Children Visible by Colour
Understanding the experiences of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children and young people
Children Visible by Colour
Understanding the experiences of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children and young people
Systemic structural inequalities are evidenced all over the UK. From education to health care, outcomes of children and young people are impeded, and racism is evidenced within the very institutions that are there to protect and nurture. One decade ago, Kowetha, a community-based organisation in Cornwall, produced a handbook for professionals to help them understand the experiences of children and young people of African, Asian, and Caribbean heritage. The report emphasised that Kowetha is based in a large rural county of Cornwall and as such experience an even greater sense of difference, due to the low density of dual heritage or mixed-race people across the region.
Kowetha, SEEN, and other community organisations have collaborated to update the handbook through co-production with children, young people, and parents to contextualise the lived experiences of children and young people of African, Asian, and Caribbean heritage in present-day Cornwall. We conducted research for the 2024 updated report through a series of interactive, workshop-style sessions with children of African, Caribbean, and Asian heritage in Cornwall. The sessions were structured through the lens of restorative practice, using a holistic, trauma-informed approach. This included long-form interviews with young people, where they bravely shared their experiences in their own words. We then wrote up the findings and provided a three-step approach to help support parents, professionals, and organisations in Cornwall on the journey towards anti-racism.
What did we find?
The children and young people spoke openly about their experiences and the impacts, many negative but some positive, on their sense of identity, emotional well-being, and relationships with family, peers, and teachers. Many of their experiences are consistent with their age group and stage of development, but others highlighted how their race or heritage becomes an important factor in their day-to-day interactions within schools and in the community. The children and young people also spoke about the coping strategies they use to manage incidents of racism, prejudice, and stereotyping.
In primary school, I never thought of my race as even being different to anyone else, and in the earlier years I didn’t even really know what racism was. As I reached the last years of primary school, I began to sort of understand what racism was but nothing had ever happened to me (that I noticed) so I didn’t really think about it much. But in secondary school things were a lot different and in Year 7, I experienced my first situation with racism. Somebody had called me a p*ki behind my back, and it made me feel really strange and I felt sad and angry but also didn’t know how to react to it. Through the years there’s [been] more and more occasions ranging from just hearing people use slurs in conversation, to directed slurs towards me.”
– 14 year old participant
What did we find?
The parents spoke about the emotional trauma and frustration they felt in having to witness the racial trauma their children had to endure. This situation was exacerbated where the parent was ‘white’ and did not know what that felt like because they had never experienced racism themselves. The parents talked about the challenges they faced in addressing incidents of racism or cultural insensitivity in schools and how some schools were proactive in making a stance against any form of racism or inequality while others were either dismissive or assumed it would go away.
“Your voice got silenced, didn’t it? Because you stopped putting your hand up in classes. The Head of Year said to me she is a different girl. To the girl that stood up in front of the whole year group in Year 7 with a big booming voice and gave an assembly…you don’t hear her so much now.”
– Parent of participant
Key Learning
We distributed the updated 2024 handbook to schools, youth groups, and
other youth-facing organisations. The report provides valuable insights
into lived experiences, highlighting examples of best practice, and
identifying where children and young people were let down by the
systems and structures meant to protect them.
The report contains a three-step approach (See, Hear, and Respond) designed to supportorganisations in a clear and concise manner to begin their journey toward anti-racism. We continue to extend the offer of support to any youth-facing organisation that wishes to, or has already embarked on, the journey of becoming an anti-racist entity.
See
Acknowledge the reality of racism in Cornish schools. See the racism occurring in your school. Own the problem by talking about it, describing it, & learning how to use the correct language to process and understand it. Create dedicated safe spaces for children, staff & parents to be able safely report any & all incidents of racism. Agree on the language and terminology that the school will be using to communicate regarding incidents of racism and how to deal with them. Define the language & concepts (such as inter-generational racial trauma) and ensure the whole school (all staff & students) are educated on these concepts and definitions.
Respond
Set out the school’s vision for an anti-racist future, set out the school’s
mission to tackle the existing racism in school, and make sure this is
something that governors, local authority, school staff, students, parents & carers are all aware of. Create a robust & regularly reviewed anti-racist policy, detailing how the school will deal with incidents of racism with varying degrees of severity, and how the school aims to progress along its journey towards anti-racism.
Work with organisations to provide anti-racist CPD for teachers and staff & re- evaluate educational resources & curriculum, identifying opportunities to implement anti-racist learning.
Let’s work together
At SEEN, we pride ourselves on the work we do, and are striving to achieve our aims of creating a society where children and young people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage have equitable futures – working with our partners to deliver these solutions. If you are interested in working with us on this, please get in touch below.
