41: Growing up in Berkshire..

My particular story of privilege comes from growing up in a relatively rural commuter belt town in Berkshire. The town I lived in is typical of many small towns UK wide in having a much lower level of ethnic diversity, and an older white population. It was also a relatively affluent town with many families having parents who commuted into London. Privilege I only now recognise was embedded in the school system by virtue of both a curriculum that had no teaching on colonialism or the history of different nations which now make up a substantial proportion of the UK population. In my year group there was a near complete absence of people of colour, in a group of 100 sixth formers just one person of a black background, one Korean background and one Chinese heritage. In the teaching workforce at the time it was equally undiverse. Therefore a diversity of thought or experience on the U.K.'s history, relations between communities and some of the U.K.'s exploitation was simply not there. There was little to no discussion of race. At least until 16 I don't recall any curriculum focus on issues such as the UK slave trade and how that funded the Industrial Revolution (although of course we learnt about the British Empire and Tutors and Stuarts!). The area is substantially changing now due to proximity to Reading London. I believe it is far more diverse than it was 20 years ago, but it certainly won't have helped with an unconscious white privilege in the generation of schoolchildren I grew up with. I only really became more self-aware of my privilege initially books my parents gave me, from the long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela to 'To Kill a Mockingbird', but most of the learning was about racism in other countries. Is only really post leaving university and coming to London that the extent of my privilege and the disparity in experience of upbringing and education became clear. I feel very lucky my parents at least gave me a broader frame of reference. And clearly one thing absolutely necessary to dismantle white privilege is to ensure education changes occur not only in cities but in rural schools where the reality is that demographic means there are simply less opportunities to learn by osmosis by living multiracial community