Race and the University of Exeter
After finishing a lecture as part of my post colonialism module, I decided that I would follow some students who were heading to an external guest panel event. This lecture WAS very informative, and was clearly welcoming to those interested in colonialism and its widespread effects in the present day. However, during the Q&A portion, there was an interjection that defiled what was meant to be a safe space for progressive conversations about race.
Despite having made a conscious decision to attend knowing the content of the panel discussion, a person made a serious claim that they rejected the idea of whiteness; that it was offensive to them as a white person suffering from oppression. They claimed that their people also have a history of being persecuted, and this made them exempt from white privilege. They quickly became aggravated and aggressive.
What would have been a good way for the organisers of an event to handle such a situation? In this case, the lecturers hosting the panel attempted to correct the questioner. However they were also unwilling to say plainly that the questioner was wrong or that such remarks were not acceptable. The damage to the safety of that space was left hanging, violated. For me, the situation is indicative of how the University needs to train staff to be better at handling the incidents that are likely to raise red flags, and which pose safeguarding issues to other students.
The University needs to train staff how to handle the incidents that are likely to raise red flags and pose safeguarding issues to students.
Conversely, how should the University deal with students who are repeatedly insensitive around topics such as misogyny and race? If a student persistently submits hateful sexist or racist material as coursework, should they be allowed to remain in the institution to further their education? Then, there is a question about persistent undereducation around race, and how to address it. Across the University it is clear that many students and staff continue to be severely uneducated about issues on race. I turned up to a debate about feminism and the participants only knew about White feminist issues. A lack of awareness is incredibly evident all around me. Allowing it to continue without challenge it is not what I would expect from a tolerant University. Although Exeter has publicly stated that it is committed to the principle that everyone with the potential to benefit from Higher Education should have equal opportunity to do so, I have no Black or Brown lecturers and I am constantly being fed White narratives. The same narratives I have been fed all my life – repackaged as new content again and again. I am constantly on edge going to a White university knowing I could be attacked verbally in class, or even physically on my way to lectures.
In public life too, the University has not spoken up adequately about the Black Lives Matter movement. There have been ample opportunities to do so since the murder of Sean Reed and George Floyd as well as many other Black and Brown bodies globally. But, in early June, as many HE institutions in the UK posted public statements of solidarity, it spoke volumes that Exeter’s ‘Statement on events following the death of George Floyd’ did not appear on the main page, and referred to a ‘death’ rather than a murder.
As a part of an Equality Diversity and Inclusivity board at Penryn, I know at least that many people on my campus are doing everything they can to make the University a better place. So what will happen in the future? I want to see Black and Brown women and men at Exeter talking about their experiences, being unafraid to share them, and to celebrate those of others.
Enough is enough!
Images: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live
