Diana Young
Narjas Zatat’s rebuttal on the piece that I wrote for The Independent, about fee-paying schools and the black middle classes completely misses the point.
I am from a working class background and attended a state school as a child, but as a black parent I applaud the existence of fee-paying schools. Whilst Zatat claims that these schools reinforce class privilege, I argue that the disadvantages of attending a state school are exacerbated if you are black and live in London. It’s also important to note that the black experience is nuanced and cannot simply fall within the bounds of ‘ethnic minority’.
There is evidence to support that teachers in London are biased against black Caribbean boys. Unconscious prejudices and racism also impact the way in which black children are disciplined and assessed, which further hinders academic ability.
The impact of systemic racism is colossal if we look at state school failure as being the first step in a downward spiral resulting in young black Caribbean boys becoming marginalised and without a solid education. Career ambitions are limited by the age of seven due to differences in social background, class, race and gender, according to a recent report by the OECD think tank.
Therefore, if social class does have an impact on the prospects for black children, and we know that they are faced with racism, discrimination, and bias in the state school system and at risk of exposure to gang culture or worse, violence, we should take this opportunity as black middle-class parents to break the cycle for our children.
A private education isn’t automatically superior, but we can certainly argue that attending the ‘right’ school can become a vehicle for social mobility, as opposed to attending a school, which might hinder your future university choice, or a university that hinders your overall career choice. Working-class values propelled my husband and I through our careers and after years of striving to better our circumstances we are now in a position to provide our children with the support that they need to positively impact their career trajectory and life path.
We prioritise education and therefore make countless sacrifices so that our black children might escape the prejudice, stereotype and bias evident within the state school system. We selected a fee-paying school due to the lack of space at our preferred state school choice.
As a co-opted school governor for a south-London state primary school, in addition to the time that I spend working with young people in the local community, I now realise the importance of providing my children with access to more than what I had growing up in a working-class family. There’s no harm in using the means that you have to get your child the best education. The middle and upper-classes have been using their personal experience, knowledge and wealth to steer their children along the path to success for years.
If money enables access to a better education, then why deny your child the opportunity to gain an advantage in a society where black people already face a disadvantage. Other parents concoct similar strategies to gain advantage, including the use of private tutors or moving house to get into the catchment area, or worse; being dishonest about their religion for access to faith schools or where they live to get into the catchment area.
Zatat’s motives for her piece struck a chord. Is she a parent fraught with worry on how the state or fee-paying school sectors might impact her own child’s social mobility? Or is she one of those ‘weak knowledge, strong opinion’ hacks without the lived experience? As a parent, if I forego a fee-paying school but choose to pay for additional maths and English study programmes, subscribe to online learning resources and buy more books for my children, does that make my parenting choices unfair on wider society? It would be great to know Zatat’s thoughts on that.
Zatat asks for “hard evidence” on the new, emerging black middle class as though it does not exist. Whilst the hard evidence Zatat seeks might not be available, all you have to do is look at the fee-paying school sector and wonder who is paying for all of these black children that attend in their droves. There is an emerging black middle class, refuting Zatat’s claim that “private schools remain a largely white, middle-class environment”.
Zatat states “Labour doesn’t want to put black middle class students at a disadvantage: they want to put all students at an advantage.” If that’s the case, Zatat should challenge the countless members of the Labour Party with children at fee-paying schools, including its leader Jeremy Corbyn who also attended a private prep school.
Whilst I don’t champion a class system that has arguably suppressed and segregated black people historically, this is about overcoming the obstacles required to enter some of society’s most prestigious companies for professions such as literature, finance, law or media.
When these barriers to entry are lowered or state schools can meet the requirements of parents and black children in particular, we should not be rebuked for taking the initiative to support our own children if the state is failing them.
Diana Young is co-founder of PR and media intelligence tool Fashion and Beauty Insight and founder of digital marketing consultancy WeSocialis. She is Black British with a Caribbean heritage and lives in London. She has a masters in International Business and has written for The Independent and iNews on topics concerning race, identity, social class and gender.
