Durham society president filmed man in blackface at a party and posted the video on Instagram

The man in blackface wasn’t a Durham Uni student


The president of Durham University Romanian Society filmed a man who appears to be in blackface at a party, before uploading the footage to her Instagram story.

The man in blackface is not believed to be a Durham student himself, nor are any of the other people shown in the video.

“Everyone involved realised it was a mistake and is now aware of the implications,” the society president told The Durham Tab.

In the video, a white man is shown in what appears to be blackface.

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Another picture shows him next to a woman in sunglasses and a black dress, prompting some Twitter users to suggest it was a Kim Kardashian and Kanye West couples costume idea.

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But in messages seen by The Tab, the society president who filmed the man in blackface claimed he came to the party dressed as a chimney sweep.

The video has now circulated on Twitter and has been widely condemned by users.

Durham People of Colour Association tweeted: “We have yet another racism scandal on our hands. The racism is never ending for people of colour at this university.”

A Durham University spokesperson said: “We have investigated this social media post and it appears that the individual featured is not a Durham University student.

“We continue to look into the circumstances in which the video was posted.”

It was just three days ago that The Palatinate reported that 21 per cent of incidents reported to Durham University using their Report & Support tool were “hate incidents based on race.”

Natalie Saunders, Interim Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Durham University, said: “The proportion of reports that relate to hate incidents based on race is indeed concerning.”

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