Shadows of a Forgotten Past: Unveiling the Truth of White Nanny, Black Child

In the 1950s, white British families adopted numerous African children in a practice commonly known as ‘farming’. With outstanding depth, a documentary on farming by Andy Mundy-Castle explores how for some of those children, what appeared to be a well-meaning initiative resulted in significant harm and life-long scars.

When the Windrush was celebrated last year, marking its 75 years, it showed the need to equally highlight the cultural and social contributions of West Africans and their offspring to Britain and how Britain has moulded these relationships today. Despite sitting amongst the shadows of migration stories, fostering of Black, African children by white Britons was a common and normalized practice in the UK for almost 50 years. Over 70,000 West African children were taken into white, British, and most working-class families, on a practice known as ‘farming’. Once adopted, many African children were forced into silence while coping with the everlasting scars of such a problematic and contentious policy.  

This essay features in our print issue, ‘An African Feminist Manifesto’ and is only available online to paying subscribers. To continue reading register for a free trial and get unlimited access to The Republic for a week!Already a subscriber? Log in.