Britain's white working-class should not indulge in racial victimhood

Telegraph

3 days ago

With Labour Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson declaring that it is a national disgrace that white working-class children in Britain are being 'written off' by society, how do we get to the bottom of the underachievement which characterises this cohort?
What must be resisted is indulging in racial victimhood. Many of the barriers to white-British working-class achievement in the education system are social and cultural. Within more traditional-minded ethnic minorities, families are more likely to be intact and have a strong educational ethos (this is certainly true for many of Britain's high-performing Indian, Chinese, and Nigerian communities).
Civic associations within such communities continue to flourish, with places of spirituality and worship providing an uplifting sense of belonging.
Intergenerational connectedness is key to young people's personal development. Growing up in my Bedfordshire hometown of Luton, whether it was at the local newsagents or the Asian greengrocers, my community 'elders' would take an interest in how I was performing at school, college, and university (and now in my professional life).
Not only does this make a young person feel valued, it provides a healthy pressure where one does not want to disappoint one's own parents, but also wishes to avoid potential embarrassment in the wider local community.
Personal pride and family honour are important in this context. Sadly, these social structures and cultural dynamics are virtually non-existent in many left-behind communities in Britain.
There are several practical interventions which can be made – but change will not take place overnight. England remains one of the most inter-regionally imbalanced nations in the industrialised world. Regional economics and underinvestment in deindustrialised towns is a problem that needs to be fixed. Building up a local stock of high-quality teachers and maintaining them in impoverished areas will remain a major challenge, unless there is a genuine 'levelling up' of the country.
This needs to be complemented with ensuring the value of vocational training and apprenticeship options which should act as springboards to higher education. The building of positive relationships between schools and families – especially in cases where parents had personally negative experiences with the education system and have a lack of confidence in it – is vital.
There is also no harm in having a national curriculum which highlights England's anti-racist, working-class traditions – whether it was the 1862 Manchester revolt (where mill workers refused to work with American cotton in solidarity with the US's black slaves) or the 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge (which saw pub landlords resist the effort of American commanders to introduce a 'colour bar' in the Lancastrian village).
Surely this would be more beneficial to teach in cities such as Salford and towns like Blackpool, instead of the pseudo-intellectual theories of 'white privilege' which spread like wildfire during the era of BLM-mania?
White working-class underachievement in the English education system is driven by a myriad of factors – economic, social, and cultural. It is crucial that this issue does not descend into the politics of grievance – more than ever, serious policies are needed to enable and empower young people to fulfil their potential.