1 in 4 UK Councils Promoting Critical Race Theory-Led Policies: Study

During a march from Notting Hill to Hyde Park, people hold up placards in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as they take part in the inaugural Million People March to put pressure on the UK government to change the UK's institutional and systemic racism, in London, on Aug. 30, 2020. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

A report has painted a “troubling picture” of the ideological drift in how equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and anti-racist policies are being implemented by local councils across England and Wales.

“The new anti-racism, which asserts that Britain is a systematically racist society which automatically discriminates against racial minorities, is being legitimised in schools through the reframing of equality policies by local councils,” said Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, CEO of Don’t Divide Us (DDU), an organisation set up to take a stand against the UK’s “divisive obsession with people’s racial identity.”

“This approach suppresses the distinction between facts, opinions, and beliefs and is in direct conflict with the wishes of parents,” she added.

CRT and Anti-Racism

DDU found that almost one in four councils are critical race theory (CRT) and anti-racism led in their education policies and guidance.

It found that of these biased councils, the vast majority (88 percent) partner with third-party providers to push key concepts such as “structural racism,” “white privilege,” and “unconscious bias.” It added that the “lack of standardisation” of where and how such materials are made available “contributes to the problem of transparency and accountability.”

One such example included Coventry Council, which established a company, the Coventry Education Partnership, and has links with local schools. It also liaises with the Diocese of Coventry Board of Education.

Advice provided for educators included the use of visuals such as the White Supremacy Pyramid or the Allport Scale of Prejudice in Society to help pupils understand “how bias, stereotypes, and prejudice can lead to racist words and actions, leading to physical harm and death.”

In 2020, Brighton and Hove City Council made its aims explicit in its Anti-Racist Schools Strategy (pdf) with a resource focus on “dismantling racist practices.”

A teacher speaks to the class at Copley Academy in Stalybridge, England, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

It also said that a series of measurable outcomes and appropriate structures must be established for auditing and monitoring purposes (BAME staff representation, curricula changes, well-being indicators, structural changes, attainment, attendance, exclusions).

Portsmouth Council has an anti-racism tool kit (pdf) that teaches white privilege and microaggressions to schools, colleges, and early years settings.

The Epoch Times contacted Coventry Council for comment.

Critics of CRT call it an outgrowth of Marxism, and say that it interprets society through a dichotomy between “oppressor” and “oppressed,” but it replaces the class categories with racial groups. The ideology has worked its way into society, affecting the education system, workplace, military, and more.

Proponents of CRT see deeply embedded racism in all aspects of society, including in neutral systems such as law and in the school curriculum, and deem it to be the root cause of “racial inequity,” or different outcomes for different races.

Prominent American CRT advocate Ibram X. Kendi says there is no such thing as being non-racist or race-neutral. In other words, one must support “anti-racist” policies and actively identify and confront perceived racism in everyday life in order not to be a racist.

Complete Lack of Transparency

DDU said that “perhaps the most troubling finding is the complete lack of transparency at local council level.”

It said that just over half of councils (54.3 percent) approached either did not respond to Freedom of Information requests or failed to provide sufficient information about their EDI policies or their use of third-party providers.

“Worse, the complete lack of a uniform understanding of the role schools should play in combatting racism, is making schools vulnerable to indoctrination, going well beyond existing legislation,” said Cuthbert.

“In effect, we have found a postcode lottery, where children from Birmingham are at risk of being taught vastly differently on issues of race than children from Kent. That is unacceptable, and is having a detrimental impact on educational aims. It risks creating division and distrust in the very institutions tasked with shaping our children’s futures,” she added.

Calvin Robinson in an undated file photo. (Courtesy of Calvin Robinson)

A YouGov poll, commissioned by DDU, found that the position of councils was at odds with the beliefs of parents.

One found that over a third of parents with children aged 5–16 (38 percent) do not believe schools should teach pupils that Britain is structurally racist and over two-thirds (69 percent) of parents with children aged 5–16 believe schools should teach in a non-partisan way.

“This is not good enough,” British political adviser, commentator, educator, and DDU member Calvin Robinson told The Epoch Times by email.

“Councils should not be promoting contested ideologies. Critical race theory is harmful, divisive, and counterproductive to social cohesion. Any council jumping on board this toxic bandwagon should be penalised,” he said.

DDU concluded that the government should mandate schools to list all third-party providers commissioned or invited into classes on their websites as well as mandate schools to provide access to materials used for teaching anti-racism to parents when requested.

“In the longer term, we recommend that the government commission a review of existing policies,” wrote DDU.

A Single, Contentious Interpretation of Anti-Racism

The release of the report coincided with the announcement of a new advisory council.

This includes notable figures from the debate on race and education, including Chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, Tony Sewell CBE, researcher and commentator, Rakib Ehsan, and former editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard.

Ehsan told The Epoch Times by email that “being a DDU founding signatory and member of its advisory council, I am firmly of the view that it is a much-needed force from a social-cohesion and community-relations perspective.”

“The organisation has been especially active in highlighting the spread of critical race theory in British public institutions—including state schools,” he said.

“The proliferation of pseudo-intellectual CRT-inspired ideas in the sphere of education threatens to undermine the quality of learning in schools. DDU recognises rights at the individual level and does not support race-based group rights advocacy, as this promotes division between individuals that belong to different racial groups,” added Ehsan.

Sewell said that as he “found as chair of the Commission for Ethnic and Racial Disparities, and as DDUs work underlines, it is increasingly apparent that a single, contentious interpretation of anti-racism has taken hold across many of our country’s institutions.

“Uncovering the ideological drift in schools is of vital importance both for creating a more balanced discussion on race, and for protecting the integrity of education itself, and I look forward to working with DDU to achieve this.”

The Epoch Times contacted the UK government for comment.