Article #3255

The skewed perspectives in my A-level curriculum are staggering. Until that changes, harmful ideas about race and migration will live on

• Astrid Barltrop is the winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award (16-18 category) and a year 13 student in Oxfordshire

“Lord Cromer was a successful consul-general of Egypt. To what extent do you agree?” I read this essay prompt in my A-level history class, wondering what “successful” means. Successful in forcing austerity on Egyptians to line the pockets of British financiers? Successful in civilising a country of people he viewed as “subversive demagogues” and “subject races”?

Thankfully my essay could argue that Cromer wasn’t successful if I tried to frame “success” in terms of how he impacted the Egyptian population: he imposed an unfair land tax system and restricted access to education. But even then I had to write it under the implicit assumption that colonial rulers can be successful for a population – it’s just that this one wasn’t. Why doesn’t discussion around Cromer – and the values he embodied – instead centre on the right to rule?