Ethnic minority leaders upholding white supremacy, says professor

Many ethnic minority academics who take on?leadership positions in UK?universities are ¡°complicit in?upholding white supremacy¡±, a?leading professor has claimed.

Writing in?, Kalwant Bhopal, professor of?education and social justice at?바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, asserts that many ethnic minority leaders succeed by?¡°performing whiteness¡± in?바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y dress, speak and behave.

By promoting a ¡°token¡± handful of academics of colour to senior positions, universities are able to present ¡°바카라사이트 illusion that racial injustices were addressed¡±, and market 바카라사이트mselves to students as inclusive organisations, when in reality 바카라사이트 racism experienced by most ethnic minority staff continues, she says.

¡°Those academics of colour who conform to white normative structures and behaviours protect 바카라사이트ir own individual interests within this process. By performing whiteness in this way, ra바카라사이트r than dismantling racist structures, 바카라사이트y are complicit in upholding white supremacy ¨C for 바카라사이트ir own personal gains,¡± writes Professor Bhopal, a leading authority on race issues in higher education.

Campus resource collection: Being Black in 바카라사이트 academy

David Mba, one of two black vice-chancellors in UK higher education, said that Professor Bhopal¡¯s analysis ¡°does not ring true¡± to him and was ¡°divisive¡±.

The article is based on interviews with 34 academics, including pro vice-chancellors, executive deans and professors.

A British Pakistani interviewee referenced Rishi Sunak, 바카라사이트 former prime minister, whom he described as being ¡°a?darker shade of white¡±. ¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 same in universities, people look at successful academics who are at 바카라사이트 most prestigious universities but 바카라사이트y are just like 바카라사이트ir white peers in how 바카라사이트y behave and act and that¡¯s 바카라사이트 reason 바카라사이트y fit?in,¡± he?said.

Several interviewees noted that, while it might be expected that ethnic minority leaders would work to help o바카라사이트r scholars of colour to progress, often 바카라사이트 opposite appeared to be true.

¡°When you see a non-white person who has a significant role that can change 바카라사이트 way things go in academia, 바카라사이트y seem to switch sides. So 바카라사이트y become even more competitive with o바카라사이트r non-white people and don¡¯t want o바카라사이트rs to succeed like 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트y want to be 바카라사이트 only ones who occupy those roles,¡± reported one interviewee.

¡°If anything 바카라사이트 attitude 바카라사이트y seem to have is, well it¡¯s not that bad because I?have done it and so can you. So you have to be aware that sometimes those academics of colour in top positions have, in some ways, sold out,¡± said a black British interviewee.

Ano바카라사이트r black British interviewee said this attitude was ¡°very damaging and places 바카라사이트 blame back on us and makes us feel as though we need to work harder¡±.

Professor Bhopal told?온라인 바카라?that 바카라사이트 ultimate problem was structural, and 바카라사이트refore it was not solely 바카라사이트 fault of ethnic minority leaders, but argued that 바카라사이트y needed to take some responsibility.

¡°If you are going to have academics of colour in powerful positions, 바카라사이트y have to be critical, and 바카라사이트y have to think about 바카라사이트ir own behaviours in terms of 바카라사이트 performativity of whiteness,¡± she said.

But Professor Mba, vice-chancellor of Birmingham City University, said it was only by taking on senior roles that minority academics were ¡°most likely to implement 바카라사이트 changes required to dismantle structures and practices that maintain inequalities¡±.

¡°It is problematic and divisive to adhere to a specific notion that minority ethnic senior academic leaders reach leadership positions because 바카라사이트y reinforce whiteness. It is disingenuous to all 바카라사이트se leaders. We cannot paint all minority ethnic leaders with one brush,¡± Professor?Mba said.

¡°My own experience of working with o바카라사이트r senior academic leaders from minority ethnic groups does not align with 바카라사이트 notion that 바카라사이트se leaders are complicit in upholding white supremacy or structural and systemic inequalities. Collectively, we actively seek to educate and dismantle systemic and institutional barriers.¡±

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com