Councillor’s Daughter Experiences School Racism, Mirroring Mother’s Past

A local councillor has stated that her daughter encountered the same form of racism in school decades after she herself, as a child, was instructed to “go back where you came from.” During a meeting at Liverpool Town Hall, Councillor Mirna Juarez recounted that she experienced racial abuse from fellow pupils when she was eight years old, and her daughter had subsequently been upset by comparable taunts. Her remarks coincided with the release of a new report indicating that one-third of young individuals in Liverpool felt schools did not address racism sufficiently, a sentiment shared by half of the city’s black students. Council leader Liam Robinson commented that it was “completely unacceptable” for children to feel unsupported. Ms. Juarez, an independent representative for Much Woolton and Hunts Cross, stated: “I have had experiences of racism as an eight-year-old immigrant in this country. “I was often shouted at by other children to go back to where I came from and this taught me to stay away from those with those kinds of beliefs. “Now, fast forward 36 years, sadly my daughter also experienced racism in her school.”She experienced name-calling, this caused her quite a lot of distress. We believe as a family more can be done.” Ms. Juarez informed the BBC that her intention in discussing her family’s experience was to illustrate the lack of change across two generations. She added: “I don’t want to have to think in future that I would have to console any future grandchildren.” The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that during the meeting, a 2023 survey conducted by the University of Oxford was cited, which revealed that one-third of the 15,000 students surveyed in the city did not think their school effectively addressed racism. This proportion rose to over 50% among black students. In response to Ms. Juarez’s concerns, Mr. Robinson stated: “Mirna, I was really sorry to hear about yours and your family’s experiences and I think that really highlights all of the work we’ve got to keep doing on inclusion.”You have our commitment as an administration that we will all work together on that issue.”