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Stephen Lawrence, Institutional Racism and Mary Seacole in the National Curriculum

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Children’s Publishing and Black Britain, 1965-2015

Part of the book series: Critical Approaches to Children's Literature ((CRACL))

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Abstract

Mainstream educational publishers had long ago introduced Black and BAME characters into their reading texts, but history texts remained largely concentrated on white Britons and white British history. The advent of a National Curriculum with an emphasis on “British values,” the teaching of history more regularly to primary school children, and the racially motivated murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence provided impetus to publishers to provide more Black history. The emergence of Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-born nurse who treated British soldiers in the Crimean War, as the acceptable (and sometimes only) face of Black Britain in history texts for children is investigated in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Karen Sands-O’Connor

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  1. Karen Sands-O’Connor
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Sands-O’Connor, K. (2017). Stephen Lawrence, Institutional Racism and Mary Seacole in the National Curriculum. In: Children’s Publishing and Black Britain, 1965-2015. Critical Approaches to Children's Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57904-1_6

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