According to the education secretary, white privilege is not a ‘fact.’

The Tory MP for Chichester caused a stir with her comments on white privilege and that it should not be taught as such in schools.

Talking to LBC radio this week, Keegan said: “We’ve basically said: ‘Look, here’s what we should be teaching, we should have balanced debate’.

“There is a lot of debate in the country, we should be able to have those debates. We should be able to have those open discussions, but you shouldn’t be teaching things as fact that are debates.”

When asked whether white privilege was not a fact, the education secretary said: “I mean I don’t think it’s a fact.

“I don’t, for me, think that there is a privilege to being white on its own, no.”

The Tory MP was also asked if she thought teachers are too ‘woke,’ to which she replied: “Not necessarily. I mean, I don’t have that view.

“I mean, all the teachers I speak to are hugely dedicated, hugely innovative, as well, and very pastoral as well in their care for our children.”

She said there had been discussion at the Education Select Committee hearing on Wednesday about teaching critical race theory, religious, health and sex education, as well as “some aspects of transgender, whether that was age appropriate”.

“So there was a discussion around that which is why we are actually putting out some guidance which will be coming out in the new year around transgender and how to treat that very difficult, tricky subject and how to support teachers to teach that,” she added.

The comments created a hostile reaction, with viewers sharing their disproval on Twitter.

“Always fab to hear from white people enjoying and making use of their white privilege to tell us that they in fact don’t have white privilege. The rest of us must be imagining it,” wrote one user.

“She obviously doesn’t understand what is meant by white privilege. If someone is born white in Britain they start out with an advantage. All humans should be accepted equally. Skin colour should not be noticed when interacting with other people,” wrote another.

“By saying that she’s just confirming she’s white privilege,” said one viewer.

“This is the ‘education’ secretary? Unbelievable,” tweeted another disbelieved viewer. 

In 2020, Tory minister Kemi Badenoch came under similar criticism, and was accused of ‘denying racism’ after she too dismissed white privilege. Branding the Black Lives Matter movement as “political” and “anti-capitalist,” Badenoch claimed teachers who present the idea of white privilege as a fact to their students are breaking the law.

“We do not want to see teachers teaching their pupils about white privilege and their inherited racial guilt,” she had told MPs, adding: “And let me be clear, any school which teaches these elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law.

Responding to Badenoch’s comments at the time, Alex Kelbert, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter UK, told HuffPost UK:

“Whether or not it is taught in schools, white privilege is real because racism is real.

“Racism is real in our healthcare system, where black mothers are five times more likely to die during pregnancy.

“Racism is real in our schools, where Black Caribbean pupils are nearly twice as likely to be excluded as white pupils.

“Racism is real when we apply for a job, or try to rent a house or take home on average 21.7% less pay than our white counterparts.

“BLM is proud to be political, but it is the Conservative party that is playing politics. They try to deny the racism we can see with our own eyes.

“We will continue to fight this divisive politics through our organisation and alongside the wider movement.”

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

Image source – YouTube screen grab

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