Racist Exeter

I can understand a mother’s frustration and fury at hearing that her child has suffered from discrimination and abuse. I can sympathise with her reaction.

However those in glasshouses shouldn’t throw rocks. After all wasn’t Ms Thompson, educated at Cambridge? Surely during this period, of her education, and perhaps even today this institution might be regarded as elitist?

In going to Exeter – I am aware of the majority of white students and residents. Yet to my knowledge there hasn’t been any violent assaults or even complaints lodged…. Whereas in the last month there have been 4 attacks on young women in the area – all sexually motivated. Sadly however none of these victims had celebrity mothers….

What annoys me most about this incident is these two simple facts. Firstly Exeter seems too awed to deny or renounce these allegations. Just because someone is famous doesn’t mean that they don’t make mistakes or say inaccurate things. Secondly are we all now racists? Is that the label I am stuck with? Perhaps it’s simpler than this, and Devon is just a bit cut off, or is it the future stronghold of the BNP? (Side note – the two seats won by the British National Party were gained in the Yorkshire and generally are voted for the unemployed working class – of course I’m not meant to say that, as it would make me a snob!)

Other universities escape this label utterly – regardless of the fact that in the last week alone three black London students were attacked in the capital city, and furthermore, Scottish and Irish Universities have a policy of accepting a majority of their own nationals over other applicants. 

I’m not blind, I can see that Exeter is predominately white and often middle class, but what is Ms Thompson if not both these things? Why is it the worst insult a white middle class citizen can throw at someone, this label – white and middle class?

Tindyebwa Agaba, Ms Thompson’s son complained of two incidents – one not even on campus. Of course this doesn’t justify ANY form of discrimination – but please don’t tell me that if you suddenly got transported to Bristol, York, Warwick or Oxbridge – a large number of students wouldn’t be white and middle class, and there wouldn’t be issues of discrimination on one level or another – because I won’t believe you.

Exeter like all universities are suffering; because actually only the rich/middle class of ANY race can afford to send their children to the schools that will get their kids the grades, that will get them to the best universities. This isn’t FAIR. This is discrimination. By an actually sorting this problem out – would make universities and schools less discriminatory and give the chance of a free education to all, and make a less class-ridden Britain.

But this problem is far too broad – it involves actual work; a resorting of schools, and higher education rather than just a privilege woman taking revenge by pointing out the regrettably obvious – Devon is cut off and not diverse enough.

But my university isn’t… sure there are people who are bigoted and misinformed but there are also those eager to know more and be better. And doesn’t that deserve a fair chance rather than being written off as racist?

I actually went to the workshop with Ms Thompson, there was also the poet Dorothea Smart there. She had asked us to watch a clip of the writer Chimamanda Adichie giving a talk (really worth watching, she is a brilliant public speaker - http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html). This author said something very wise; there is ALWAYS more than one story. She was discussing Africa and the perception of it being war torn and improvised, but she said that no tale is as simple as that. There is more than one story of Africa, more than one view. Thompson knows this, and yet she was happy to reduce us – the students of Exeter to one story – white and middle class.

We are; all of us – regardless of our race, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, whoever you are, as students – we are more than just one label or this story. 

And I wish that the university and Ms Thompson could see that.

Remembrance

I am currently reading an article regarding the emergence of Right wing politics in Eastern Europe, clipped from the Guardian just a few weeks ago. Yes of course some of comments worry me, and make think voting Conservative is a bad idea (but when honestly did I ever think it was a good idea? I mean Boris Johnson really?!) But what got me is not the absurdity of politics, that’s pretty much a given (do you really want a list? Blair for president???? Silvio Berlusconi? Bush… I could continue, sadly…) but my actual point is this….

Why is there a competition to have more people, that is ‘your people’ killed or dead? As if to say, “well in that genocide in ’73 I lost 5,000 of my racial/class/gender grouping.” And the reply is this “ah but I lost in ’65 - 8,000 of whichever opposing group you happen not to like… so there. I’m worse off.” The logic seems to state that by having more corpses you’ll somehow win the argument.

This isn’t a competition, and nor should it be. Death is death, and when it happens it’s a tragedy. When it happens because of murder it’s a crime, and when that is scaled up to genocide whither it be in Rwanda, Poland, Russia or Kosovo – its wrong. I’m not for a moment saying that the number of people who died should be forgotten, but by doing a comparative study or a rate scale does not make one unlucky slaughtered group any better or worse than another group who was exterminated.

The precise facts, actually shouldn’t matter because the fact that we continue to kill, rape, rob and disfigured is what is important now – we shouldn’t forgot those who are dead, not for a moment should we allow them to go quietly into the dark – their deaths, the deaths of everyone who has died because of their race, or religion, disability or gender have suffered at the hands of discrimination. To separate and say that one certain group is less fortunate or worse off or deserve more is just another form or different way of dividing and prioritising those gone.

Surely the ‘lesson’ from the Holocaust is going to have to revise its statement of “never again” we – the world – has watched and drawn graphs and said ‘ah but its less than in 1945’, when we should see that maybe the methods were less disgustingly efficient, but the end result is the same – a lot of dead bodies. And all the tit for tat and, all the ‘I’m worse off because more of mine are dead’; won’t bring the people back to life or punish those responsible.

The murder, the genocide and the finger pointing has to stop, the tragedy is this – people the world over are dying and being killed for stupid reasons, and we as humans do nothing to protect those who are flesh of our flesh, our own species for heaven’s sake, in fact we are pulling the trigger and watching them die, and then counting up the scales.