Why we need “I, Too, Am Oxford”

Despite only having been released for a few hours, the “I, Too, Am Oxford” Tumblr has already caused a stir. I have been accused of sensationalising an issue, which, according to some Oxford students, does not exist at all.

I refute this. I think racist tensions are a problem in Oxford. I think that the stereotypical, culturally damaging assumptions made about students of colour really are devaluing their achievements and their experiences.

In case my use of first person pronouns hasn’t made clear already, I am not speaking for all students of colour at the University. I’m speaking for myself, to explain why I got involved with the “I, Too, Am Oxford project”, what I hoped the photo-series would achieve and where I see this going. If I can highlight some of problems these photos share along the way, then great.

A couple of weeks ago, students at Harvard University debuted a photo campaign highlighting the faces and voices of black students at the college. The images and their mission statement – “Our voices often go unheard on this campus, our experiences are devalued, our presence is questioned– this project is our way of speaking back, of claiming this campus, of standing up to say: We are here. This place is ours.”- resonated with me.

I posted a link to a Buzzfeed article covering the story to “Skin Deep”, the Facebook group and online forum for the discussion of issues of race and racial identity. I wasn’t suggesting we replicate the Harvard project, just intended to share a thought-provoking article and see what other, like-minded people thought.

There was a hugely vocal response and within a week, we’d organised a time and a place to take these photos. On a gloriously sunny Sunday afternoon, students gathered in their dozens to share their experiences.

I heard four different people tell me about incidents in which their hair was pulled or petted in clubs, from strangers who “just wanted to know what it’s like”; I heard other girls of south-Asian descent comment on the prevalence of assumptions that our parents would marry us off the second we graduated; and perhaps most distressing of all was the number of people who told me they’d been mistaken for “that other black/Asian/ethnic person in their year”.

Of course, isolated incidents do not a complaint of institutionalised racism make. However, one student interested in pursuing further study painted an alarming picture. He pointed out that the fact that the university offers no African Studies PhD, despite demand and despite the number of Euro-centric courses, is disappointing. That only one of the faculty’s eleven academic staff members is black is worrying. That the African Studies collections are held at Rhodes House – named after Cecil Rhodes, an aggressive racist who called the African people “the most despicable specimens of human beings” – is just unacceptable.

Official data – from the University’s own admissions records – shows that eleven Oxford colleges did not make a single offer to black students for the academic year beginning autumn 2009. Merton College had, at that point, admitted no black students for five years, and only three in the previous decade.

The University has argued that this is due to BME students applying disproportionately for the most competitive subjects, E&M and medicine. However, according to their own admissions data, in 2010 43% of white students and 22.1% of ethnic minority students were given offers to study medicine. For E&M, 19.1% of white applicants received offers, compared to 9.3% of those of ethnic origin. All students went on to fulfil the grade requirement for these courses. White applicants are literally twice as likely to receive offers after interview as those of black and ethnic backgrounds.

In case I need to spell it out for you, readers, this is offensive. This is offensive and it is insulting and, frankly, it’s a little scary. Oxford has a notorious under-representation problem and this is a problem.

That the lucky handful of students of colour who do get in to the University then have to deal with derogatory comments and lazy assumptions about their race or background is unacceptable.

For me, that is what this project is about. About giving a voice and a platform for students of colour who have a story to share. It’s about giving them a place to tell it, and a supportive atmosphere in which to do so.

We’re starting a discussion about what it means to be a student of colour in Oxford and those of you who look at these pictures and call them sensationalist or controversial or attention seeking are entirely missing the point.

Tell me that the girl who was told to “swim back” to “Muslim Land” is overreacting. Tell me why “London” isn’t a suitable answer to the question, “Where are you from?” Please, tell me how you think the guy who was asked if he knew any pirates is being sensitive.

Go on, I dare you.