Indeed!

Interestingly the longer quote from George Santayana is "and when
experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Let us understand that the perpetuation of this image of the "savage" and
the perpetual infancy, as projected on to Africans in particular, is a
consequence of several centuries of the destruction of the collective
memory, both on the continent of Africa and amongst the diasporic
communities created by the slave trade.

We can see the consequences of this in the assassination of Walter Rodney,
two weeks before the imposition of IMF measures in Guyana. There are no
doubt countless other examples.

all the best

Fabian

> The point of studying history is surely to learn from it?  One thing is
> evident that nothing remains the same, another that change is brought
> about by the action of humans. If we act we can bring about change. If we
> don't act others bring about changes that may not be in our favour!
> Hakim
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> True, a degree in history does not have to lead to a career in history.
>> However, the value of a history degree, or degrees in my case, depends
>> largely on being white, at least in Britain. Publishing and journalism
>> are notorious for using internships as entry filters into these
>> professions, with a further barrier being 'good fit' with all the ethnic
>> and class ramifications within this mindset. As for commerce and sales
>> employment, we know how bigoted many private sector employers are in
>> Britain. I am sure you are aware of the CV test; people with surnames
>> indicating being from African or Asian backgrounds being half (or less)
>> as likely as those with non-'ethnic' surnames.
>>
>> As far as being able to succeed post-university with a history degree or
>> degrees, ethnic minority people with such qualifications are much more
>> likely face, and in my case face, significant obstacles in parlaying
>> such qualifications into professional-level employment and income. As I
>> have said in my earlier e-mail, I could not in good conscience advise
>> any young person of African or Asian origin in Britain to study a
>> history degree in this era because the chances of parlaying this degree
>> into graduate-level work is virtually nil as a historian in the UK and
>> minimal in employment that would theoretically utilise someone with a
>> history degree because all the professions mentioned, as well as
>> heritage and culture jobs, have keen competition for such employment
>> with racialised filters working against potential ethnic minority people
>> obtaining such work.
>>
>> If British universities were seriously interested in changing such a
>> bleak landscape in terms of genuinely including people of African and
>> Asian origin in terms of students and inclusion of the histories of
>> African and Asian people and influences in teaching offerings, as well
>> as research support, I would be keen to work with any such universities.
>> However, it is ridiculous to have a situation in 2014 where out of
>> 130-plus universities in Britain, only a handful (3 or less) even have
>> single modules in Black British History. This is indicative of the
>> circumstances which leads to 3 Black applicants winning places to train
>> as history teachers because this is reflective of an overall British
>> social, economic and political systems that effectively teaches British
>> people of all ethnicities that people of African and Asian origin did
>> not contribute to the history of Britain or presents this history as
>> problematic to the country; intentionally and unintentionally lying to
>> all in the process due to such omissions and misrepresentations. Gove's
>> vigorous efforts to write-out Black history from the National Curriculum
>> under the guise of preserving 'traditional education' is emblematic of
>> this.
>>
>> Change the system and the results will be different. However, is there a
>> realistic chance of this happen with Britain moving right and
>> 'immigrants' being blamed for all the ills in the country? How soon will
>> it be before British-born people of African and Asian origin be labelled
>> 'immigrants' again like occurred frequently in the press not too long
>> ago, particularly if the economy remains stagnant?
>>
>> George
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: The Black and Asian Studies Association [[log in to unmask]] on
>> behalf of Susan Bolton / Jeffrey Green [[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: 27 March 2014 14:09
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Only three black applicants win places to train as history
>> teachers | Education | The Observer
>>
>> As a white middle-class Londoner who enjoyed history but has not studied
>> it formally beyond GCE A level, perhaps the fact that because of my
>> researches I have been invited to the USA with fares and accommodation
>> paid might be attractive to those students who know of no benefit. Also
>> I have participated in radio and television programmes.
>> A degree in history does not have to lead to a career in history.
>> Publishing, journalism, commerce, and sales use people with a knowledge
>> of history and there are script writers and novelists too.
>>
>> Jeff Green
>>
>> ========================================
>> Message Received: Mar 27 2014, 11:15 AM
>> From: "hakim adi"
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Cc:
>> Subject: Re: Only three black applicants win places to train as history
>> teachers | Education | The Observer
>>
>> A head of history in a Hackney school has just written to day that BME
>> students view history 'as a white middle-class pursuit'
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > On 27 Mar 2014, at 10:39, "Fabian Tompsett"  wrote:
>> >
>> > It is good to here some practical initiatives emerging from this
>> > discussion. However I would like to make two points:
>> >
>> > a) We need to look at this in a global context. Higher education is
>> > becomong increasingly globalised. This has been accompanied by the
>> > destruction of much of the infrastructure of the African universities
>> > during the eighties and nineties There has also been a division of
>> labour,
>> > whereby the sort of work that African scholars get is more basic
>> research,
>> > while "scholars" associated with the very organisations who destoyed
>> > African Higher Education - such as the World Bank - have moved into
>> key
>> > positions in mediating various discourses.
>> >
>> > b) We need to appreciate the key role that history plays in various
>> > transdisciplinary areas of scholarly endeavour. These areas have been
>> > increasing, partly as a consequence of universities being turned into
>> > businesses and providing research to fit the agenda's of various
>> > corporations.
>> >
>> > I would not wish these issues to dilute the focus of the conference
>> that
>> > Hakim is thinking about, but rather provide a broader context for the
>> > conference and to highlight the importance that history has in shaping
>> the
>> > future.
>> >
>> > all the best
>> > Fabian
>> >
>> >> If anyone is in touch with history undergrads, those training to be
>> >> teachers or those who are currently teachers who happen to be of
>> >> African/Caribbeanorigin can they put me in touch. We are thinking of
>> >> organising a conference on this issue in the future
>> >>
>> >> Hakim
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> On 27 Mar 2014, at 10:08, "Watley George"
>> >>>  wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> To add my piece on this subject, in all the historical conferences I
>> >>> have attended in the UK, except for BASA I have been the only
>> >>> British-based person of African origin attending any of these
>> >>> conferences. It is also notable that in my fourth year searching for
>> an
>> >>> academic position, most of the positive responses towards my
>> >>> applications have come from American colleges and university,
>> >>> particularly HCBUs. On a broader scale, history as it is taught in
>> >>> schools in Britain turns off anyone that is anti-traditionalist,
>> which
>> >>> works as a filtering process to effectively perpetuate traditional
>> views
>> >>> of history through such processes as taught in schools; leading to
>> >>> history departments mostly having students that believe in
>> >>> British-centric and/or Euro-centric views of history at the expense
>> of a
>> >>> greater development of historical knowledge and understanding
>> outside of
>> >>> these centricities.
>> >>>
>> >>> As far as 'not getting applications from ethnic minority
>> applicants', if
>> >>> history departments and universities know this is a problem then
>> they
>> >>> should take some actions to help solve this problem. If history
>> >>> departments in British universities were not extremely Euro-centric,
>> >>> this would help attract not only more ethnic minority students, but
>> also
>> >>> those generally that would enjoy learning more about history but
>> would
>> >>> not study it at university because of its emphasis on tradition and
>> >>> glorifying 'tradition'.
>> >>>
>> >>> I do not like to say this, but Britain is about 40 years or more
>> behind
>> >>> America in terms of hiring ethnic minority lecturers, as well as
>> >>> incorporating the contributions of various ethnic groups within the
>> >>> taught and accepted history of the country. To use an example, in
>> the US
>> >>> state of Georgia, approximately 25 percent of professors in its
>> colleges
>> >>> and universities are African-American. Also, African-American
>> Studies
>> >>> departments are in surprising universities like University of
>> Wyoming (1
>> >>> percent African-American population in Wyoming), University of North
>> >>> Dakota (less than 1 percent African-American population in North
>> Dakota)
>> >>> and University of Nebraska-Omaha (4.5 percent African-American
>> >>> population in Nebraska). If it can be done there, inclusion of the
>> >>> contributions of people of African and Asian origin within history
>> >>> departments can happen in Britain if there is a will to do so.
>> >>> Unfortunately this will does not exist, nor can it reasonably be
>> >>> foreseen in the near future in the political environment we
>> currently
>> >>> live within. If Scotland becomes independent, the rest of the UK
>> moves
>> >>> further right and the chances of including the contributions of
>> people
>> >>> of African and Asian origin within British history moves further
>> south.
>> >>>
>> >>> George
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> From: The Black and Asian Studies Association [[log in to unmask]]
>> on
>> >>> behalf of Tayo Aluko [[log in to unmask]]
>> >>> Sent: 26 March 2014 14:30
>> >>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> >>> Subject: Re: Only three black applicants win places to train as
>> history
>> >>> teachers | Education | The Observer
>> >>>
>> >>> Greetings,
>> >>> Not being a historian, and not being a teacher, I thought it might
>> be a
>> >>> little unfair to write down the first thought that came to my mind
>> when
>> >>> I saw this posting, but I will anyway.
>> >>> I regularly attend lectures at Liverpool University's Centre for the
>> >>> Study for International Slavery, hosted by they University's History
>> >>> Department and the International Slavery Museum. I have remarked
>> >>> privately to the lecturers there on more than one occasion that it
>> is
>> >>> interesting that there are no Black lecturers in their department,
>> >>> especially teaching African History. I am also trying to remember
>> (and
>> >>> still failing) any of the guest lecturers being Black, but then I
>> >>> haven't attended all the lectures. The irony of the situation is
>> >>> obvious to all, I am sure.
>> >>> On the other hand, I have just come back from attending march and
>> rally
>> >>> organised by the NUT in support of their strike action today. For
>> quite
>> >>> a while, it looked to me as if, at the rally itself, held in a
>> Liverpool
>> >>> hotel, I was the only Black person. I later noticed another whom I
>> know,
>> >>> and like me, he isn't a teacher, but a long-time local activist. I
>> know
>> >>> that he understands that whatever rights that teachers, other
>> workers
>> >>> enjoy today and seek to protect, were won by others who went before,
>> and
>> >>> that this kind of history is one of the many things that the
>> >>> powers-that-be wish to keep young people ignorant of. And that of
>> course
>> >>> goes for Black History.
>> >>> I guess this raises a number of issues. Yes, institutional racism is
>> >>> undeniable. Yes, the race of a teacher matters to a certain extent,
>> >>> especially when one bears in mind the attitudes embodied in the
>> interest
>> >>> in and dissemination of what constitutes "history". Yes, the age-old
>> >>> argument or excuse that one hears all the time: "we just don't get
>> the
>> >>> applications from Black people" may have little or no validity. I am
>> >>> pretty sure that isn't true, but what does it say to an interested
>> >>> outsider to the profession like me when one goes to a teachers'
>> trade
>> >>> union rally and sees not one Black teacher there??
>> >>> I would like to think that this was not replicated at rallies in
>> other
>> >>> cities, but to me it says, "Liverpool, we have a problem"
>> >>>
>> >>> Tayo
>> >>>
>> >>> www.callmrrobeson.com
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>> On 24 March 2014 23:01, Amma Poku  wrote:
>> >>>> Nathaniel
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I could write a book about my thoughts and experience of history
>> >>>> teaching, and would probably widen it out to teaching as a whole.
>> >>>> Focusing on history teaching though my memory from over 30 years
>> ago
>> >>>> when I was taught is that it was very uninspiring. My memory from
>> about
>> >>>> 4-5 years ago when my youngest child left secondary education is
>> that
>> >>>> the teaching of history is still pretty much uninspiring and
>> amazingly
>> >>>> repetitive!
>> >>>>
>> >>>> My thoughts, as someone who has contributed to making history and
>> now
>> >>>> loves it with a passion is that teaching it needs more than an
>> >>>> injection of inspiration!
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Hakim
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Your personal experience is a valuable share, so thanks.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Best wishes
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Amma
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Monday, 24 March 2014, 8:03, hakim adi
>> >>>> wrote:
>> >>>> The issue here is surely wider than who teaches History. What is of
>> >>>> concern here is the 'institutional racism' that prevents even those
>> >>>> black applicants who apply apply for teacher training from being
>> >>>> accepted. It reminds me of the difficulties I had when I left
>> >>>> university over 35 years ago. I wanted to be a history teacher too
>> and
>> >>>> was turned town by every teacher training college I applied to
>> >>>> including the Intitute of Education. But then perhaps we also need
>> to
>> >>>> look at how few black students apply to study History at university
>> in
>> >>>> the first place. Isn't History the least popular subject for black
>> >>>> undergraduates apart from Agricultural Studies and Veterinary
>> Science?
>> >>>> As Amma says young people of African descent at being turned off
>> >>>> History. It would be good to look at the grades awarded to black
>> >>>> history undergraduates too. How many of them go on to become
>> historians
>> >>>> or gain History PhDs? When I studied African History at a
>> well-known
>> >>>> university there were no Africans teaching and I don't remember
>> reading
>> >>>> books by many Africans either. The recent protests by students at
>> SOAS
>> >>>> and other universities suggests that nothing much as changed. The
>> stats
>> >>>> regarding history teachers are part of a wider problem of
>> Eurocentrism
>> >>>> in the education system that must be brought to an end.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 06:03:04 +0000
>> >>>> From: [log in to unmask]
>> >>>> Subject: Only three black applicants win places to train as history
>> >>>> teachers | Education | The Observer
>> >>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Amma,
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Could you say a little more, please, about 'how it is taught'?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> In what you wrote, you didn't quite explain why the racial status
>> of
>> >>>> the teacher of History matters. (In fact, you didn't refer to the
>> >>>> 'teachers' at all!)
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I have found, even among the Historians in my university, great
>> >>>> resistance to the idea that the racial status of the teacher of
>> History
>> >>>> matters. For this reason, as tiresome as it is, we need to spell
>> out
>> >>>> the argument in excruciating detail. May I, please, invite you to
>> do
>> >>>> that?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Nathaniel
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman, PhD
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Research Associate in the Philosophy of 'Race'
>> >>>> Department of Philosophy, University College London
>> >>>> Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy
>> >>>> ___
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Member of the Emerging Scholars Forum at the Runnymede Trust:
>> >>>> http://www.runnymedetrust.org.gridhosted.co.uk/projects-and-publications/academic-forum.html
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Member of the American Philosophical Association Committee on the
>> >>>> Status of Black Philosophers:
>> >>>> http://www.apaonline.org/members/group.aspx?id=110427
>> >>>> ___
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Critical Philosophy of Race: Here and Now
>> >>>> http://www.ucl.ac.uk/jfigs/figs-events-publication/philosophy-of-race-here-and-now
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Slaveries old and new: The meaning of freedom
>> >>>> http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/2014/Slaveries_Old_and_New_The_Meaning_of_Freedom.cfm
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Joint Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies: Friday Forum on 'Race'
>> >>>> http://www.ucl.ac.uk/jfigs/figs-friday-forum/race
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Why isn't my professor black?: A panel chaired by Professor Michael
>> >>>> Arthur, President and Provost of UCL
>> >>>> http://uclequalities.wordpress.com/events-list/9070083865/
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Europe enslaved Africans in the Caribbean: A wrong to remember and
>> to
>> >>>> repair
>> >>>> http://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-institute/events/2013-14/if-ucl-memory
>> >>>> ___
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Undergraduate syllabus: The philosophy of anti-slavery
>> >>>> http://www.academia.edu/2377578/The_philosophy_of_anti-slavery
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Anthology on the Philosophy of Slavery and Emancipation
>> >>>> http://www.academia.edu/4775678/Call_for_Papers_Anthology_on_the_Philosophy_of_Slavery_and_Emancipation
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On 24 Mar 2014, at 00:03, "BASA automatic digest system"
>> >>>>
>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 03:14:24 -0700
>> >>>> From: Amma Poku
>> >>>> Subject: Re: Only three black applicants win places to train as
>> history
>> >>>> teachers | Education | The Observer
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Thanks for sharing this. I know so many young people of African
>> descent
>> >>>> who are "turn off" history in school because of what and how it is
>> >>>> taught, who later can get "turn on" if and when they learn that
>> history
>> >>>> isn't just about European Kings (and the odd Queen) and that their
>> >>>> ancestors, as much as anyone elses have made history.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I personally hated history at school and dropped it as soon as I
>> could,
>> >>>> whilst at the same time searching for information and books by and
>> >>>> about people of African descent.
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> www.callmrrobeson.com
>> >>
>