Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Trying to digest the following (sample few paragraphs) from an article in today’s Telegraph:

‘Pupils at one of Britain’s oldest schools are to be taught about “white privilege”, as it says that no progress can be made from “within a comfort zone”.

Students as well as teachers at Christ’s Hospital, a £36,600-a-year boarding school in Horsham, West Sussex, will all be given “diversity training” as well as lessons on “micro-aggressions and stereotyping”.

The school, which was founded in 1552, counts the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the slave trader Edward Colston among its alumni.

The plans were among a series of changes announced in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year.

The school’s treasurer and chair of council, Christopher Steane, explained that Christ’s Hospital “acknowledges the urgency with which attention must be given to challenging racism”.

He said: “We understand that the lived reality of being at Christ's Hospital can have a significant impact and it is vital that the experiences and concerns of our black and ethnic minority pupils are heard, validated and acted’

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Probably a load of tosh.
I'll believe it when I read it in the mainstream press.

CH itself was diversity training for me, coming from a totally white rural area.

And typical lazy journalism of course to describe it without qualification as a £36,000-a-year school.

The reference to the classes is true, just it happened 18 months ago, check out the date on the linked page https://www.christs-hospital.org.uk/sta ... er-steane/

It's interesting that this story gets into the Torygraph (as it's always been known by the people who work on it). Not the first time it's happened. If Con Coughlan is still at the Telegraph it may be that he's picking up CH stories out of interest, although this one is a shoe-in for the Telegraph (" It's political correctness gone mad, etc") I had no idea that Edward Colston was an old boy. They keep quiet about that one.

Fair play to Simon. He's trying to drag CH kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Here's an idea to educate the honkies at the school in matters of diversity. Take a trio of white 14-year-olds, apply burnt cork to their face and hands, dress them in hoodies, jeans and trainers and then turn them loose in Horsham at night and time how long it takes before the police jump out a squad car and start hassling them on some pretext or other.

rockfreak wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:24 pm I had no idea that Edward Colston was an old boy. They keep quiet about that one.

I wonder how many OBs did know

The reason the School keeps quite about Colston being an Old Blue is because there does not seem to be any hard evidence he was. A quick Google search suggests he may have been a private pupil at the school (ie not a pupil of the Foundation): “It is possible that he enrolled as a private pupil at Christ's Hospital, then located in the city of London; but this has not been proven definitively”. Given he was from a wealthy family, he would not have been an obvious CH candidate. (If he did attend as a private pupil, this would have been in the same capacity as Pugin who helped design the Houses of Parliament).

Colston was a governor of CH and apparently gave frequently and generously to the School. He also founded an all-boys boarding school, known as Colston’s Hospital for Boys (later renamed Colston School). The object being “to educate in the principles of the Church of England, and to maintain and clothe 100 poor boys, and to place them out to apprentice”. Their uniform, a long blue coat, knee britches and yellow stockings, was closely modelled on that of Christ’s Hospital.

So, clear links, but no obvious reason why he should have ever been viewed as an Old Blue. No great cover-up.

Interesting post, Simon, thank you. I had a quick look on line (including Wiki CH alumni, which describes Colston simply as a slave trader...) and was struck by the fact that, although said to have attended CH, he was from a very wealthy family. I didn't think there would be too many full fee paying pupils at that time... Again, from a brief look at his personal history, he is described as a 'philanthropist' who used [some of] his wealth for numerous charitable purposes. I also saw that one Colston charitable institution had recently ceased operating , in 2018 I think, as a result of the slavery connection.

We seem to be in a time when history is judged by subjective contemporary standards rather than objective historical standards. I'm not sure anyone over the age of, say, 50 will come out of that well!

rockfreak wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:24 pm: "I had no idea that Edward Colston was an old boy. They keep quiet about that one."

I don't know who is meant by 'they.' The fact that Colston was a 'non-foundationer' has been known since about 1650 and no attempt has ever been made to hide it. Some 46,684 children attended CH between 1552 and 1902 and Colston is mentioned in Ken Mansell's book in para 3.14 (page 40) - the names are all there if anyone cares to look. His relationship with the school is also mentioned in numerous places on the Internet. So it is not a case of 'they' (whoever they might be) keeping quiet but rather that others (also, whoever they might be) failed to go looking.
David

Observer wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 10:22 pm Trying to digest the following (sample few paragraphs) from an article in today’s Telegraph:

‘Pupils at one of Britain’s oldest schools are to be taught about “white privilege”, as it says that no progress can be made from “within a comfort zone”.

Students as well as teachers at Christ’s Hospital, a £36,600-a-year boarding school in Horsham, West Sussex, will all be given “diversity training” as well as lessons on “micro-aggressions and stereotyping”.

The school, which was founded in 1552, counts the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the slave trader Edward Colston among its alumni.

The plans were among a series of changes announced in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year.

The school’s treasurer and chair of council, Christopher Steane, explained that Christ’s Hospital “acknowledges the urgency with which attention must be given to challenging racism”.

He said: “We understand that the lived reality of being at Christ's Hospital can have a significant impact and it is vital that the experiences and concerns of our black and ethnic minority pupils are heard, validated and acted’

For me, it begs the questions which other forms of perceived 'privilege' should the school cover?

Ajarn Philip wrote: ↑Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:43 pm Interesting post, Simon, thank you. I had a quick look on line (including Wiki CH alumni, which describes Colston simply as a slave trader...) and was struck by the fact that, although said to have attended CH, he was from a very wealthy family. I didn't think there would be too many full fee paying pupils at that time... Again, from a brief look at his personal history, he is described as a 'philanthropist' who used [some of] his wealth for numerous charitable purposes. I also saw that one Colston charitable institution had recently ceased operating , in 2018 I think, as a result of the slavery connection.

We seem to be in a time when history is judged by subjective contemporary standards rather than objective historical standards. I'm not sure anyone over the age of, say, 50 will come out of that well!

Exactly. Well put. The biggest uproar seems to be from people who only look at history through a very narrow lens. I have always thought that teh history curriculum should include more of a world history focus

Pe.A wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 12:08 pm
For me, it begs the questions which other forms of perceived 'privilege' should the school cover?

Just to note (as a white person from a low-income background), being white is definitely a privilege in this country; there is nothing alleged or perceived about it. Even a white person from a poor family will, through their life, get preferential treatment in society than a black person from a poor family, or even a black person from a middle-class family. I mean in terms of applying for jobs alongside black people with similar qualifications, a criminal sentence for a white vs black person convicted of the same crime, being stopped "at random" by the police, being viewed with suspicion if you are walking around an affluent area or driving a nice car, etc.

Otter wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:00 pm

Pe.A wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 12:08 pm
For me, it begs the questions which other forms of perceived 'privilege' should the school cover?

Just to note (as a white person from a low-income background), being white is definitely a privilege in this country; there is nothing alleged or perceived about it. Even a white person from a poor family will, through their life, get preferential treatment in society than a black person from a poor family, or even a black person from a middle-class family. I mean in terms of applying for jobs alongside black people with similar qualifications, a criminal sentence for a white vs black person convicted of the same crime, being stopped "at random" by the police, being viewed with suspicion if you are walking around an affluent area or driving a nice car, etc.

It's in the eye of the beholder. My question about other forms of perceived 'privilege' concerned where exactly the parameters of privilege start and end. This topic always seems to polarise between white and black. Do certain minorities have privilege with regards to other minorities? Is there a privilege ladder, so to speak? How exactly does it work? I just think the term white privilege is ugly, clumsy and short sighted, at the very least.

For me, in a lot of cases, differences in class/education is more defining. I can remember reading an article years ago where a financial services worker (from a minority background was asked whether he thought there was a glass ceiling for people from minority backgrounds - his answer always stuck with me: "It's not what you look like that makes a difference, it's what you sound like" )

Odd though considering i was reading this yesterday.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/oth ... ar-AAQNCVh

So Colston is not strictly an OB as he was a Non-Foundationer?

Seems an awfully convenient way of disavowing him. Sadly it also disavows Pugin, who I rather like.

So if it’s a subjective matter, I’d say schools should acknowledge the notorious as well as the meritorious. After all, CH punches low on merit given the station it appoints itself, so a few despots would add, er, colour.