” The expectation that is placed on black people to educate their white peers on their heritage is shameful, and more needs to be done at both a national level through the curriculum and on an individual basis for each school to ensure that all non-white cultures are represented and discussed appropriately.

Awareness around mental health and wellbeing have seen a huge surge in recent years, with schools, workplaces and the media all making a concerted effort to get the conversation going. Whilst acknowledging that racism is real is the first step in improving the black experience at boarding schools, it is also clear that these schools need to improve the pastoral care provided for black and minority students. Julius* (Winchester College, 2004) agreed with the sentiment of pastoral care: “it’s only going to get better if we can talk about it openly. Having a mentoring system in the school where older students could talk to younger students… a buddy system.” Which is in reality such a simple initiative to introduce, but will have a hugely positive impact.

Some of the people that we spoke to suggested schools should provide their employees with a racial sensitivity training to ensure that teachers know what to do and what to say. Active and open conversation is central to this movement. Kwaku (Charterhouse) suggested that schools could have a committee of BAME alumni that could be used to conduct talks and careers programmes. Wole* (Charterhouse) similarly suggested that having a forum to share these conversations and issues would have made it much easier for him at school. 

 

There is a danger in the wider world if these behaviours continue go unchecked

These suggestions for change should be applied to all schools, state or private, across the country. But the need to change at boarding schools feels more pressing when you remember that in the history of all our prime ministers in the UK, 20 went to Eton, 7 went to Harrow and 6 went to Westminster School. Only 9 of 65 prime ministers were not privately educated.

Our current prime minister, Boris Johnson, previously labelled black Africans as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”. Boris Johnson attended Eton. So, we ask the following questions, is he ignorant? Is he racist? Or is he a victim of the establishment that failed to teach him that comments like that are utterly unacceptable? Change needs to be instilled from the very top of our society, and school is the most logical place to start.

*These names were changed to protect the anonymity of the people that we interviewed.

If you want to share your story or experience of racism at school, please send us an email at: features@flolondon.co.uk

This article was amended on the 9th July 2020 to reflect the experience of Michael more accurately. We previously wrote: As the first black student to attend Harrow School in the 1970s, Michael described the racism at his time in school to be conspicuous and he never had any doubt in his mind that he was being treated differently because of his skin colour. This has been changed to: As the first black student to attend Harrow School in the 1970s, Michael was aware that his skin colour made him conspicuously different. Consequently, on the relatively few occasions when racially-motivated jibes from other boys came his way, he was left in no doubt that they were aimed at him. As Michael conveyed that it was not the racism that was conspicuous at Harrow instead, because of his skin colour he himself was conspicuous.

 Words by Mollie Cohen