Exclusive: Majority of British people found to have ‘shockingly little’ knowledge about Black British history
She would have expected people to name figures such as Quintus Lollius Urbicus, who became governor of Roman Britain
Look, I know everyone in Britain is required to know the names and dates of all the monarchs going back to the 9th century, but expecting everyone to be able to come up with that name when put on the spot is going a little too far.
I wouldn’t really think of Roman governors of Britain as a “British historical figure”, more like a “Roman historical figure who happened to be stationed in Britain”, same as with modern diplomats or military leaders.
Also, is it even confirmed he was black? I mean Algerian people are not exactly black. Could be wrong though. Don’t know if there are any ancient scripts describing him.
His father was a Berber, and his mother was Roman if I’m not mistaken. Doesn’t sound like he was black.
Yeah you’ll see this a lot with Roman history anyone who lived on the continent of Africa has to be black. It’s a way of oddly, well I guess whitewashing isn’t the exact right term I’m looking for, but oversimplifying I guess history? I’ve taken the Nuance out of things. Also of diminishing other North African cultures.
It’s not just Roman history. It happened recently with the Cleopatra show. Some people can’t get their head around the idea that not all Africans are black.
But isn’t Roman just a blanket term for a ton of different ethnicities and nationalities?
Whilst I am sympathetic to the overall aim of this, things like this:
She would have expected people to name figures such as Quintus Lollius Urbicus, who became governor of Roman Britain
…do stand out as being a a bit unrealisitic. I mean, how many governors of Roman Britain of any race or nationality can the typical Briton actually name? I’d be surprised if it was more than 1 and probably less than that.
And if the expectation is that anyone would know of this guy only because his chief contribution to history is “being black” then I am not sure what we are gaining here.
I couldn’t name any Roman governor, of any race, ethnicity, or governate.
I’m fairly sure you know who Caesar was.
He played the Joker against Adam West’s Batman.
No, you’re thinking of Cesar Chavez. They’re talking about the guy who invented salad.
Gaius Iulius Caesar
neveronly briefly was a Governor but more known as a Consul before … Well Caesar.He was governor of Hispania Ulterior at one point.
Huh, look at that. Thanks.
Feels like https://xkcd.com/2501/
three quarters couldn’t name a white one either.
They can name kings, queens and some prime ministers.
But given how incredibly white the UK historically was, they’re all obviously white.
I can name like 8 Henrys because they come in a sequence (I presume).
If you add Lenny Henry to the end, you win a prize.
Okay. So half of britons can’t name a black british historical figure? So what? That means HALF of britons CAN name a black british historical figure.
Personally I cannot name a single black british historical figure off the top of my head. But I also kind of find it offensive that people want to separate historical figures into “black” and “white” (and maybe others… who knows?). Do we need to have a catagory for every type and mix? Like ffs.
It’s important because whitewashing history is cultural erasure. Whether or not it’s intentional, the education system is failing to properly educate students on the contributions of all types of people.
It matters to British children of color to see their cultures represented in positive ways and as great contributors to the world they live in.
Being “colorblind” ignores the fact that history was very much not and ignores that racism of the past still impacts so many people today.
It matters to British children of color to see their cultures represented in positive ways and as great contributors to the world they live in.
I might agree with this if I wasnt a British child of colour at one point in time. Anecdotally, I never cared about the colour of anyones skin. If you were a British historical figure then you were a British historical figure. As a kid I never cared to put people into different boxes based on race. I’m all for teaching kids about history from people of all walks of life, but I dont feel the need to say “this was a black british person” or “this was a white british person”. They are British people.
It’s not whitewashing if your entire country was white for almost all its history.
Most non whites came over after ww2. It’s not racist to say their just really wasn’t that many historical black people. Forcing a narrative is stupid. This is why so many people have issues with wokeness.
Our kids don’t know enough about history anyway. That could be solved. But it doesn’t mean they should know about some random black guy that did almost nothing of note just because he is black. Plenty of people did almost nothing of note and we don’t know about them.
This bothers me as well. The headline might as well be based on some other survey about sexual orientation or height or hair color. What a strange thing, to further propagate association by race.
But I also kind of find it offensive that people want to separate historical figures into “black” and “white”
Incredible
I’m no Briton and i just know a few bits here and there of British history, but isn’t the UK a traditionally mostly white country ?
I’m guessing half of say, Norwegians, also can’t name a black Norwegian historical figure either. I’m betting it’s even more than that and they’re the most immediate neighbors of the UK.
I’m not saying they’re not important to be remembered, or that there weren’t black people in Europe since the Roman times, here and there, but statistically speaking, black people were the overwhelming minority.
Norway didn’t colonize the West Indies or Africa (though they ran the Société du Madal for Portugal), thereby increasing the number of black Norwegians to include residents of entirely new majority black countries. There are a lot of black Brits.
Also, why Norway and not France (physically closer, comparable colonial history) or the Republic of Ireland (former colony, significant “shared history” during the colonial times, literally touching)?
You would get the same results in France or Ireland. And if you want to get into figure in former British colonies, you’d be talking half the world. Name a famous black person from pre-revolutionary America that more than half of British would know.
I very much doubt you would get the same result from France, given the very different historical attitudes towards black people in the two countries, as well as a higher number of black people whose stories are taught (due to the difference in attitudes).
Name a famous black person from pre-revolutionary America that more than half of British would know.
Clearly, it’s impossible to do so, given the story we’re commenting under. I assume sally Hemings or (probably less likely) crispin attucks would be the figures they’d be most likely to name.
The more relevant aspect of the colonizing point was that Britain colonized Kenya (as an example) in the 1960s, not the US in the 1700s. They can’t name a single black Kenyan person from that time period?
Oh right yeah the colonial times. I guess when i was thinking about historical Britain i was thinking about celtic/roman/viking/medieval times. I tend to gloss over colonial times, i find that part of history not to be very appealing to me, but yeah, makes sense. Lots of black people because of the slave trade.
I picked east, i could’ve picked west, or south sure. No reason in particular.
It’s Scary that they can’t name one black Spice Girl.
This isn’t just a race issue, how many historical figures in general can people name?
I’d gamble that 7% of British people think Winston Churchill signed the Magna Carta at the end of the first world war, and I include former prime ministers in that.
I bet most people couldn’t name a prime minister under Victoria or the prime minister during WW1.
I’m pretty certain there has never been a black person as important as those in British history.
And how many of their historical figures are black even? Not a whole lot
I’m American so I thought I didn’t know any Black British historical figures. Thanks, OP, for posting about this because it’s inspiring me to educate myself on the subject.
I’ve only heard of Mary Seacole out of the black Britons from history we’re expected to know of.
I actually googled the musician and he has a relatively interesting story but it’s also not at all surprising people don’t know who he is today - he had one piece which was very popular called the Feast of Hiawatha which according to Google was played regularly until 1939 and then doesn’t seem to have been revived. Seems he was much better regarded as a conductor.
Anyhow, historically this country’s establishment has made it hard for black people to get famous until the 20th century, something that this academic surely knows. She’s either naive or deliberately skewing her results for headlines by asking for names from a time when her top rankings include a Roman Governor!
I’m from the US. I wouldn’t have gotten many, but brits didn’t even get Samuel Coleridge-Taylor? Sad.
It is sad, but this is also because of the generally low level of interest in classical music.
I will say that even within classical music, he does not get the correct level of recognition. Possibly (likely) due to racial issues of the time.
I have noticed more is being done to address this recently, which is a positive. Classical radio stations are featuring his music more and running features discussing his life and music. He was also featured in this year’s proms, which is probably most of the general publics only exposure to classical music.
he was the mega-hit of his time. He toured the US repeatedly, meeting teddy roosevelt iirc. sad to see his legacy forgotten.
99% of American can’t either.
They probably can, given there are more famous black Americans to choose from. Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, etc.
British, not American
?
Read the title of the thread. While half of Britons can’t name a black historical figure, I bet 99% of Americans can name a Black British historical figure either. I sure can’t.
Huh, didn’t know they were British figures. Learn something new every day I suppose
Yeah, bur that’s not newsworthy.
re-reading that, its not as much of a roast as I first thought
Ugh George Washington Carver is known by a LOT OF people. Not to mention we have days dedicated to some of the greatest historical black Americans, Martin Luther King Jr for instance. But outside of that nearly every American knows a decent amount.
Even the hateful useless Americans know President Barack Obama.
Others of note when I asked several friends at work (blue collar average Joes and Jills, hotel maintenance):
Booker T Washington Rosa Parks Harriet Tubman Jackie Robinson Malcolm X Hattie McDaniel Fredrick Douglass Oprah Winfrey (yeah I don’t know if this counts but I included it)
Out of the 15 or so people I asked all of them said Obama and MLK Jr.
British, not American
I was assuming that the commenter was claiming 99% of Americans couldn’t name a black American historical figure.
Nah, we’re pretty uneducated, but there’s an MLK day at least.
why would we :(
Lol, I would be willing to believe most people can come up with MLK. Not to mention that Obama technically is a correct answer.
British, not American
Lots of Americans know Crispis Attucks, he’s covered in history class. They may not associate him with britian but he was shot years before the revolution so he was a British subject.
Never heard of him, but now I know, and knowing is half the battle. Thanks!
Winston Churchill in silhouette
Yeah, I couldn’t name one either (I’m from the US). The first name that popped into my mind was Jimi Hendrix but he wasn’t British. I guess Othello wasn’t British either, and may not have even been historical. I had heard of Idris Elba but didn’t realize that he was British. No idea about the Spice Girls.
There is a story (maybe apocryphal) that former US Vice President Dan Quayle (famous for malapropisms) once referred to Nelson Mandela as a “great African-American”, fwiw.
that makes sense for a country where the few black folks that did live there were usually not exactly living it up
As an American, I can name Idris Elba and Ncuti Gatwa. But not going any further back in history than that.
