Imperial College is under fire for telling students to have “hard conversations“ with friends and family over the Christmas holiday period who deny white privilege. The Daily Mail has more.
Guidance from Imperial College London tells students to “understand that you have white privilege“ and to “educate others in your community”.
It adds: “If you have friends or family who take a different stance on these issues, now is the time to have a hard conversation with them and ask them to rethink their views.”
The university’s equality, diversity and inclusion page on its website also encourages students to “take action” and become a “white ally” by donating to the controversial Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement – a mission dedicated to “eradicating white supremacy”. BLM has faced a backlash over its far-Left demands, which include defunding the police.
The phrase ‘white privilege’ is used to describe the inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race. It can apply where people are living under the same social, political or economic circumstances, or in a society where there is racial inequality.
A senior academic has warned that staff at Imperial are afraid to express concern over fears they will not get promoted or lose their job. John Armstrong, Reader in Financial Mathematics at King’s College London, said the guidance has created an atmosphere of silence at the university. “People do not want to endanger their promotion prospects and come across as awkward,” he said.
“It just sets up an atmosphere where people feel it is safest not to talk about it, especially if they have contrary views.
“Diversity is a serious issue. Imperial making a laughing stock of themselves in this way is unlikely to help them improve the experience of minority groups. Guidance which promotes a particular political viewpoint inevitably encroaches on academic freedom. Imperial should scrap this guidance.”
Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “This bizarre guidance gives the impression that Imperial has fallen into the hands of a weird religious sect – a Left-wing version of the Moonies – and I fear that’s exactly what’s happened.
“Any alumni thinking of giving money to Imperial should give it to the Free Speech Union instead. We’ve become experts on this nutty cult – which is running rampant across Britain’s higher education sector – and with the proper funding we can set up a deprogramming unit.
“There are thousands of university administrators who have fallen into the hands of this cult and with our help they could regain control over their own minds.”
Worth reading in full.
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