“The Black child in Britain, facing a white examiner, remembers the white landlord who has pushed mum and dad around; he remembers the face of Powell on the television screen demanding the repatriation of Black people and their ‘piccaninny’ children; he has seen on the news and heard his parents talk about white skinheads and the white police who have beaten up black people in the streets at night. More than likely he has encountered a racist teacher in the past; he has certainly been called ‘Black bastard’ or ‘Wog’ by many of the white children on more occasions than he cares to remember. If he lives in Haringey, he would almost certainly have heard Alderman Doulton of the Haringey Education Committee stating that Black children had achieved significantly lower IQ scores than white children, the inference being that ‘something must be done about these Black children’. He might have put two and two together and realized that this is why he sees so many Black children, including some of his friends, going to ESN [Educationally Sub-Normal] schools. The thought will not have escaped him that the test he about to sit before the white examiner, who is an official of white society, will undoubtedly be used against him, as it has been used against so many of his friends.
Under these circumstances, and in this entire racial context, the Black child feels (and quite rightly) that he is fighting a losing battle. He becomes so consumed with fear, inner rage and hatred, that he is unable to think clearly when attempting the test. Under these circumstances, the very bright child does averagely, and the average child does poorly.”
Excerpted from: Coard, Bernard. How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-Normal in the British School System: 50th Anniversary Expanded Fifth Edition. Kingston, Jamaica: McDermott Publishing, 2021.
Mark's Text Terminal 