Racism and Education in England: The Destruction of Bilston Community College

Enoch Powell and the 1960s

There was a great deal of direct, as well as institutional, racism in schools and colleges in England in the second half of the twentieth century. In the West Midlands in particular discrimination against ethnic minorities was given respectability by the public statements of Enoch Powell and his supporters.

Powell, the Member of Parliament for South West Wolverhampton, made his well-known “Rivers of Blood” speech in 1968. He argued that the country would be swamped with immigrants before the end of the century. Although this did not occur, his comments created fear and encouraged racist attitudes – especially towards Afro-Caribbean and Asian citizens.

In addition to direct attacks on black people, there was discrimination as a result of the way in which institutions operated. – institutional racism. One example was that many people from ethnic minority communities were rejected when they applied to colleges of further education.

A research report on Midland colleges, published in 1969, found “disturbing attitudes to racism among lecturers as well as youngsters”. Some lecturers refused to complete the questionnaire:

The thing that most shocked me was the attitude of tutors themselves in colleges. They were not taking these sort of issues seriously. Because a significant minority of lecturers did not view racism as a problem, they were therefore unwittingly adding to it.

This is the comment of Karen Ross, who carried out the research for Warwick University’s Centre for Ethnic Studies in 1969.

A Community Response

It was in this context that a group of college lecturers and members of the community, especially African Caribbean and Asian citizens, started a campaign which, in 1984, resulted in the setting up of Bilston Community College in the West Midlands.

Because the new college adopted clear equal opportunities (especially anti-racist) policies, tens of thousands of (previously excluded) teenagers and adults enrolled on programmes of study. The most important change, which attracted thousands of students, was that classes were organised in the community, not in a remote “institution”.

Teenagers and adults were able to study near where they lived and in buildings (for example, places of worship) which they already used. This “de-institutionalised” education resulted in the inclusion of people who had been alienated by their school experiences.

By 1996 the college’s annual enrolment had increased tenfold – from 5,000 in 1985 to over 50,000. Two thirds of the additional numbers were from Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities. They enrolled because the education was in the community, managed by partnerships between the college and the leaders of voluntary community organisations.