Isolate racists!

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by councillor Susan Carlyle A TYPICAL day for a Bengali boy in Stepney Green school is spent avoiding certain parts of the school. If you're sent on an errand, even by the kindest of teachers, you don't want to go on your own.

Small new boys run gauntlets of trouble on the stairways and in corridors. In older years the violence and thuggery increases.

Maruk, a sixth former, was threatened in the playground one Thursday break time. He reported it to a senior teacher, and returning to his class was set on by three white boys from behind and knocked unconscious. He lay in a corridor for half an hour betore being discovered, then was taken to hospital and kept in with an eye injury.

The punishment for the three has so far been varying lengths of time of suspension. A private prosecution may decide otherwise. -Labour Party elected governors, including for the first time a Bangladeshi person, pressurised the head to allow a parents' meeting to discuss this attack and the racism in the school. For the first time the school hall was packed with Bengali parents, demanding jusfice and fair treatment for their children. present escool studened stiging heir experiences of beatings and unfair treatment at the hands of racists in the school. A relation of Maruk told of the family receiving relephone calls threatening petrol bombing if they proceed with their complaints.

No solution was forthcoming from the senior staff who see 'football' as the great example of multi-racialism, and rely on an attitude of "come and tell us, we'll sort it out"

Over one third of the new entry forms at this school are Bengali. The school has dealt with bullying as being problem, but has not had a positive anti-racist policy built into its school programme.

Until schools like this do combine a strong set of sanctions on racists, coupled with a complete re-education programme, the racial violence will continue.

The parents and welfare groups, with the Labour Party, have a job to pressurise and influence school authorities to take this up. ILEA already is asking quest ions about Stepney Green's level of racist bullying and violence.

The streets nutside the school are just as much the staff's area in protecting their pupils.

The very next day after the meeting, a group of first years were attacked by a set of whites yards from the school gates. I witnessed this.

At the moment the Bengali youth have to organise to protect themselves. 'Selfdefence is no offence' is taking on a real meaning, especially when school authorities sanction them more severely than the racists. (Maruk was suspended last year for defending himself, with others).

Parents are not being bought off with invitations to be elected to one of the three parent governor seats.

Facilities for Bengalispeaking interpreters should be used by ILE A, rather than putting school students into separate classes for language reasons. Isolate the racists!

For too long the immigrant minorities have been seen as the problem: they have been segregated and treated as difficult to teach. Despite this the Asian pupils are the highest attainers in a syssem pressurised heavily against them.

'We are here to stay. Our children's education suffering. Expel the racists" was the clear message at the school meeting, coupled with a resolution for an open independent inquiry.