CONTENT WARNING: details of racist and classist discrimination.

To the Proctors of Oxford University,

We are appalled and saddened by the recent information that has come to light regarding a student at Christ Church committing acts of racial and classist discrimination. We are writing this letter to request immediate investigation and disciplinary action be taken against this individual.
 
The individual in question contributed to a speech given at the JCR Hustings for Cake Representative which trivialised and made a mockery of the Black Lives Matter movement. The speech described the death of George Floyd as a ‘curious incident’, which could be perceived to reference the cartoon, ‘Curious George’, where George is depicted as a monkey. The speech additionally likened the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States to flour shortages brought about by Covid-19 restrictions - a clearly abhorrent comparison to make. A recent article in the ‘Oxford Blue’ has exposed another incident of racial hatred and gross misconduct. Here, the individual admits to defacing an image of George Floyd with red wine. Combined with the Hustings incident, this individual demonstrates utter disregard for Black lives and has contributed to a hostile and unsafe environment for Black students.

This environment is not only found within the Christ Church JCR, but within Oxford University as a whole institution. Though we are aware of an ongoing investigation at a college level, we believe investigation and action by the University Proctors is necessary and warranted. Whilst the initial incident took place during a JCR hustings and was a private college event, the publication of the minutes, witness account and subsequent student and national headlines has brought it to the forefront of public interest. Within Oxford, the JCRs of fifteen colleges supported motions that condemned the Hustings incident, with a number refusing to collaborate with the Christ Church JCR and to compete with Christ Church sports teams. Following making the hustings events public, a Christ Church Junior Member received a torrent of online harassment from their peers at Christ Church, but also from other colleges. Individuals from St John’s College and Worcester College were reported for their behaviour, with the former being removed from their JCR position with a vote of No Confidence. Correspondence with the Worcester Dean has revealed that another student’s conduct is being investigated.

This is not an isolated incident that has ignited discussion. This is an incident symptomatic of a university problem with racism that has emboldened racially discriminatory discourse that was already present. Students apparently feel it is appropriate to turn the systematic oppression of Black individuals into a mere academic debate. This has culminated in a divisive and unsustainable environment across the university. This is not only an issue for current students, but also prospective applicants; as a direct consequence of these events, there is evidence that school students have been deterred from applying to Christ Church and the University in general. Students at the university  have stated they cannot in good conscience work on Access and Outreach initiatives because to do so would be inviting students from disadvantaged backgrounds to a hostile environment.

These Access problems are compounded by classist attitudes held by some members of the student community. The individual in question has also been reported for making derogatory remarks and slurs against students of state school and lower income backgrounds. As with racism, we believe that classism has no place in this university. Such remarks included hate speech against ‘poor people’ and name-calling of a very offensive nature. The targets of these hateful slurs (both intended and unintended) have been made to feel belittled, alienated, and endangered. This, too, has been exposed in an article by the ‘Oxford Blue’, where the individual has again admitted to making these remarks. In an atmosphere where Oxford has a predominantly privately-schooled and well-provided student population, this individual’s classist hatred has contributed heavily to a hostile and unwelcoming environment where Access students have already had to face so many barriers. This, together with the individual’s racism, demonstrates wilful and malicious discrimination targeting minority groups.

In addition to our belief that the incidents outlined warrant investigation and action by the University Proctors, we have little confidence in the Christ Church non-academic disciplinary procedure. We believe that the College has a history of addressing issues of race insufficiently. In December of 2016, a Junior Member “wore a Ku Klux Klan hood to a party”, as reported by the BBC. The college responded by barring the student from attending JCR social events and was made to write a formal note of apology. We believe this was an inadequate response, and have been made aware of  reports that the individual was present at a college bop earlier this year. There is an apparent precedent that racial discrimination cannot be dealt with adequately within Christ Church’s own disciplinary system.

The University of Oxford must hold perpetrators of racist and classist behaviour to account- not to do so would be a failure in their duty to all students, regardless of their background. It is simply not enough to state that this university abhors racism in all its forms. Now, in light of such explicit violations of The University of Oxford’s very ethos, we call upon those in power to prove it. We call upon the University Proctors to investigate and take expeditious disciplinary action against the individual in question. We believe that the only adequate response to the hateful actions described is the permanent expulsion of the individual in question. Only through this response can the institution demonstrate to both its students and the global community that racism can not and will not be tolerated at the University of Oxford. With an international spotlight on anti-Black racism, and a national spotlight on Oxford University Access we, the undersigned, demand that our concerns be addressed adequately and in a timely manner.