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University of York BAME student Network takes over York Castle Museum 

On Tuesday 27th October, University of York BAME student Network will take over York Castle Museum Twitter and Instagram pages!

 

York Museums Trust are very much interested in the work that we do, and we appreciate their efforts in contacting us and holding an event for Black History Month.  

  

The BAME Network aims to ensure that BAME students feel represented in the university. In order for this to happen we believe that the attainment gap between White students and Black students needs to be addressed, and a change in the curriculum would be a great first step.  

  

Our main aim for this year is to work with the Diversifying and Liberating York campaign and begin to change the curriculum. We feel strongly about this topic and hope to bring about some change. 

  

As it is Black History Month, we have a series of events (mostly virtual) due to the current climate. Our theme for this month is ‘There is no such thing as amnesia’ and we hope that people learn about the great contributions that black people have made to history. We believe that Black History Month should not just be something that comes at one point, but it needs to be acknowledged yearly.  

  

During the lockdown we were able to spend our time thinking about how we could get BAME people to share their experiences at York. We managed to do this on our Instagram and found that people had similar experiences of racism / discrimination in the city. It gave us an insight into people’s experiences and what York could do to be anti-racist. It all starts with education and acknowledging that your unconscious bias can be harmful. An unlearning process needs to occur as well as having those uncomfortable conversations with friends and family about racism. 

  

You can find out more about the YUSU BAME Network on our Instagram and twitter @yusu_bme and our Facebook yusubame. 

 

York Museums Trust is committed to diversifying the histories, stories and collections we care for and present and share our heritage with everyone. We will continue to question, to provoke debate and to never shy away from difficult conversations 

 

Our plans were to highlight some of our displays that connect to Black History as well as those that exclude non-white voices, but new restrictions due to the virus meant we postponed our event. However, we are committed to highlighting the fantastic work the Network has been doing.  

 

Thank you to York BAME Society for working with us on this Takeover, and we look forward to working with them in the future.