A celebration held by Dutch students at University College has been condemned as “racially insensitive, and arguably racist” by prominent members of the MCR.
Both the Vice-President and Treasurer of University College’s MCR have condemned the celebration and attacked the “endemic apathy towards racism in the Oxford community.”
Micaela Owusu, the MCR treasurer, wrote an open letter to the college, condemning the “Zwarte Piet” celebration which was held in the college at the end of last November.
Owusu has stated that she saw two students in black face make-up sitting within a crowd of students to mark the Dutch holiday celebration.
Traditionally, the “Zwarte Piet” feast is held on the 5th of December in Holland and celebrates “Black Peter” as the companion of St. Nicholas. It has frequently involved “blacking up” in imitation of the character.
Owusu stated that as “one of a literal handful of black students at University College” she felt “extremely isolated and targeted in such a scenario.”
She went on to state that the issue was not one of political correctness but the fundamental question of what should be acceptable in college common spaces. She said, “beyond the morality of partaking in a racially insensitive (and arguably racist) celebration, I question why such an event is deemed suitable for a University common space.
“This is not a matter of political correctness, but a matter of fact that SEVERAL students felt unwelcome, uncomfortable, and/or discriminated against in our common room.”
The organisers of the event have since apologised to Owusu and other potentially offended parties. They stated that they “express their sincere apology for having been the sender of hurtful expressions”.
They explained that they “find an apology to be a very meaningful expression in itself, furthering awareness in both the sender and the recipient.”
In return, Owusu responded via email saying, “I do very much appreciate the strides that the Dutch society has made to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.”
She added though “these issues should never come to this point – a single student should not have to fight to demonstrate that she or he is also a face of the university.
“Ultimately, as I stated in my original emails, my reaction to the “incident” was really not so much about me, but about people who may not feel as comfortable as I do in pointing out the egregious nature of the incidents that are continually occurring in our university spaces.”
The Dutch students have also resolved to cease using make-up to depict “Black Peter” by wearing black make-up and will instead depict “whimsical characters of various rainbow colours”.
However, several students within University College have defended the actions of the Dutch Society and denied that such actions should be thought of as racist.
One student who defined himself as from an “ethnic minority” spoke out to support the celebration saying, “I don’t think this is an example of racism at all. It’s part of the national culture in Holland which is one of the most liberal countries. I’m an ethnic minority student and I’m completely fine with this.”
Jim O’Connell, a second year PPEist, called the event an “unfortunate cultural misunderstanding” and denied that the college was turning a blind eye to racist activities. He said, “I think it is an unfortunate cultural misunderstanding. There is certainly no institutional racism at Univ, and a few bad apples aside, no widespread culture of prejudice at the University”.
He also stated that a forum on the subject of political correctness organised by the college’s PPE Society will be held at the end of first week.
He explained, “we thought that in the wake of recent events it would be appropriate to start our Beverage Soc speaker series with a discussion forum on political correctness. I don’t think Univ is a racist college at all but I think it is important for us to have a mature debate about ourselves and ask the question: how far is too far?”
