I was at a private boys’ school similar to Dulwich College, at the same time as Nigel Farage. I was also in the combined cadet force. The sorts of racist behaviour described in your article were normal (‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school, 18 November).
As the child of a refugee from the Nazis, I chose not only to ignore but even to join in with some of the antisemitism, much to my shame these days. It is striking that, with the exception of Chloe Deakin, teachers at the time seem to have viewed Farage’s behaviour as more like “high spirits” or “naughtiness”. Striking, but unsurprising: 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. My German teacher routinely, and publicly, humiliated the one Muslim boy in my class.
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.
Name and address supplied
• Accusations of racism against Nigel Farage while he was a teenager should surprise few people who went to public school in the 1970s. At this time, I attended one of the country’s top public schools, and I constantly witnessed racism. If you were of Jewish, Indian/Pakistani or African origin, you were subject to a daily barrage of abuse. People would shout the Y-word to Jewish pupils, and use the N-word for any person with darker skin. Being an American, I was merely thought of as stupid.
We had a mock school election in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, and the National Front won. Patrick Moore and Enoch Powell were some of the speakers who were welcomed to the school and received much applause for their bile.
Richard Gordon Hartley
Salvador, Brazil
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