Props to Goldsmiths Students’ Union, for taking the ‘safe space’ concept to absurd new levels. Last week, one faction of the union hosted a screening of the film
Dear White People
and advertised it as being ‘for BME students’. For those not au fait with this lingo, BME stands for ‘black and minority ethnic’ – and the poster specifies that this screening is for students of ‘African, Caribbean, Arab, Asian and South American ethnic origin’. The union’s welfare and diversity officer and education officer both reiterated this message on Facebook and Twitter, then stated that before the screening, there was a BME ONLY social happening at Cafe Natura.
A post on a public Facebook group by Bahar Mustafa, the welfare and diversity officer
A tweet by Sarah El-alfy, the education officer
There it is: racial segregation at a British university. Imagine if the tables were turned, and the film was called
Dear BME People
and the screening was ‘for white students’ and ONLY WHITE students could attend the social before the screening.
Yet the concept of BME ONLY is apparently supported by Goldsmiths Students’ Union, presumably thanks to the orthodoxy of the ‘safe space’. But if ‘safe space’ actually means ‘racially-segregated space’ – as it’s increasingly starting to look like - then we’ve got a serious storm coming.
I’ve yet to hear back from anyone from the union about whether any white people were allowed into the social.
There is such a thing as race, do I need to substantiate anything......... because clearly it's not a prerequisite for making claims about whether race does/does not exist
There is a serious point here The fact that there is seen to be a need for BME only events attests to the racial attitudes of the white majority promoted by what purports to be a major political party * And underlined by the electorate of Rochester and Clacton
Tele is right, the need is especially attested by the well-known phenomenon of right-wing and racist attitudes running riot in university student populations.
There is indeed a serious point here.
Here we have a crowd of over-excited ninnies in an echo chamber who feel a "need" to institute formal racism in Britain - for the first time in our history - against all our public values and against the law.
For goodness sakes.
If the grisly multicultural/mass immigration project had not been imposed upon the good people of this country
with no mandate from them, no debate, no referendum, no toleration of counter-arguments by dissenters, then such sentiments need never have arisen in the first place.
Exactly, these poor barbarians imported from dictatorships know no better, they come from countries of oppression that would still be thriving if the British were still there but they fought for and got their independence only to find the savages are ruling and it's all our fault, so each and every government then pay them aid money to put right what the ignorant tell us is wrong, I know what is wrong, it is the tribal culture of all countries that have failed to move on in an ever growing and productive world, they follow films like 12 Years A Slave, what they should be doing is looking at the 12th century culture in my country where Asian women are subjugated and have no voice here in the 21st century.
You really are one misinformed person. According to people of African, Caribbean and other black ethnic origin they can't be racist, they interpret the racist laws to suit themselves whilst actively being racist. The political party you refer to wants out of the EU, a union of countries controlled en-masse by whites, where is the racism there? Unlike the Labour party who would sell their souls to the devil this political party is what was once known as patriotic but now is racist by the bleating Labour sh=t# stirrers who are worried that the imported voters are going to turn their backs on them, however if they would only go along to a synagogue in the heart of London that is where the racism is aimed at.
Telemachus, You accusations of "racism" will not cost UKIP a single vote in any election. You resort to such dishonest tactics because your party has no principles or policies that could benefit the working class voter.
Are you talking about UKIP? If so are you slandering the party? Don't they have ethnic minorities in their ranks and do they not have a non racist immigration policy?
There is no need. It's race hustling by people who are themselves in many cases bigoted extremists - acting under orders from Sarah El Alfy, Goldsmiths SU officially decided that criticising the headchoppers and rapists of ISIS would be 'racist'.
Goldsmiths Islamic Chaplain, Shakeel Begg, meanwhile, has advocated, among other nasty things, executing gay people and those who leave Islam. And yet there has been not a peep from his fellow BME campaigners for, supposedly, social justice, safety for minorities, opposition to bigotry etcetera.
Evidently they have no problem with that - nor with the numerous anti-semitic, sexist, homophobic etcetera Islamist hate preachers that Goldsmiths, like other universities, has been hosting for many years.
This is typical of Labour policies, they open our borders keep chanting the mantra of muli-culturalism when in reality it doesn't work. Blacks can't be prejudiced? My goodness they see themselves as the underdogs, all you need to do is look at the situation in America, the blacks there are still moaning about being deprived slaves yet they have the same opportunities as the whites of the same class. I can remember a black councillor from somewhere down south asking for an apology for the slave trade, I wont aplogise as I had nothing to do with it, the slave trade existed in this country long after blacks were freed, the white indigenous population were still "in service" years later. I want to know what the reaction would be if we were to have an award ceremony for Music of White origin. Apparently we can't use the word black if we're white but the blacks can, they can side-line us in our own country and nothing is done about it because they's black but if we did it we would be charged with racism. What a wonderful world Labour have created.
Wait. So "coloured people" is bad but "people of color" is good? What's the difference? Take out the "ed" and substitute an "is".... and that has your knickers in a twist...... And we're supposed to take you seriously? I don't think so.
Are you for real? Neither is okay. Speaking of others as having colour implies that white people do not. It implies that white people are the standard etc. That's problematic.
Well done on getting 70+ upvotes for twisting words and being wilfully ignorant. It says a lot about the readership of this newspaper.
Another wannabe member of the word police. As I recall, it was people of colour who pushed for the use of "people of colour". It doesn't imply anything, though clearly, you enjoy inferring racism at every sniff. grow up.
The use of the word 'coloured' came about as an alternative to the term 'non-white' which was a discriminatory term. If you go far back in time 'coloured' was just as racist as the word 'negro'. With time new terms take on new connotations, and sometimes there is a paradigm shift demanding a new language for social relations. These things aren't linearly progressive, but complex and dynamic, and meanings are never static.
If the term 'coloured' had any utility it was to highlight inequality by highlighting its link to skin colour. This utility is long gone. Furthermore, there is no use in talking about who first pushed for the use of a term as the argument assumes that 'they' have any control over the fluidity and changing nature of the term's meaning. 'They' don't.
I don't think I deserved the accusation that I 'enjoy inferring racism at every sniff'. The word has become problematic, unsurprisingly considering the circumstances in which it originated. Anyway, two can play this game. You clearly enjoy putting words in people's mouth. At least that is what your original comment seems to have been all about.
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