Racism in Children's Lives: A Study of Mainly-White Primary Schools

Both teachers and the general public have traditionally been unwilling to acknowledge that ideas of `race' might play a part in the lives of primary school children. This book, based on extensive interviews with black and white children in their last two years of primary schooling is a fascinating study of how `race' emerges for young children as a plausible explanatory framework for incidents in their everyday lives and as a possible weapon in the perpetual power struggles of the primary school world. The final picture is both disturbing in its demonstration of how significant racism is in the lives of white children and hopeful in showing how frequently anti-racist attitudes exist even in the thinking of children who engage in racist behaviour. A final chapter looks at how school policy can combat racism and build on these positive elements. This book should be of interest to primary teachers and students of race at all levels, educational management and professionals in education.