PHAIS Seminar Series Week 4: Professor Stephen Brooke (History)

The PHAIS Seminar Series meets weekly in term time to discuss a paper by a visiting Philosopher, Historian, Art Historian or a member of our academic staff.

A Murder in the Playground: Race, Violence, and Multiracialism in Late 20th Century Britain

Professor Stephen Brooke, York University Toronto

On 17 September 1986, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah was murdered in the playground of Manchester’s Burnage High School.  He was fourteen.  Ahmed’s murderer was Darren Coulburn, a white 13-year-old boy.  The circumstances of the murder were, of course, horrific.  But Ahmed’s killing also raised questions about racial violence within schools and, perhaps more surprisingly, about multicultural and anti-racist education policies.  The Daily Telegraph suggested, for example, that “anti-racist policy led to the killing” while The Times argued that “left wing ideas” had resulted in “malign consequences”.  This paper will examine tensions around race, whiteness, and multiracialism in late 20th century Britain..

Biography

Stephen Brooke is Professor of History at York University, Toronto.  He is the author of Sexual Politics (2012), London, 1984 (2024), and articles on twentieth-century politics and culture.

The seminar will be delivered in person, but a Zoom link will be available for those who wish to attend remotely. Please email phaispg@essex.ac.uk to request the link.