THE mainstream media seem to have moved on from covering the Black Lives Matter protests which rocked Britain, the US and many other countries in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police.

Papers and news channels which carried opinion pieces and editorials arguing that this must be “a movement not a moment,” and that our response to racism needs to be deep and sustained, have been notable for the speed with which they found something else to focus on.

Yet, if we look at our society — from the tragic roll-call of deaths in custody to the black children failed by and excluded from our education system, from the high-profile politicians (including the Prime Minister) who utter racist bile with impunity to the migrants whose lives are torn apart by racist immigration laws, it is clear that something fundamental needs to change.

It’s vital that we mobilise union members to oppose hatred when hardened far-right thugs march on the streets.

And it’s also vital that we develop a pedagogy in our schools and colleges that goes beyond simply educating about diversity. We need to develop conscious anti-racism.

We need to begin to tackle the way in which racism is woven into the very fabric of our society — in the workplace, in the community, in the education system, the media and in our political and judicial system.

From the slave trade and brutal colonial exploitation that enriched Britain and other European powers, to neocolonialism and the exploitation of migrant labour which continues today, racial oppression has been a fundamental part of our economic and political system.

That oppression rests on the ideology of racism in order to justify and sustain it. We need to understand these historical and contemporary roots of racism if we are to counter it at all levels.

As educators, we have a key role to play in unpicking the racist assumptions built into our education system, in decolonising not just the history curriculum but our maths curriculum, English curriculum, arts curriculum and the entire school curriculum.

We have a key role to play in challenging the fact that black British children are excluded at three times the rate of white English students (nomoreexclusions.com) and that there is still strong evidence of racial bias in school assessment, including teacher assessment.

We also have a key role to play as trade unionists. Trade unions, though not immune to racism themselves, have the power to unite working people against racism and discrimination in all its forms.

As trade unionists, we can mobilise our members to challenge far-right and racist organisations, building in their place a shared sense of solidarity and community.

In order to do this successfully, we need to broaden and deepen our own anti-racist practice, investing in anti-racist work within and beyond our own organisations.

However, we must also acknowledge that this is something we cannot do in isolation.

We need to link the power of organised labour with wider working-class communities.

We need an approach that builds links between and beyond our own organisations.

That is why the role of Stand Up To Racism, as a united front bringing together trade unionists, community activists and progressive politicians in a broad alliance to tackle racism, is so important.

I am proud that the National Education Union is a key supporter of Stand Up To Racism because it is an essential part of our values as a union.

The aims of our union begin with a duty to “promote the power of education as a critical and creative process which enables learners to understand and contribute to wider society and the world in which they live and to change it for the better.”

Essential to achieving this aim is our commitment to active anti-racist work and our partnership with Stand Up To Racism lies at the heart of that work.

Gawain Little is a member of the NEU national executive and chair of NEU international solidarity committee.

The joint Stand Up to Racism / Love Music Hate Racism event Slavery’s Roots, East Anglian Links: Teaching History takes place from 3pm on Sunday September 13, with speakers from 7pm. The event is sponsored by Norfolk NEU and Norfolk Unite Community, and can be accessed on Love Music Hate Racism Norwich YouTube or on Zoom: 984-7468-8395.