Virtual debate with Reading boys

On the 15^th of January, four of us from Queen Anne’s and four Reading boys pupils took part in a debate on the topic of ‘Is the UK systemically racist?’. From Queen Anne’s two people collaborated with two people from Reading boys to agree with the motion- that the UK was systemically racist, and the other two from each school to disagree with it. Systemic racism, also known as institutional racism, is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, all of which were discussed within the debate. Although the debate would normally take place in person it still remained an enjoyable experience over teams as many more people were able to view it.

The debate began by everyone voting either for the motion, that the UK was systemically racist, or against it, that the UK was not systemically racist. This would happen again at the end of the debate to discover if anyone had changed their mind. Then each of us would take it one by one, someone speaking for the motion, then someone speaking against it until we reached a point for questions in which we could further discuss any claims the opposition had made that we did not agree with. This was finally followed by the last speaker who would sum up their sides point and form rebuttals against points that they had a counter to, before there was the final vote.

Vicky L, who disagreed with the motion, told me how her side, the opposition, needed to prove that the UK society was systemically racist, and that this could be difficult if she didn’t agree with the motion. Vicky told me that she ‘obtained a lot of knowledge about how the UK system is functioning, more than I ever would if I was not doing the debate’. Lilibeth B who also argued against the motion told me that ‘it was a great experience to work collaboratively with reading school in a lively and intellectual debate’.

Finally, I talked to Karan B, from Reading boys who spoke alongside Serena C and I from Queen Anne’s in agreement with the motion, that the UK is systemically racist. Karan told me that his experience with the debate was very pleasant as both sides spoke very passionately and it was nice to see that the proposition, on which side we were debating, won the swing at the end. He continued to tell me that “Even though it was virtual we managed to work together within our teams using platforms such as zoom and google docs.” Finally Karan told me that overall he found the debate to be really enjoyable and that he would love to participate in more debates in the future.

All in all, the debate was very successful despite the circumstances. Everyone spoke passionately and strongly on their points and it even led to the debate still going on after the debate had finished! Hopefully we will see more debates, such as these, in the future.