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Tony Sewell

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 170.76.231.175 (talk) at 16:30, 11 November 2022 (Hasn’t been ennobled yet, plus calling him “Lord Firstname” implies that he is a younger son of a Duke or Marquess, which is not the case). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tony Sewell
CBE
Sewell in 2020
Chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities
Assumed office
July 2020 (2020-07)
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Personal details
Born
Cleveland Anthony Sewell

1959 (age 64–65)
Brixton, London, England
Alma materUniversity of Essex (BA)
University of Nottingham (PhD)
OccupationEducational consultant
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/people/tony-sewell

Cleveland Anthony Sewell, CBE (born 1959) is a British educational consultant and founder and chair of the educational charity Generating Genius.[1] In July 2020, Sewell was appointed chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities tasked with looking into race disparity in the UK.[2] In October 2022, Dr Sewell was nominated as a life peer in the House of Lords.

Early life

Tony Sewell was born in Brixton in 1959 and grew up in Penge, Bromley. Sewell's parents arrived in London in the 1950s from Jamaica. During his childhood, Sewell was a member of the Scouts and much of his adolescence was spent in church youth-group activities in and around Sydenham.[3]

In 1981, Sewell graduated from the University of Essex where he studied English Literature.[4]

Professional life

Teaching & Education

After graduating from university, Sewell was employed as a school teacher in Brent. Sewell left this role to teach in Jamaica for two years.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he wrote a weekly social commentary column for The Voice. This column was entitled "Live and Kicking" and was intended to be thought provoking. Sewell also had a weekly programme on Choice FM as a talk show host.

In 1995, he received a PhD from the University of Nottingham for his thesis "The relationship between African-Caribbean boys' sub-culture and schooling".[5]

After gaining his PhD, Sewell worked for many years as a university lecturer at Kingston University and at the University of Leeds.

The Learning Trust

Sewell helped with the transformation of education in Hackney as part of the team that set up the Learning Trust and the Mossbourne School. This work had national significance given that it was the flagship of the Academy movement.

Commonwealth Secretariat

Amongst his accomplishments,Dr Sewell has been an international consultant in education for the World Bank and Commonwealth Secretariat

London Schools Excellence Fund

In 2012, Sewell was appointed by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to chair an inquiry into the challenges faced by primary and secondary schools in London.[6] The inquiry's findings resulted in the government agreeing to provide £26 million to improve teachers' subject knowledge as part of the London Schools Excellence Fund.[4][7]

Youth Justice Board

In October 2015, Sewell was appointed as a member of the Youth Justice Board[7] for England and Wales.

Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

In July 2020, Sewell was appointed chair of a Government commission tasked with looking into race disparity in the UK. His appointment was criticised by the Muslim Council of Britain, which argued that Sewell was "keen on downplaying race disparities".[2] On 31 March 2021, Sewell's commission, the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published its 258-page report,[8] which concluded that while racism exists in the UK, the UK was not institutionally racist.[9]

After the report's publication, Sewell received extensive online criticism, including from Labour MP Clive Lewis. Lewis tweeted a picture of a Ku Klux Klan member as a symbol of structural racism in response to a headline that said the commission found "no evidence of institutional racism".[10] Cambridge post-colonial studies academic Priyamvada Gopal also criticised the report for cherry-picking data and minimising and denying structural and institutional racism, asserting that it read like a propaganda document rather than a piece of research.[11] Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission who supported the report, criticised the "white establishment" for not defending Sewell.[12]

In May 2021, Equalities minister Liz Truss was unable to name a supportive voice on the Race report when challenged to name a person outside of government who supported its findings.[13] Commentators on race, education, health, and economics criticised the report's findings for downplaying the extent of racism in Britain.[14][15] The report was however praised by writer and former Social Mobility commmissioner David Goodhart and by The Times, which described it as a "nuanced and practical document".[16][17]

In March 2022, the Inclusive Britain report was published. This was the Government's formal response to the Sewell Report which accepted all the recommendations made by the Sewell Report.[18]

Peerage

It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, Sewell would be appointed a life peer.[19]

Controversies

Schools 'too feminine for boys'

In 2006, Sewell said that boys were being failed by schools because lessons had become too "feminised".[20] Sewell's comments were criticised by John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. Dunford accused Sewell of making "sweeping generalisations" and argued that "schools have put an immense amount of effort into raising boys' achievement in recent years, just as they did for girls in the previous years".[21]

Sexuality comments

In July 2020, The Guardian revealed that in 1990 Sewell published a column in the Voice newspaper in which he said: "We heteros are sick and tired of tortured queens playing hide and seek around their closets. Homosexuals are the greatest queer-bashers around. No other group of people are so preoccupied with making their own sexuality look dirty."

In response to The Guardian's story, Sewell apologised and said that his comments were "wrong and offensive".[22]

Honours & Awards

In 2016, Sewell was awarded a CBE for his work in education.[citation needed]

In 2017, Sewell was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in law from the University of Exeter.[23]

In 2018, Sewell became an Honorary Fellow of University College London.[24]

In 2018, Sewell was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Essex in 2019.[25]

In 2022, Sewell was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Buckinghamshire.[citation needed]

In October 2022, Sewell was nominated as a life peer to the House of Lords. (www.gov.uk/government/news/political-peerages-2022)

Publications

1980s

  • Garvey's children: the legacy of Marcus Garvey. London: Voice Communications, 1987.

1990s

  • Jamaica Inc.. London: The X Press, 1993.
  • Keep on Moving: The Windrush Legacy - The Black Experience in Britain from 1948. London: Voice Enterprises, 1998.
  • Black Masculinities and Schooling: How Black Boys Survive Modern Schooling. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books Ltd, 1996.

2000s

  • Generating Genius: Black Boys in Love, Ritual and Schooling. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham, 2006.

References

  1. ^ "Dr Tony Sewell CBE | Honorary graduates | University of Exeter". www.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Charity boss to head government race commission". BBC News. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. ^ Kinson, Sarah (12 November 2014). "London People: Dr Tony Sewell". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Dr Tony Sewell CBE | 11th Festival of Education". educationfest.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  5. ^ Sewell, Cleveland A. (1995). "The relationship between African-Caribbean boys' sub-culture and schooling". nottingham.ac.uk. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  6. ^ "The Mayor's Education Inquiry First Report". London City Hall. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (29 October 2015). "Dr Tony Sewell appointed as new member of Youth Justice Board". gov.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Race report: What are the key points?". BBC News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Martin, George (31 March 2021). "Who is Tony Sewell, the controversial chair behind the Government's race report?". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  10. ^ Badshah, Nadeem. "No 10 race report authors hit out at 'deeply personal' criticisms". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  11. ^ Nick de Bois (3 April 2021). "talkRADIO interview with Priyamvada Gopal". talkRADIO (Podcast). talkRADIO. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  12. ^ Phillips, Trevor. "Silence of white establishment betrays Sewell". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 5 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Walsh, Eleanor (24 May 2021). "Equalities Minister fails to name single backer of Government race report when challenged". LBC.
  14. ^ Walker, Peter (2 April 2021). "No 10's race report used 'cherry-picked' data, say public health experts". The Guardian.
  15. ^ Quinn, Ben (3 April 2021). "Historian David Olusoga joins academic criticism of No 10's race report". The Guardian.
  16. ^ Goodhart, David (1 April 2021). "Any BLM activists reading this race report will find their beliefs shredded". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  17. ^ "The Times view on the Runnymede Trust: Race to the Bottom". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  18. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-britain-action-plan-government-response-to-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities/inclusive-britain-summary-of-recommendations-and-actions
  19. ^ "Political Peerages 2022". GOV.UK. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Schools 'too feminine for boys'". BBC News. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  21. ^ Smith, Alexandra (13 June 2006). "Feminised curriculum 'has thrown boy out with bathwater'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  22. ^ Murphy, Simon; Stewart, Heather; Dodd, Vikram; Walker, Peter (16 July 2020). "Race commission head Tony Sewell apologises for anti-gay comments". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Dr Tony Sewell CBE | Honorary graduates | University of Exeter". www.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  24. ^ UCL (22 December 2020). "List of Honorary Fellows". Governance and compliance. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  25. ^ CBE, Dr Tony Sewell. "Dr Tony Sewell CBE". Policy Exchange. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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