“Faith in the City”: Religion, Racism and Education in 1960s Britain

Abstract

This paper will offer a preliminary narrative of the role of religious agencies in the campaigns against racism in education in 1960s Britain. The narrative is divided into two parts: in the first, the response of indigenous faith communities will be surveyed, in the second, the activities of one faith community of the Asian diaspora in organising resistance to racism in education will be documented. In both instances evidence will be drawn, where appropriate, from one locality—the area around Britain's second city, Birmingham. In the concluding section the implications of this narrative for writing the history of post-1945 British education will be considered.