Directed by Lyttanya Shannon, SUBNORMAL explores the UK schools scandal, in which over a period of decades Black immigrant children were systematically placed into "special" schools in order to keep them away from White children and deny them an education. In this interview, Steve McQueen talks about why he wanted to do this documentary and his own educational experiences.
From IMDB: "The UK schools scandal through the eyes of Black parents, teachers, and activists who banded together to expose the injustice and force the education system to change." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w81h https://www.amazon.com/Subnormal-Lyttanya-Shannon/dp/B09G9TM2NY
.
.
.
. A note on the very personal impact of this film for me:
In the interview, I also speak about my own experience of being placed into a "special" school in the deep South. Until watching the documentary and asking the question, I didn't realize not only how much that happened to other Black children, but how incomprehensible such cruelty is even looking back on it as an adult.
While I did not have behavioral or educational issues, I was placed in the school for one simple act. A White girl in my class had a real rabbit fur coat, and it was in our classroom closet. And I remember thinking of the fact that I rarely saw real fur coats, and it would be "cool" if my Barbie doll had one. So I tugged to pull a tiny bit of fur off. Little did I know, the different color patches were not connected, and I ended up pulling off an entire patch, exposing the coat material underneath. Another kid saw me, told the teacher. There was no fight, no argument, no yelling and screaming, etc.
I don't remember being punished in class (I'm pretty sure I wasn't), but either later that day or sometime over the following weekend, a teacher I didn't have came to my home. I was playing in the backyard and he told me (quite happily, I remember) that I wouldn't be returning to school and I was being sent to a different one. He went inside; I was scared, but I also wasn't sure I believed him. The worse part about that is he was Black and, as I remember, absolutely despised all of the few Black students in the school.
The other teacher, who was White, maybe felt bad, because I remember that she had the class make cards for me to get well and get back to class soon (I ended up contracting chicken pox at the "special" school). Soon after that, I went to live with my dad and stepmom, both of whom were extremely encouraging about education. To make a long story short, it was an experience that I thought was largely rare, and I had no idea about the schools in the UK and the commonalities there. Both in the United States and abroad, the educational system has at times been used deliberately to disenfranchise Black and other POC students, as well as lower-economic White students. From poor educational practices to harsher punishments for similar acts, to making entire "special" school systems, the same things continue to go on even today under a different face. I was lucky because I was taken out of that situation and my parents prioritized education both in and outside of school. But not everyone has had that. While sharing that was unplanned and unexpected for me, it is a testament to the power of the documentary that shows how UK activists, teachers and parents stood up for not only their own children, but future generations that otherwise may not have had a chance. #BBCOne #AmazonPrime #MaisieBarrett #WaveneyBushell #BernardCoard
