Controversially, some have argued, that the problem with the current iteration of anti-racism, as it is articulated in public policy discourse, by those in establishment and some activist spaces in the UK, is that it has remained very much like previous iterations―incredibly disjointed, oversimplified, disconnected from real black lives, and contagiously reactive. This remains true, even while provoked by unprecedented events that unfolded in America (in 2020), in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.

Ironically, some might question the overzealous top-down reactions to Floyd’s death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, in contrast to the tepid ways in which the powers that be, have reacted historically to the impact of racism in similar circumstances, on black lives here in the UK.  Particularly, the lives of young black boys, who have  historically experienced disproportionate numbers of school exclusions, and have also fallen foul of racial profiling, deaths in police custody — and as young men, continue to be over-represented in the prison system. 

For example, Black men are 26 percent more likely than white men to be remanded in custody. They are also nearly 60 percent more likely to plead not guilty. There is also evidence that  “Black And minority Ethnic (BAME) and foreign national women can have distinctly different experiences or outcomes at some stages of the Criminal Justice System in comparison to other offenders, and that these may differ between faiths and cultures” (Tackling Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: 2020 Update).  

Generally, government figures on pupil exclusion for 2020, show that Gypsy and Roma, and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils had the highest school exclusion rates (both permanent and temporary) in the 2017 to 2018 school year, while Mixed White and Black Caribbean and Black Caribbean pupils, also had high exclusion rates, and were both nearly 3 times as likely to be permanently excluded as White British pupils.

The oft-cited correlation between the pernicious and harmful effects of institutional racism with the disproportionate numbers of black boys being excluded from schools, have dominated studies in the UK. They have tended to overshadow more nuanced accounts of the cluster of  factors linked to “out of school causes.” 

In a recent response to a report produced by the education department called Getting it, Getting it right, Tony Sewell and Tracy Reynolds, in critiquing “the easy route of blaming institutional racism”,  have highlighted this imbalance:

“Black Caribbean exclusions are three times higher than white. What the report fails to mention is that black Caribbean exclusions are also three times higher than black African exclusions.  The clear ‘out of school’ difference is family and culture; black African fathers are present in their families much more than those from a black Caribbean background.  This leads to significant behavioural outcomes, particularly with boys.”

It is worth noting that UK born Africans and those of Caribbean descent make up 1.1% of the population, with the largest ethnic group being Pakistani. Significantly, in terms of educational attainment, West Africans achieve better GCSE results, better university entrance, and advanced level scores. And as Sewell and Reynolds note, West Africans are indeed, less likely to be excluded from school than Caribbean and white boys.

In this episode, we continue with our focus on communities. My guest today — young black- British Nigerian, Misheal Obuzua, shares with us his own unique testimony and faith journey, and how he overcame the intersecting factors that were the outworking of his own personal experience of racism, in the educational system. Misheal, the son of a Pastor, speaks eloquently of his experience of prodigality. his journey from the streets — having drifted away from his parents Christian faith — to the kingdom.