Schoolchildren in the UK are now being taught that Vikings were “not all White” and that some may have been Muslim, according to new guidance from an educational charity pushing to abandon “Eurocentric” history.

The Brilliant Club, which works to place university researchers in classrooms, has reportedly instructed its tutors to adopt a “decolonised” approach to teaching European history. Under this revised framework, educators are discouraged from presenting Vikings as a homogeneous group of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavians. Instead, they are urged to emphasise the supposed ethnic and religious diversity within Viking societies.

One claim reportedly advanced in the materials is that some Vikings may have been Muslim—an idea based on the discovery of Arabic or Islamic goods in Viking burial sites. Critics argue that such claims rely on tenuous archaeological interpretations rather than clear historical evidence.

This push to “decolonise” history is part of a broader academic movement across the UK to reframe the country’s cultural and historical legacy through a modern ideological and globalist lens. In February, it was reported that the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust—responsible for preserving the playwright’s historic home in Stratford-upon-Avon—would be “decolonising” its presentation of Shakespeare, claiming his image supports “white European supremacy.” The Trust says it wants to offer a more “inclusive” museum experience.

The changes appear to be inspired in part by a 2022 study from Dr. Helen Hopkins at the University of Birmingham, which argued that portraying Shakespeare as a “universal genius” reinforces harmful Eurocentric ideologies.

In 2021, Oxford University considered removing imperial units like miles and pounds from science curricula as part of its own decolonisation efforts. The metric system—ironically born out of the French Empire—was suggested as a more “inclusive” alternative, despite objections from academics who argued the change was historically and practically unjustified.

Meanwhile, medieval studies have also been a target. In 2019, the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists rebranded itself as the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England, after criticism that the term “Anglo-Saxon” was inherently racist.

In 2023, Cambridge University educators questioned whether the Anglo-Saxons ever existed as a distinct ethnic group—a move interpreted by some as an attempt to weaken historical foundations tied to English identity. In 2024, the University of Nottingham removed “Anglo-Saxon” from its curriculum altogether.

Critics say these moves are not about expanding historical understanding but about displacing historic narratives to serve political goals. Terms like “Anglo-Saxon” and “Viking” are increasingly framed as vehicles for “White Supremacy,” despite having been used in academic and public discourse for centuries without issue.

Sceptics argue that the so-called “decolonisation” agenda amounts to cultural and historical revisionism, aimed less at education than at promoting an anti-White worldview. By marginalising the role of White Europeans in their own history, they warn, these efforts may lead to a form of ethnic and cultural erasure under the banner of inclusion and diversity.

This isn’t history—it’s propaganda. Specifically, anti-White propaganda aimed at stripping people of any unique claim to their own heritage. As such, we can no longer rely on ideologically captured institutions to preserve and pass down our history. That responsibility now falls to us. And we must meet that challenge.

As George Orwell warned, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” Milan Kundera echoed this insight: “The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history.” Is that not what we’re witnessing here?

In effect, this amounts to a form of historical and cultural genocide—one that severs the roots of a people until the broader cultural consciousness no longer sees White people of British Isles ancestry as truly belonging anywhere, least of all in the British Isles themselves.