It was reported in January that Sheffield University had started paying students to challenge ‘microaggressions’ committed by other students.
The university, said that the new group, entitled Race Equality Champions, would help students: ‘develop skills to challenge subtle but offensive comments directed at black, Asian and minority ethnic people. [The] roles [were] created in response to student demand, working closely with the University of Sheffield’s Students’ Union and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Committee. Champions will lead training sessions for students across campus and University residences, equipping students with skills for future life in a global workplace.’
One cited example of a microaggression was: Asking a person frying a plantain ‘why are you cooking a banana?’ Plantains are members of the banana family.
Addressing racism is laudable. Certainly the tone in which the person could ask the question above could range from curious to unkind and abusive. As a national newspaper noted, ‘in the Soviet Union, accusation equals guilt, with no need for further investigation or trial’.
It is not a giant step for ‘Race Equality Champions’ to drop their focus on race and just champion equality. In a few years, could a microaggression include evangelism, debate of Islamic beliefs, holding a Bible study in a student room? If today’s students accept the idea of people ‘correcting’ speech in the student body, what will they as tomorrow’s leaders think acceptable to implement across the nation?
Previously at Sheffield
Sheffield is the university that censored the freedom of the black Christian student Felix Ngole for online posts of biblical views on homosexuality. A court described the Sheffield position as ‘lacking insight’, saying that in its decision to expel Ngole, the university ‘had taken a stance which did not accord with [its own guidance] or common sense’. Despite the ruling, Sheffield has still not allowed Ngole to return to his course.
