Riots in the streets, but what now in the music classroom?

First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Bebe King, Elsie Stancomb and Alice da Silva Aguiar. No parent should have to go through this, and it's important that in all of the fall out, we remember these three innocent girls who lost their lives. RIP.

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For many of us in music education, we have had many conversations about diversity, racism, inclusion, ableism, gender, identity, and many other invisible and visible barriers which stop children and young people from feeling as though they belong and can achieve. While many folks been talking and writing about the ways in which racism, white supremacy and whiteness can/do show up in music education, it's always been with the understanding that these ideologies and issues can be found in music education because they can be found in society.

Some of the criticism/push back against even talking about racism in the UK, can be boiled down to these comments:

• This isn't apartheid in South Africa

• This isn't Jim Crow

• The UK has never been segregated

• This isn't 1960's America

• You're racist

However during this past week, we've seen targeted and co-ordinated Islamophobic and xenophobic violence, fuelled by mainstream media outlets under the guise of patriotism and freedom of expression. For all the talking, the action is now here in on our doorsteps, in our communities and on social media. The question now then becomes, what do we do?

To reiterate an earlier point - music education cannot, and does not operate outside of society. Problems in society are our problems too. After the last four years of DEI talk, action planning, debates, posters and books, what now? It was one thing to think and talk about representation and diversity. It's another thing to consider how pedagogy can help to humanise those who are currently being dehumanised. To go beyond token expressions and to wrestle with questions such as these:

• When does/should politics affect music education?

• How aware am I of what caused these riots in the first place?

• How can my pedagogy cause a student to question racism when they hear certain words and phrases around their dinner table everyday?

• How can my pedagogy create a space of temporary safety for my students?

• What can I do to be there for my Brown and Muslim folks?

The repercussions of these riots will be felt for a long time in the UK. There will be many children who will be afraid, and others may walk into school espousing views they have been hearing all summer.

Music education can be a powerful tool to humanise those who are being dehumanised and the music classroom can be a place of safety and peace. What can we do now?