Britain, a country that values the principles of equality. A country which believes no person should be discriminated against on the basis of factors such as gender and race. This view of Britain is purported by many as reality, from the Prime Minister and the media, through to the local school teacher. Yet recent events are making more and more parts of society stop to consider if these principles are for export only.
Equality, particularly equality for women, has been used as part of the argument to justify the ongoing invasion of Afghanistan. It is regularly misused to throw wild accusations at Islam and Muslims. Yet the equality argument seems to be missing from senior political circles and policy making when issues are closer to home.
A good example of this is the discrimination taking place at Oxbridge universities. Despite college websites claiming to take the "best and brightest students, regardless of background" the facts paint a starkly different picture.
More than 20 Oxbridge colleges made no undergraduate offers to black British candidates of Afro-Caribbean descent last year.
Merton College has not admitted a black student for the past five years — and just three in the past decade.
In the past two years, Oxford has held nine "access" events at Eton while last year turning away almost all of the 292 black applicants who achieved three A grades at A-level.
Oxbridge should not be an institution for the elite. Tax payers support the two universities with approximately £400 million each year. Is it too much to ask that college doors should be open to all able students regardless of race?
No wonder then that large parts of society are starting to tire of the Govenrment's export culture when it comes to principles such as equality that so many of us hold dear. If equality really is a valued principle of decision makers at Whitehall, shouldn’t their desire to establish this principle start at home?
Our beloved Prophet (sallahu alehi wa sallam) said:
"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action."
Implicit racism permeates every governmental instituition unfortunately... the facts merely reinforce an already existing notion amoungst non-whites.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is not in the oxbridge admissions system, it's far deeper than that. Regardless of vague and doubtful bias in the admissions system, there is a far far bigger question you should be asking as it's blindingly obvious:
ReplyDeleteWHY was there only 292 black applicants with the sufficient grades. Compare that to round about 29,000 white applicants with sufficient grades.
How on earth, considering the amount of minorities in britain does this happen? THAT is the question you should ask.
OBVIOUSLY the universities will only accept a small amount of those applications, because when taken in ratio to all the other applications they get from white applicants, that is a tiny tiny amount. and thus, just as they will only take a tiny percentage of the 29,000 whites, they will only take a tiny percentage of the 292 blacks.
THis should have been obvious.
Lilith,
ReplyDeleteInteresting point,
where did you get the figure "29000 whites" from?
Also is the Oxbridge admission criteria based upon a pro rata basis of races?
I put forward another explanation for there only being 292 applicants: because other blacks who are perfectly capable are probably aware of the notion of racism which as I have mentioned already permeates these public institutions and simply do not bother. I, as a non-white was able to get into Cambridge university only because of my college tutors connections despite my straight A grades GCSE and A-level. Other students, non-whites, were unable to do despite their impeccable and outstanding grades. They were not even offered an interview. Seeing this situation, it is very plausible that others will not bother applying.
It is not just about grades, class and economics. There is a perculiar insular culture to places like Cambridge that despite only being less than an hour from London, have a certain alienating, pompous ritualistic culture stuck in a timewarp. Just like a private toffs club. The type of things that attracts many snap-happy American tourists who say "This place is so Harry Potter." To get the gist of this have a look at the Kettles Yard oral history website (a branch of Cambridge University). I was given a work placement here by the Arts Councils misguided, heavily criticalised "INSPIRE" programme - which I walked out on principle - being a token darkie doing made to do photocopying, stuffing envelopes and putting out chairs - despite running a transnational contemporary arts organisation prior to that. The only time non-white people used to come into the gallery (which is funded by millions of pounds of public funding) - it was usually a member of the Arts Council come to inspect the place. Even the family, mums and kids club was no better. This gallery incidently employs no non-white staff. No one on its whole committee who was non-white, non-upper class. Despite oral history being a branch of community outreach - this website has no non-white, non-upper class people. But click on any interview here and you will get it...
ReplyDeletehttp://recollection.kettlesyard.co.uk/