Racism in British schools
Intisar Chowdhury became a national figure this year after the death of his father from coronavirus led to him questioning the health secretary, Matt Hancock, on live radio. After the death of George Floyd and the national conversation on racism, Chowdhury began focusing his activism on schools and issued a call on social media for examples of discrimination. The response he received shocked him.
The Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty tells Anushka Asthana how he and the producer Mythili Rao went to meet Chowdhury and investigate some of the evidence he had been amassing. They found racist abuse going unpunished, in some instances by teachers. The findings backed up a recent Runnymede Trust report, which concluded: “Much clearer antiracism policies are needed to institutionally embed a culture of antiracism in schools.”
The Guardian published a 30 minute podcast on 23 July presented by Anushka Asthana with Aditya Chakrabortty; produced by Mythili Rao and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Phil Maynard and Nicole Jackson .