Black History Month: Char Erskine on the Importance of Teaching Black History in Schools

“Black history should be taught in all schools as an integral part of British history, because that's exactly what it is,” Char Erskine, Senior Inclusion Manager at Taylor Wessing, spoke to myGwork about their thoughts on the importance of teaching Black history in schools, and who they consider to be their black queer icons.

Hi Char! Tell us about your role at your organization.

Hey there, I’m the Senior Inclusion Manager at Taylor Wessing, non-binary rep of our equaliTW (LGBTQ+) employee network and driver of all things diversity, equity and inclusion at the firm. I'm also a proud Afro-Caribbean with roots in Antigua and Jamaica.

Were you taught about Black history in school? If not – what difference would this have made to you?

The only mention of Black people in my history lessons was a quick anecdote about the Ku Klux Klan, which made me extremely uncomfortable as the only Black pupil in the class. Other than that, we were not taught anything about Black people in history, and Black History Month was only celebrated once when a couple of the sixth form pupils asked to stage an African-themed fashion show when I was about fifteen.

Being taught Black history in school would have made a huge difference to my sense of belonging in my school and in the UK. Despite being born and raised in this country, the lack of representation in British history lessons reinforced a sense that I didn't belong here and that I wasn't British enough because there was no sight of how families like mine ended up in this country. It wasn't until I was a young adult and started visiting museums and exhibitions on my own that I realised that Black people even existed in the UK during periods of history that I had spent years studying in school. I loved learning about the Tudors in school, but nobody mentioned that there were Black 'free people' during that period of history, and that was a lost opportunity to bring in the diversity of British history.

Black history should be taught in all schools as an integral part of British history, because that's exactly what it is. With the publicity of things like the Windrush scandal, we have finally gained sight of the significance of Black people in shaping the country we now live in, even though those stories also come with scandal and sadness too.

What does Black History Month mean to you and why do you find it important?

This month is a pretty significant time of the year for me to reflect and take stock of progress being made (or not made) for the Black community, particularly as my role is in the DEI space. For a long time, Black History Month felt like it had to focus on our history from hundreds of years ago, but I think we've seen a shift where we can look at more recent history for the Black community and the impact it had and continues to have on us.