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A couple of interesting - albeit anecdotal - letters to the Grauniad today about what I think is more useful question about private schools' conduct and response as institutions, and whether they have changed in the interim.

Excerpt:

the private schools which were built to train young Englishmen for empire-building were deeply racist even in the 1980s. Mine had a quota for the maximum number of Jewish pupils... I say this not to defend Farage, but to point out that he – and many others from a similar background – were schooled in an environment that condoned or even encouraged blatant racism, while also equipping the pupils with the swagger, charm and polish to make others feel inferior and admiring of them. To see him in isolation is to miss the nature of the sorts of institutions that educated him, and the damage they do. I’m sure the schools will say they have changed, and I hope they have, but while they continue to educate their pupils to believe they are better than others, there will be plenty more where Farage came from.

The Dulwich College "rape culture" allegations certainly seem to be consistent with an institutional culture of making its pupils feel better than others - albeit girls and women in those cases rather than Jews and Muslims.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/26/racism-claims-against-nigel-farage-are-no-surprise-to-us

Edited by Dogkennelhillbilly
Forgot the link
  • Agree 2

I went to a girls' public day  school in the fifties and sixties.

The first school rule was "courtesy and consideration to others are expected at all times". 

There was quite a high number of Jewish girls, both in the junior and senior school.

I don't recall a single incident of anti-Semitism.

Is this something confined to boys' schools, or was my school unusual?

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