by Isabel Müller Eidhamar, reporter

The Deputy Mayor of Medway has called for more to be done to integrate black history into school curriculums.

Councillor Habib Tejan called for this change following the decision of London councils such as Hillingdon and Wandsworth to scrap Black History Month in favour of ‘Diversity Month’.

The rebranding has caused uproar across the UK, especially during a time where the government still find themselves tangled up in the Windrush scandal. The political crisis, which broke in full earlier this year, saw thousands of African-Caribbean people wrongly denied legal rights, detained and threatened with deportation by the Home Office, 63 of which were wrongly deported.

Cllr Tejan, who himself is of Liberian origin, feels more can be done to ensure that Kent youth are educated more sufficiently on issues surrounding black history.

“Whenever you have done enough, you set yourself up to fail,” Tejan said, emphasizing the importance of history knowledge among black youth especially.

“There is a whole history lost for many who don’t know where they are coming from and who therefore find it difficult to navigate themselves into the future. More could be done in regards to education,” he said.

In Medway less than 2% of people consider themselves black, according to the census published in 2011. Today, only few aspects of black history are taught in schools, and few students have sufficient knowledge. Pupils learn about the slave trade, but compared to World War II history and the Holocaust, the level of teaching is not proportionate, and according to the National Education Union, colonialism is not even a part of the national curriculum.

Chairman of the Medway African and Caribbean Association, Carol Stewart, does not think schools teach children enough about black contributions to the UK.

“All my life I have experienced prejudice, and I still experience it here in Medway,” she said.

“We need to integrate black history into the national curriculum. When children are learning about authors, they should read about black authors. When they learn about scientists, they should also learn about black scientists.”

The Medway African and Caribbean Association is the key organiser of the Untold Stories: A celebration of Black People in Kent exhibition at Chatham Historic Dockyard, which officially opens to the public today. They hope the exhibition will encourage more people to want to learn about Kent and Medway’s own unique connection to black history.

“We want to readdress the balance in terms of history and recreate the narrative so that it gives a more diverse view of the region,” Stewart explains.

She calls the decision of some councils to rebrand Black History Month ‘Diversity Month’ is a disgrace and an insult to the founders of the event.

“I think as a community my response would be for us to take more ownership of this event. It is not the councils to own. It is not the councils to rebrand. It is for us as a black community,” she said.

“Collectively we need to do more to downplay the stereotypes and racist views that are resurfacing and more diversity needs to be integrated into the curriculum.”

A rebranding of Black History Month has been up for debate in Medway Council in the past, but it was quickly dismissed due to public outcry from figures such as Carol Stewart and the Medway African and Caribbean Association. Medway Council is also one of the main sponsors of the Untold Stories exhibition this year, which will be the longest event of its kind in the history of the Southeast.

Councillor Alex Paterson at Medway Council is pleased that the council is supporting diversity in the region, and says there have been no complaints to the council that Medway is not doing enough for its black community.

“We are quite happy to celebrate the serious heritage in terms of Charles Dickens events and that sort of thing, but obviously, the serious black history is just as important and it is something we need to mark,” he said.

Patterson explains how black history is particularly important in Medway due to its maritime history, but in regards to a name change of Black History Month, he remains neutral.

“I do not have a strong view in regards to a name change. I think that it is the purpose that is important, but I think Medway is big enough to support and sustain all festival from all manners of cultural groups.”

Despite more work needing to be done, contributors and councillors of Black History Month in Medway seem to have a common goal; to encourage more people to discuss black history, not only in October, but all throughout the year.