Bahar Mustafa banned white men from an anti-racism event last month
A beleaguered SU officer has claimed she cannot be racist because she is an ethnic minority woman.
Diversity Officer Bahar Mustafa came under fire for hosting an anti-racism event that banned white men from attending last month.
Responding to The Tab article in a statement she said: “I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men, because racism and sexism describe structures of privilege based on race and gender.”
“Therefore, women of colour and minority genders cannot be racist or sexist, since we do not stand to benefit from such a system.”
In the impassioned speech at the student assembly Mustafa said: “Reverse racism and reverse sexism are not real.”
“We are not going down without as fight.”
In the seven-minute statement she adds: “We will not be silenced – we are militant. The world is not ready for minorities to challenge the status quo, but resistance to our resistance is futile.”
She describes the media storm as a “witch hunt and shameful character assassination”.
Mustafa has since faced a vote of no confidence after it emerged she branded someone “white trash” from an official Union Twitter account.
A tweet posted from the official Twitter account of Goldsmiths Welfare and Diversity Officer Bahar Mustafa, 27, claimed a Royal Holloway grad and activist Tom Harris was “white trash”.
The Tweet said: “You’re actually white trash and I can’t be fucked. LATAZ”
Her November tweet came as part of a heated online row over the burning of Socialist Workers’ Party leaflets after a motion to ban them from campus passed, as we reported.
English Lit grad Tom Harris is not believed to be a supporter of the SWP but had expressed concern about the leaflet burning.
Now his comments and Bahar’s response sparked a campus row when it was cited as part of a petition of no confidence in the embattled Diversity Officer.
The petitioners, who feel she has failed to adequately represent students, say: “The current Welfare and Diversity Officer has used hate speech based on race and gender.
“For example … publically calling someone ‘white trash’ under the official GSU Welfare and Diversity Officer twitter account.”
The petition also makes number of allegations, accusing her of being “unprofessional in her public conduct and behaviour towards both students and staff”.
Neither the author nor The Tab endorse the no confidence petition, its claims, or has any links to it.
In the unlikely case the petition attracts over 250 signatures, it would trigger a referendum which could see Bahar Mustafa sacked.
In a document defending her position and opposing the motion of no confidence, Mustafa says: “However, in regards to calling someone ‘white trash’ under my official GSU Welfare and Diversity Twitter account, I can accept that it was not professional and I do apologise for this.”
Bahar did not respond to requests for comment. The official @gsu_welfare account was deleted earlier this week, after we contacted her for comment.