The University of Edinburgh has received a large amount of criticism and accusations of “blatant racism” from the public after hosting an event that banned white people from participating in a Q&A session and attending certain “safe spaces”, the Daily Mail reported.
University of Edinburgh @EdinburghUni hosting / supporting event “Resisting whiteness” where white people wil not be permitted to speak and segregated from certain rooms.
— Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) September 28, 2019
Try exchanging the word white for blank. pic.twitter.com/4uablyfh4F
The one-day conference, organised by the group Resisting Whiteness and called “Resisting Whiteness 2019”, took place on Saturday at The Pleasance Theatre at the University of Edinburgh, as it was set to discuss “aspects of anti-racist action” and to give “people of colour a platform to talk”.
According to the event's Facebook page, cited by The Scotsman newspaper, the organisers of the Q&A session decided to ban white people from asking questions and giving their comments during a panel discussion, justifying it by the need “to amplify the voices of people of colour”.
"We will not be giving the microphone to white people during the Q&As, not because we don't think white people have anything to offer to the discussion, but because we want to amplify the voices of people of colour”, the organisers said, as reported by The Scotsman. "If you are a white person with a question, please share it with a member of the committee or our speakers after the panel discussion".
On the official event page, the organisers also explained that during the conference there were two rooms available for people who felt that they needed to “remove themselves from the conference” if they felt “overwhelmed/overstimulated or uncomfortable” - one of which, however, was available only to people of colour.
“The Braid room is a safe space for only people of colour, and the Cheviot room is available for anyone who needs it”, the Safer Spaces Policy section on the event page said.
Speaking to the newspaper, anti-racist campaigner Jane McColl called the event “blatantly racist” and belittling to white people, while a spokesman for the university stated that following the outcry, officials had met with the event organisers prior to the conference and “expressed concerns about certain aspects of the format”. He argued that the organisers had decided to “revise” their safe space policies in the end, which, however, was not confirmed on the event’s official page.
Several attendees later shared photos from the event, stating that “reverse racism” – which is seen as a form of anti-white racism – is “not a thing” during the conference.
